I had retired the literary Would You Rather interview series, but didn't want to stop interviews on the site all together. Instead, I've pulled together 40ish questions - some bookish, some silly - and have asked authors to limit themselves to answering only 10 of them. That way, it keeps the interviews fresh and connectable for all of us!
Today, we are joined by Aleah Dye. Aleah (she/her) primarily writes poetry, tending
towards topics of morbidity, love, mental illness, religion, and philosophy.
She is dreadfully afraid of imperfection and spiders, in no particular order.
She has a one-eyed cat named Ivy and a one-track-minded (food!) cat named
Rosebud. Aleah hopes to make hearts grow three sizes with her words. She is a
2020 Sundress Publications Best of the Net nominee and the graphic designer for
perhappened. Read her latest poem via Anti-Heroin Chic, and check out her debut
chapbook theory of creation with kith press. Follow her @bearsbeetspoet on
Twitter.
Do you have any hidden talents?
When it comes to hidden talents, I usually default to
showing off my ability to pop my thumb… joint? bone? in and out. I can do this
with both thumbs, but I’m way more proficient with my left! I occasionally make
people put their finger against it to feel it happen—maybe creepy, but
definitely fun!
What’s something that’s true about you but no one believes?
Hmm… maybe the fact that I usually get my paintings,
drawings, graphic designs, and other art finished really quickly (sometimes
just 20-30 minutes). People don’t think I’m lying,
but they often react with disbelief in that they find it a surprising truth.
What’s your kryptonite as a writer?
My kryptonite as a writer is probably trying to make a
poem (or any piece of writing, really) longer. I stop myself short SO often
with all of my art. Is this a good thing? Often. Yet, I wish I had the patience
to stick with a poem longer and develop it into a larger vignette.
If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
I would want the superpower to heal others. I move
through life trying to help people in any way I can, and to magically heal people would be so useful, fulfilling,
and important.
Describe your book in three words.
Deconstruction, self-actualization, love.
Summarize your book using only gifs or emojis.
✝️🚫😭😐😱🫣🙂😊☺️🥰❤️💗☮️💪🏻
In a less realistic sense, I would choose Neil Hilborn.
(This is less realistic because I don’t imagine it ever happening). I’d choose
him because he’s inspired so much of my writing and writing style, and I’d love
to discuss that with him. Also, he just seems like such a cool, easygoing guy;
I would feel at ease and we’d end up at some kind of fun, unique event or store
or park. I can just see it.
In a more realistic sense (because I can totally imagine
this happening), I would choose Lilia Marie Ellis. Lilia is a friend of mine
from Twitter, and she also happens to be an amazing poet. Spending a day with
them would be an opportunity to deepen our friendship and to learn from each
other, in terms of poetry, philosophy, and more.
What are some of your favorite websites or social media platforms?
I would like to shout out YouTube. I am a huge fan. So
many YouTubers have been formative to my life and to making me who I am (Good
Mythical Morning, Markiplier, Daniel Howell & Amazing Phil, to name a few).
The app allows for so much creativity, connection, comfort, and just good ole’
silly humor.
What is your favorite book from childhood?
Oh, it would be impossible to settle on just one! However, a book that is always knocking around in my head, insisting I remember its wackiness, is The Giggler Treatment by Roddy Doyle. I have such simultaneously vague yet specific memories of this book. I recall it being a lovely, goofy journey with a good narrative voice.
Do you read the reviews of your books or do you stay far far away from them, and why?
I always, always, always read reviews of my books! Each
review is a gift, in my opinion. A reviewer puts a piece of themself into the
review; to read their individual thoughts and feelings about words I’ve crafted
is to witness a deep part of them and to foster connection. I am grateful for
that shared emotion. Similarly, I am grateful for any feedback, good or bad, as
I can use it to further hone my craft.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Because something so beautiful should
never suffer”—so Aleah Dye proclaims unwaveringly in the opening poem of her
collection. Dye's poetry is symphonic and hopeful, moving from loss of faith in
God to her triumphant faith in human beings. Theory of Creation is an adamant
cry of resilience, of love for life and the people who make it worthwhile. It
is a treasure for all of us who are "waiting to hear from heaven",
and meanwhile assured only of earth.
- Lilia Marie Ellis
So easy and nourishingly agreeable is it, to be charmed and acquainted with this poet through this small taste of their talent. This reader finds kinship in the floating sense of wonder, the dreamy, curious, confident sensuality, and the overflowing musing against dogma and conditional love. Ideals and idylls even a non-believer can appreciate. Immense respect to the wit in so many turns of phrase and carefully chosen, positioned words, like inventions and incantations. These words hold glimpses of what this reader treasures in great poetry, great writing: a wisdom of complexity, a messiness of living in the world, the warmth of surrender to life. Pure feeling.
- Benjamin E. Morris
Written like a confession, Aleah Dye ties
together threads of trauma and faith, apathy and atheism to create a miracle of
resurrection. This chapbook is a hymn for the godless, the faithful, and
everyone who has ever felt forgotten.
- Ben Riddle
Aleah Dye uses her poems to artfully navigate between ideas of belief and disbelief. Her work asks us to consider the fluidity of God, how God might not exist in the most traditional sense but could exist within the people who love us. God could be your mother, your lover, or even yourself. The possibilities are endless. The poems play with religious imagery in skillful and exciting ways. Aleah references proverbs and other aspects of the Bible, but she adds her own spin to them. These revisions evoke an array of feelings in the reader, mixing joy with sorrow and confidence with fear. Often, it feels like the speaker of the poems is speaking to God directly. The speaker asks God the question, "where were you when I needed you?" And if there is no reply to that question, perhaps it's best to live our lives without waiting for the answer.
- Catie Wiley
buy a copy here:
https://www.kithbooks.com/shop/p/dye
No comments:
Post a Comment