10 Questions for Uma Menon
- By Edward Clifford
My first instinct is to translate
the word. Make it easier to understand
without saying the word itself.
I feel guikt for this mistake—
for changing languages instead
of describing. Isn't this an easy way out?
—from "We Play Charades," Volume 62, Issue 1 (Spring 2021)
Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
I imagined my first poems and stories at a very young age, before I actually knew how to write in English. I would narrate poems to my mother about all kinds of things—everything from a coin to the moon—and she would write them down in a small diary which, to this day, sits in her desk.
What writer(s) or works have influenced the way you write now?
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri was the first book I read that featured South Asian-American protagonists, and it fundamentally changed how I viewed my identity in relation to my writing. Prior to reading this short story collection, I had internalized the notion that there was nothing “unique” or “interesting” about my own story, but reading Interpreter of Maladies completely changed my perspective. Because of this, I’m very committed to advancing cultural diversity in literature and ensuring that all readers have the chance to feel represented in the media that they consume.
In terms of poetry, Adrienne Rich and in particular her poem “Planetarium”, have been great influences on my writing. This poem was one of the first pieces I came across after I discovered my love for contemporary poetry in high school. “Planetarium” made me realize the important role that poetry can play in advancing social justice and women’s liberation. I also love the writing of Leila Chatti, Safia Elhillo, Rajia Hassib, and Celeste Ng, among others.
What other professions have you worked in?
I’m currently a full-time student at Princeton University studying in the School of Public and International Affairs. Outside of poetry, I’m also a fiction writer with two children’s books forthcoming from Candlewick Press. I am also a social justice and human rights advocate, having worked with a variety of organizations in the past. I was the first Youth Fellow for the International Human Rights Art Festival (IHRAF) in 2019-2020, as well as an Encore Public Voices Fellow of The OpEd Project in 2020-2021.
What did you want to be when you were young?
Becoming an author has been my dream ever since I can remember. As a child, I also wanted to become a teacher, among other things.
What inspired you to write this piece?
“We Play Charades” is an autobiographical poem. During the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdown, my mother and I were playing charades—just as the poem states—with the app on our phones. While playing, I found myself repeatedly wanting to translate the English words into our mother tongue, Malayalam, instead of describing them as the game instructed. That experience inspired me to write this poem.
Is there a city or place, real or imagined, that influences your writing?
I think that my poetry is heavily grounded in place, as I like to explore concepts of migration, dislocation, and home in my writing. My hometown—Winter Park, Florida—makes a lot of appearances in my writing, as well as the city where my family is from—Thrissur, India. I like to explore the similarities between these places in my work as a means of uniting my cultural identities. I also often write about places that I have visited (such as a series of poems I wrote on the city of Milwaukee) that have impacted me. Ultimately, I think that we strongly associate memories with particular places, and this plays out in my writing.
Is there any specific music that aids you through the writing or editing process?
I write to the sound of my fingers tap-dancing across the keyboard, to the sound of muffled voices and cars driving by, to the sound of my grandmother’s television, and anything else that keeps me company as I think.
Do you have any rituals or traditions that you do in order to write?
I write rather sporadically, so every writing session looks quite different from the previous. Though I imagine goals for myself, I don’t have a set schedule for when to write, what to write, or how much to write. When an idea comes to me, I try to write it immediately before it can escape from my fingertips. Otherwise, I add it to my long, hodgepodge document of phrases, themes, and plot points. Opening this document each writing session is perhaps a ritual in some way, but apart from that, there are no traditions that I repeat.
If you could work in another art form what would it be?
I am very much a fan of installation art and the power of its immersive experience. I would love to be able to design installations that move audiences to interact with and reimagine the spaces they inhabit. Works like Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Border Tuner are so powerful in emphasizing the need for humanity and unity.
What are you working on currently?
I am currently working on a few fiction projects, including two children’s books that are forthcoming from Candlewick Press in 2023-2024, as well as a few works-in-progress. I’m also working on editing my second poetry collection.
UMA MENON is a seventeen-year-old author and student at Princeton University from Winter Park, Florida. Her debut book Hands for Language was published by Mawenzi House in 2020. She is the 2019-2020 Youth Fellow for the International Human Rights Art Festival and a 2020-2021 Encore Public Voices Fellow.
