Arielle Tipa runs Occulum magazine online, she was happy to do an interview with mannequin haus
MANNEQUIN HAUS: Your work has a lingering darkness behind it. Your piece "Little Burdens" published in Grimoire sweeps me up in with this darkness "We write obscenities on our unicorn wallpaper and we are healthy and beautiful and good.But Mom doesn't like what we do. She doesn't like when we go to that closed down gas station and break the windows." I like this sense that there is a dangerous element in your writing, I've noticed it in other of your works. Would you talk about some of the inspiration that leads to these poems, and fictions.
ARIELLE TIPA: I guess there are multiple factors that lead to my writing. I like to find intricacies in some of the most mundane things like a trip to the grocery store or observing people at the library. I also get motivated and inspired by reading work from my peers - especially people who are going through the same ups and downs when it comes to getting exposed in the literary world (i.e. everyone). Fantasy has always been an important part of my writing style. As girls, we were fed a generous diet of fairy tales, where we grew up wanting to be the princess. Growing older, I believe we started to find a closer kinship to witches: we're more in tune of our own wants and needs, a little bitter, and definitely darker. I like to embrace this progression and incorporate it into my prose and poetry.
MH: In your bio you say "Arielle Tipa is a writer and editor who lives near a haunted lake in New York." I am curious if there is something to this, and if you would be willing to speak of this haunting that you are experiencing, how it effects your fiction and poetry, and what exactly do you think the haunting is.
AT: The lake is basically a local legend here on Long Island. It's supposedly haunted by a brokenhearted Setauket princess who has claimed multiple victims. I always felt drawn to folklore and spiritualism, so maybe living here all my life provoked my taste for the weird and macabre one way or another. Perhaps that is my personal haunting.
MH: What does your writing process look like?
AT: Messy. I can get inspiration or ideas in the most inconvenient places, and on rare occasions without any resources. So at times, I would have to burn these things in my brain until I had my phone or a pen to jot things down. I'd then try to untangle and organize my ideas, but the hardest part is determining whether or not my notes are intended to be prose or poetry. When I'm really conflicted, I've learned that poetic prose is always a good option. Of course, I can sit on a draft for days until more inspiration comes. I'm really impatient, so obviously I get frustrated when this happens.
MH: Is there any tips you would give to new authors, something that you've learned through the process?
AT: Don't rush yourself. Please. At 27, I feel like I should've already published a chapbook by now and landed a stable "big girl" job in editing or publishing in some swanky Manhattan office building. I got my foot in the door with a couple of gigs last year, and now I'm working part-time at a library and running a journal by myself. With all of this, I've learned that everyone has little successes along the way, at their own pace. So my best advice is: keep writing and getting as much exposure as you possibly can. I've had the honor to converse and collaborate with some of the most supportive and amazing indie writers (including those I've published), so forge friendships with people like these along the way. Again, just keep writing while you work your odd jobs, and dream your odd dreams.
MH:Does Running a press (OCCULUM) inform your writing style?
AT: It does in more ways than I can think. A lot of the work I've come across made me realize just how limitless form and style and voice can be in writing, especially my own. Running a journal also makes me treasure the positive reactions to other writer's successes, as well as the reactions I get when I ultimately accept a submission.
MH:What kinds of things have changed in your writing since you first began the journey?
AT:I first started writing poetry when I was 13 or 14, and my poems always rhymed and were sort of whimiscal dark-ish. I then went into this starvation mode where I didn't write a single creative thing for about 5 years. Then more poetry came. Then I had another go at it during community college and sort of stopped altogether. I really didn't start writing seriously until after my sister passed away in 2016. This is when I really discovered what trauma can inspire, despite how bittersweet and depressing that sounds. It was like I didn't know I had this potential or otherness within myself until I lost a part of who I was. Since then, my writing has definitely gotten darker, stranger, prettier, and more risky.
MH: What do you think of this president known commonly as "The Trump?"
AT: Wait, I thought we were talking about me? Next question.
MH:Do you make many drafts before you are finished with something, or do you draft as you write? What does this process look like?
AT: I think I already answered that with #3. Save your drafts. Treasure your drafts. Buy a flashdrive for your drafts.
MH:What is the difference while writing poetry to when you have on you're fiction hat, is it a different mind set, how do you incorporate what you've learned for both and use them in these two different expressions?
AT: I really don't have an initial intention as far as form or genre when I get ideas. I've learned that your final results can ultimately be manipulated into poetic or prose form (I guess these are the bones for experimental writing). It's a rare occasion when I'm like "Yeah, this is prose material yeahhhh" or whatever. But I've learned that these two forms can ultimately be made and unmade into each other (if that makes any sense). This of course, is different for everybody.
MH:Read any good books lately?
AT:I'm currently obsessing over Tenderling by Emily Corwin, and am starting some other new chapbooks along the way. I also finished Tenth of December by George Saunders after it was requested by a friend, so I'm looking forward to reading more of him as well.
MH:What is your take on modern literature, is it doing anything new in your opinion? Is there anything new we can do with literature?
AT:I think modern literature is really being reshaped and reinvented by our generation, since we've witnessed so much within the last 30 years or so. I believe with all the current shifts in the world today (political climate, gender revolution, etc.), we're beginning to redefine how literature can stalemate individual and public viewpoints, whether it's written or spoken word, and I really believe we can keep producing these new forms as long as there are people willing to exercise their voice and talents.
MH:What are some things you like doing when you aren't writing?
AT:Reading, of course. I'm also trying to live a more holistic lifestyle as far as diet, exercise, supplements, crystals, oils - the whole package, since I have/had health problems that really benefit from all of this. It's also been great for my creative process. I also enjoy watching bad period dramas, collecting antique books, and exploring the weird parts of town.
AT: Thank you so much for interviewing me, Fin
MH:Thank you so much for your time.
MANNEQUIN HAUS: Your work has a lingering darkness behind it. Your piece "Little Burdens" published in Grimoire sweeps me up in with this darkness "We write obscenities on our unicorn wallpaper and we are healthy and beautiful and good.But Mom doesn't like what we do. She doesn't like when we go to that closed down gas station and break the windows." I like this sense that there is a dangerous element in your writing, I've noticed it in other of your works. Would you talk about some of the inspiration that leads to these poems, and fictions.
ARIELLE TIPA: I guess there are multiple factors that lead to my writing. I like to find intricacies in some of the most mundane things like a trip to the grocery store or observing people at the library. I also get motivated and inspired by reading work from my peers - especially people who are going through the same ups and downs when it comes to getting exposed in the literary world (i.e. everyone). Fantasy has always been an important part of my writing style. As girls, we were fed a generous diet of fairy tales, where we grew up wanting to be the princess. Growing older, I believe we started to find a closer kinship to witches: we're more in tune of our own wants and needs, a little bitter, and definitely darker. I like to embrace this progression and incorporate it into my prose and poetry.
MH: In your bio you say "Arielle Tipa is a writer and editor who lives near a haunted lake in New York." I am curious if there is something to this, and if you would be willing to speak of this haunting that you are experiencing, how it effects your fiction and poetry, and what exactly do you think the haunting is.
AT: The lake is basically a local legend here on Long Island. It's supposedly haunted by a brokenhearted Setauket princess who has claimed multiple victims. I always felt drawn to folklore and spiritualism, so maybe living here all my life provoked my taste for the weird and macabre one way or another. Perhaps that is my personal haunting.
MH: What does your writing process look like?
AT: Messy. I can get inspiration or ideas in the most inconvenient places, and on rare occasions without any resources. So at times, I would have to burn these things in my brain until I had my phone or a pen to jot things down. I'd then try to untangle and organize my ideas, but the hardest part is determining whether or not my notes are intended to be prose or poetry. When I'm really conflicted, I've learned that poetic prose is always a good option. Of course, I can sit on a draft for days until more inspiration comes. I'm really impatient, so obviously I get frustrated when this happens.
MH: Is there any tips you would give to new authors, something that you've learned through the process?
AT: Don't rush yourself. Please. At 27, I feel like I should've already published a chapbook by now and landed a stable "big girl" job in editing or publishing in some swanky Manhattan office building. I got my foot in the door with a couple of gigs last year, and now I'm working part-time at a library and running a journal by myself. With all of this, I've learned that everyone has little successes along the way, at their own pace. So my best advice is: keep writing and getting as much exposure as you possibly can. I've had the honor to converse and collaborate with some of the most supportive and amazing indie writers (including those I've published), so forge friendships with people like these along the way. Again, just keep writing while you work your odd jobs, and dream your odd dreams.
MH:Does Running a press (OCCULUM) inform your writing style?
AT: It does in more ways than I can think. A lot of the work I've come across made me realize just how limitless form and style and voice can be in writing, especially my own. Running a journal also makes me treasure the positive reactions to other writer's successes, as well as the reactions I get when I ultimately accept a submission.
MH:What kinds of things have changed in your writing since you first began the journey?
AT:I first started writing poetry when I was 13 or 14, and my poems always rhymed and were sort of whimiscal dark-ish. I then went into this starvation mode where I didn't write a single creative thing for about 5 years. Then more poetry came. Then I had another go at it during community college and sort of stopped altogether. I really didn't start writing seriously until after my sister passed away in 2016. This is when I really discovered what trauma can inspire, despite how bittersweet and depressing that sounds. It was like I didn't know I had this potential or otherness within myself until I lost a part of who I was. Since then, my writing has definitely gotten darker, stranger, prettier, and more risky.
MH: What do you think of this president known commonly as "The Trump?"
AT: Wait, I thought we were talking about me? Next question.
MH:Do you make many drafts before you are finished with something, or do you draft as you write? What does this process look like?
AT: I think I already answered that with #3. Save your drafts. Treasure your drafts. Buy a flashdrive for your drafts.
MH:What is the difference while writing poetry to when you have on you're fiction hat, is it a different mind set, how do you incorporate what you've learned for both and use them in these two different expressions?
AT: I really don't have an initial intention as far as form or genre when I get ideas. I've learned that your final results can ultimately be manipulated into poetic or prose form (I guess these are the bones for experimental writing). It's a rare occasion when I'm like "Yeah, this is prose material yeahhhh" or whatever. But I've learned that these two forms can ultimately be made and unmade into each other (if that makes any sense). This of course, is different for everybody.
MH:Read any good books lately?
AT:I'm currently obsessing over Tenderling by Emily Corwin, and am starting some other new chapbooks along the way. I also finished Tenth of December by George Saunders after it was requested by a friend, so I'm looking forward to reading more of him as well.
MH:What is your take on modern literature, is it doing anything new in your opinion? Is there anything new we can do with literature?
AT:I think modern literature is really being reshaped and reinvented by our generation, since we've witnessed so much within the last 30 years or so. I believe with all the current shifts in the world today (political climate, gender revolution, etc.), we're beginning to redefine how literature can stalemate individual and public viewpoints, whether it's written or spoken word, and I really believe we can keep producing these new forms as long as there are people willing to exercise their voice and talents.
MH:What are some things you like doing when you aren't writing?
AT:Reading, of course. I'm also trying to live a more holistic lifestyle as far as diet, exercise, supplements, crystals, oils - the whole package, since I have/had health problems that really benefit from all of this. It's also been great for my creative process. I also enjoy watching bad period dramas, collecting antique books, and exploring the weird parts of town.
AT: Thank you so much for interviewing me, Fin
MH:Thank you so much for your time.