Interview XVIII. Arianna Kanji
advises you to just write
Description: Arianna Kanji is a writer from Toronto, Canada. Published extensively, they have used their platform to produce narratives that reveal vulnerable angles of humanity which are rarely explored. Along with their achievements in poetry and prose, Arianna is also an esteemed blog writer and playwright—their play Humanity 101 being honored with a stage reading at the Next Draft Year-End Celebration. Their work is truly inspiring and reminds us how powerful the simplicity of writing can be/become. In this interview, Arianna Kanji advises you to just write.
Introduction to Arianna Kanji: Hi! I’m so flattered that I’ve been chosen to be interviewed—truly, this is such an honor. I hope anybody reading finds all my ramblings to be coherent and useful, and if not please feel free to pretend that they are.
Arianna, it is truly an honor to have this interview! Thank you very much and let’s get right into it! As we know, you are a prolific and talented writer from our literary magazine community—and many people, myself included, admire you and your work. With that, I am curious to learn about your foundation as a writer. Describe the initial “moment” you had with writing. How did you find the art form?
I was pretty young—probably around ten years old—when I started writing creatively. I was an avid (some may say obsessive) reader even then and I’d been making up stories in my head since I was five or six, but it was only at this point that I realized I could actually write them down. Everything I wrote were the beginnings of epic novels and fantasy adventures that I immediately gave up on, but I didn’t really care about what I was writing or if anybody would even read it. It brought me a lot of joy. It made me feel less alone, and less trapped. I remember spending my recesses nestled on a bench with a battered old notebook, painstakingly writing story after story by hand. I’ve lost most of those notebooks now, but I don’t really care. I can remember so vividly the feeling of joy that creating gave me, and I knew I wanted to chase that joy as far as it would take me.
When was the moment you realized that writing was more than just a hobby for you?
The moment I started writing, my dream job was to become an author. I went through the normal childhood phases before that, but from age ten onwards it has never faltered. Teachers and relatives alike would ask me what my biggest dream was. My answer? Publishing a book. I don’t think it was ever just a hobby, but I don’t think I really believed in it until I started actually showing my work to other people. I’m a very driven person, but until that point I assumed that my only talent was my drive for success, and not my skill at writing itself. I thought I was horrible. In middle school, I started showing my writing to my friends, and began to realize that maybe my talent wasn’t as nonexistent as I had previously thought. It was then that I actually started to believe that maybe, just maybe, this could be my thing. My talent. Submitting to literary magazines fueled that fire, but I do owe it to the people in my life for believing in me enough to light it in the first place.
What compelled you to begin submitting your work to zines? Were you led to the literary magazine scene by another individual, or did you just stumble across it one day?
I saw a post on Instagram actually! It was a very random thing—I’d downloaded the app probably a few weeks before, and I guess the things I was liking cued the algorithm in on me being a writer. Most of the posts I was getting were from established literary magazines and zines, and being only fourteen years old and new to the scene at the time, I submitted to many and received only rejections. I remember wanting to stop, but instead writing a New Year's resolution—I would get one publication before the end of 2024. If I remember correctly, I ended up with thirty five publications by the end of that year, so clearly continuing to persevere was the right choice.
Tell us about your first publication experience—from the joys to everything in between. What did it mean to you? How did it encourage you to continue submitting?
Oh god, that was a while ago. My first publication experience was way before I even learnt about the existence of literary magazines. I would’ve been about eleven years old, and in my elementary school library there was a poster advertising the Polar Expressions Writing Contests. I’d later learn that this organization had writing contests for children all across Canada, and about a third of the entries submitted were published into an in-print anthology. I’d been writing for some time now, but I’d never completed anything. Everything else between seeing that poster and getting my publication acceptance letter was a blur—I remember writing instead of doing my homework, eventually creating a little story and having my father type it up, editing it down so it fit the word limit, and sending it off in the mail tearfully like a piece of my heart was being ripped off.
The day the letter came may be the best moment of my life. No matter how many publications and accomplishments I now have, nothing will beat the pure, unbridled childish joy of realizing that maybe this writing thing didn’t have to be so lonely after all. Anytime I meet a child who has written something, I encourage them to submit to this contest. It’s built for children, takes age into consideration, and offers an amazing opportunity for a demographic of writers who are otherwise overlooked.
How do you feel like the literary magazine community has elevated your craft?
I used to consider writing to be a purely solitary activity. And in part, I still do. I’m at my happiest when I’m alone, typing on my computer or writing in my notebook with my new fountain pen. But it’s also a skill that you hone through hard work, dedication, and cooperation. Literary magazines, especially youth ones, were an easy way to expose my writing to a wide variety of people. Acceptances and positive feedback built my confidence, while rejections and negative feedback forced me to improve.
It’s easy to judge your work as amazing or horrible when you’re the only one judging it. Having a community that can help you learn and grow is the best way to hone your skills without losing motivation or focus. I look back on the pieces I wrote two years ago, when I was starting out my literary magazine journey, and I see flaws and cracks and imperfections. But someone saw beauty in my work, even back then. My confidence in my own skills grows every time a stranger reads my words and finds something in them worth showing the world.
Adding onto the previous question, share the best writing advice you have ever received. How have you implemented it in your craft and why do you encourage others to do the same?
I’ve been asked that question probably millions of times, and every single time my answer is the same—“Write what you like.” I received the advice “Write what you know” a lot when I was younger, and honestly, I hated it. I wanted to write about dragons and fairies and strangely complex magic systems. I wanted to write about characters years older than I was, doing things I could never do. I wrote because, quite frankly, reality was too boring and fiction was always going to be more interesting. I mentioned this to someone, once, and they told me that I may as well just write what I like. That has always stuck with me. If I don’t like my own writing, or my own characters or my own plot, then how are others supposed to enjoy it?
I don’t mean that you need to like every single thing that you’ve ever written, but writing shouldn’t feel like a chore. Once I got bored of fantasy lands with detailed world building, I moved on to murder mysteries. Then ghost stories. Then poetic stories of love and loss. Then my current niche, psychological horror and the paranormal. My portfolio may be a bit all over the place, but I have never once hated writing anything in it. I derive joy from writing everything I’ve ever written, and I truly hope that will never ever change.
What is your favorite genre to write in? Elaborate.
Adding onto the previous question, my preferred genre switches really quickly. If we’re talking poetry, I’m always a sucker for free verse—anything else feels too constricted and, quite frankly, too difficult for me. When it comes to anything else, like short stories and plays, I’m currently into horror, in whatever way that may manifest. Most of the time, I don’t even realize that what I’m writing actually counts as horror until I reread it. The horrifying elements are often the things I find most comforting, since they’re usually some type of metaphor for feeling strange or foreign, both in one's body and in the world. The more odd or vivid the imagery in a piece is, the most I enjoy it. Writing is a very visual experience for me—I’m able to picture the scene I’m describing like it’s right before my eyes, and in horror and the paranormal, the images are especially distinct. This choice will probably change within the next few months, but for now it’s definitely a favorite of mine.
Thus far, what has been the biggest highlight of your experience as a writer? Why? And how does that highlight motivate you to help others consider writing as a creative outlet?
I wrote a play! It was probably the best moment of my experience as a writer thus far, and it’s really helped me consider other mediums like playwriting as possible new outlets for my creativity. I wrote it through a program with a company called Theatre Direct, where I was mentored for eight months as I wrote a full length horror-fantasy play that was then stage read by professional actors. Hearing my words out loud, experiencing the laughter and gasps of the audience in real time—it all felt so surreal. I’m still not quite sure it even happened. For someone who, again, truly writes for themself and themself only, it was such a new experience to hand my work over to other people and let them comb through it. Even the literary magazine experience is a little detached—I’m given feedback and results through email, and I don’t have to watch as an editor reads through my work and reacts to it live. It was all so new, but it was also so very special and I’m so glad I received such an amazing opportunity. I was so, so happy.
However, I was also able to search through my mind and remind myself of all the stepping stones I had to reach before I could come to this moment. I want others to feel as happy as I did, achieving such a goal, but I also just want others to see how possible it is. If someone like me, a young person with no formal writing training and barely any playwriting experience, could accomplish something like this, then so can many other people. You just have to be ready to work for it.
What are your future goals as a writer? What do you look forward to the most?
That is a tough question. Truly. If I’m being completely honest, I’ve never really had a goal, and maybe that’s my issue. I like to chase what’s right in front of me—a publication to a magazine I enjoy, an award I want, a program I’d love to be accepted to. Anything beyond that feels a little too scary. But I am hopeful. Progress has already been made on the future of my play, and I’m working on multiple novels in different stages of development. I’m only sixteen years old, so there’s still so many changes ahead of me. My one goal is to continue writing, no matter what, whether for an audience of thousands or just for myself.
Back to the question heard ‘round DICED: who is your favorite writer?
Would I sound pretentious if I say Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? I’m probably the biggest Sherlock Holmes fan you’ll ever meet and I’ve read all those stories countless times. Other than that, I don’t really read specific authors, but I am a big fan of TJ Klune, as he wrote one of my favorite novels The House in the Cerulean Sea, and Neil Gaiman and Terry Prachett for Good Omens, another favorite novel of mine.
Arianna Kanji’s Biography: Arianna Kanji is a poet, playwright, spoke word artist, and high school student from Toronto, Canada. Arianna has been published in over fifty literary magazines, including; TDSB’s Young Voices Magazine and MJR Creative’s Visionary Magazine, and a wide variety of their work is currently available to read online. They have attended Inkspire’s Write to Discover Playwriting Program and the School for the New York Times Writing for TV Program. They have also been employed as a spoken word artist at numerous events, including Revolution Now’s Rainbow Awards.