Interview Week: Poet/Author Hope Nguyen

One of the people who I watch for new posts from on Twitter is author Hope Nguyen.  She is funny, dark like me, and has clear talent.  I invited her to this interview and would be very happy if all the people reading this make her work even more popular.

Your bio says you are half Thai and half Vietnamese, but you studied in the UK. Do you speak Thai, Vietnamese and English, all? Are there more? How does that affect your writing, do you think in one language and write in another?

I was born and raised in Thailand, so naturally, my first language is Thai. Just like many other children from multicultural family, I also learned French as a second language. My mother, who was half French/ Vietnamese, insisted on me keeping French throughout my youth.

Vietnamese, although it is a beautiful language, I only know some basics I learned from my late grandmother. On the other hand, English, I get to use it the most since I left for the UK when I was 16.

I am not sure how it works, but I unconsciously switch my languages according to my circumstances.
Sometimes, I think/write in English. Sometimes, in Thai or even French, Japanese or Italian. With Japanese, I got to learn properly in school. Italian, I picked it up from living in Rome for almost 7 years.

You post on twitter but unlike many poets there you speak more about poetry than reveal your own. Since you are a published author, what goes into your presence online and does it have an impact upon your sales?

Since we have no way to protect our works from plagiarism, being overly cautious with sharing works online seems like the best option. I shape my online presence through who I genuinely am. So far I have built my own circle of readers who share the same interest, whether it's reading, writing, movies, or pop culture in general. And of course.

I posted a lot of coffee contents over the years. Cliché, I know, but I can't imagine living without coffee.

My first book, Twisted & Tangled: A Collection of Unsettling Haiku has only been published a few months. The sales have been exceeding my expectation, considering haiku is not a popular genre. I still believe in the power of marketing, which I don't have time to focus on it as it should be. I hope to do more regarding marketing and promoting my book through wider channels and social platforms in 2022.

How did you find yourself writing poetry, and what process did you go through before you shared with others? Would you suggest to others that being a poetry writer burns in you, or is it more something you enjoy and isn't a constant?

I don't think of myself as a poet. My works are mainly fiction, but poetry always has been my hobby,  therapy in a way.  Sometimes words and mood come in the spur of the moment.

Who are the poets and writers who inspire you and who cause you to think deeper and make you wish to also create?  Does a poet necessarily find inspiration from other poets, or do they write life and are inspired more by that?

For a large part of my childhood, magic realism has always been a fundamental preference in my reading and writing journey. Gabriel García Márquez, Haruki Murakami,  David Mitchell, Neil Gaiman and to the extent, Stephen King have always been my inspiration.

I believe it is important for writers to be extremely connected to their works in the most intimate way. To find that passion, you have to find the mediums. Apart for reading, I shape my stories through art, music and movies.

I started my poetry journey in grade school at a very young age. In Thai culture, Poetry has a long history and plays a big part in our education system. After, I was introduced to Robert Frost and Ezra Pound in English class, I was captivated by the connection between poets and their writing.

As poetess you create a personae, whether intentional or as a matter of the writing.  How do you think about poetry? Does it bubble forth in an organic event. Or do you write it with logic and precision, and then then by edits reduce and enlarge it until it is acceptable? To what extent do you think poetry is a way of thinking rather than a form of writing?

I think of my poetry as a story, being told via a different form of writing. In a way, being writer gives you a chance to explore various aspects of who you are and what you are interested in.  I guess this also a solid point as to why I don't think of myself as a poet but someone who enjoy poetry.

I wish I could say I have a system in my writing process. But I work better by just letting it to happen than forcing it to fit the routine. Unfortunately, sometime deadlines happened and  that would require some disciplines and a lot of determinations.

Where on social media can readers find you, and do you have a website with news and product to sell?  What would the addresses be?

You can find me on Twitter/Instagram/Tumblr, and my author site Here and my WordPress blog hopewith.coffee

My books are available on Amazon : amazon.com/author/hopenguyen

Thank you Alex for taking your time with this interview and let me be a part of your blog.