Portland artist Samiya Bashir visits WSU Vancouver
At the second Creative Writers Series event of the year, poet and Reed College professor Samiya Bashir shared her techniques for capturing inspiration when writing poetry and other literary genres.
Bashir read from her poetry collection, “Field Theories,” and showed video representations of her work as a physical representation of what her novel is about.
“Field Theories,” which won the Stafford/Hall award for poetry at the 2018 Oregon Book Awards, analyzes how humans carry and live through their physical bodies. “It’s really interesting to me how we treat each other, love each other and how we live and negotiate our very different bodies in these spaces together,” Bashir said.
In her novel, Bashir focuses on how people should treat each other with kindness and love within the world. Bashir said her work comes down to the way humans live together.
“I always have something on me to write with because you never know when something is going to happen…”
Samiya Bashir
She said she is always is prepared for inspiration to strike at any given moment. “I always have something on me to write with because you never know when something is going to happen… I try to find time to turn the world off, to think and get things done,” Bashir said. She also discussed her process of finding ideas and turning those inspirations into art.
“[The muse] has to know where to find you. You have to be somewhere to show up for it. If all we’re doing is waiting for inspiration, inspiration will go find someone else,” Bashir explained.
Christopher Luna, a former poet laureate of Clark County, attended the Creative Writer Series event on Jan. 30. Luna was named Clark County’s first poet laureate in 2013. In this position, Luna has composed and written poetry for local special events and occasions. One of Luna’s poetic contributions to the community include his Ghost Town Poetry workshops hosted throughout Clark County.
With regards to Bashir’s writing and theory of staying in the present when awaiting creativity, Luna said, “That is something I felt I could really relate to.” Adding, “I think that when we are able to be conscious and aware of our environment of what’s happening within our bodies and around us, the poem presents itself to us. You have to both observe and participate in your life in order to write poetry.”
The next Creative Writers Series event will showcase Melba Joyce Boyd, an award winning author of 13 books and professor in African American studies at Wayne State University. The event starts at 6 p.m. on Feb. 13 in the Dengerink Administration building, Room 110.
Emily is a senior studying integrated strategic communication at WSU Vancouver.