Meet Saoirse Palmer, The Malu Zine’s 05 contributor and writer of “& in your chest, you’ll feel the fireworks.”!
SR: Could you give us a quick introduction to yourself?
My name is Ashton, I am a 16-year-old A-Level student from Northern Ireland. I have had many publications in various magazines, such as Catheartic Magazine Issue 2, Adolescence Magazine Issue 1.5, Gypsophila Zine Volume 3 Issue 1, Ink and Marrow Issue 4, The Mosaic Journal Issue 2 and of course, The Malu Zine Issue 5. I also have upcoming publications in The Encephalon Journal Issue 1, Spiritus Mundi Review Issue 5, The Elysian Chronicles Issue 3 and The Diamond Gazettes blog. I am also an editor at Peiskos Literary Magazine, which is presently in the early stages of development. As well as exploring and reading novels and poetry, I love to create pencil portraits of myself, friends and family; I believe art and literature are wholly intertwined and influence each other's expression immensely.
SR: Who inspired you to become a writer?
Family is the basis of my inspiration. My Great Aunt, a previous English teacher, always encouraged me to read. She adored the DiscWorld series by Terry Pratchett and had bookshelves I would stare at every time I went to her house; the novels and poetry that resided on those bookshelves, and the words spoken by my Aunt acted as the catalyst for my experience with writing today. Discovering my favourite writers also came from my family; as my most cherished inspiration, Ocean Vuong’s novel ‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous’ and his poetry book ‘Night Sky With Exit Wounds’ was a Christmas gift from my Mum about a year and a half ago, which formed my understanding of poetry, and the limits I can break with it.
SR: What is a word you often use in your writings?
I find myself often using words such as ‘anywhere’ ‘together’ ‘entirety’ and ‘nothing,’ but the word I feel I imbed most into my poems would be “everything.” It began unconsciously at first, I had just started writing the way I wanted to write, and that word seemed to be a guiding torch for what I wanted to put on paper (or computer screen). The word ‘everything’ exists in images of held hands, open skies, small bedrooms and connected hearts, it really is the sole connection: everything is everything, and It leaves a casm from which I can discover the parts of ‘everything' that I want to write.
SR: What is a song that takes you back in time?
A song that takes me back in time, and I listen to mostly when I'm writing, would be ‘her ribbon in there’ by sundots. I find that song represents the sounds of a yearning, crying child, but also the weird, yearning, uncomfortable feeling in your chest when you're a teenager still working things out. The lack of lyrics also allows me to develop those sounds to suit myself, allowing me to translate those sounds into the words I currently feel. That desperate, cramped feeling is what inspires my poems almost every time; my poetry is a battle with myself, which sometimes develops a revolution by the ending lines, or connotes bitter syllables, so by having that music on and reminding myself of both childhood and recent years of anger, I can develop my poetry into an interconnection, a connection of both past
and present, so that my work confides within myself, it becomes internal and external - it becomes ‘everything.’
SR: What advice do you have for young writers who’ve just started their publication journey?
Write everything down, and never feel embarrassed over sending your writing. Before I got a large amount of magazine acceptances, I have had many rejections, but that didn't stop my writing, in fact it encouraged me. No matter how ‘cringe’ you think your writing is, I guarantee you there are people out there who will love it, so always send it, and never feel discouraged. Also remember to unrestrict your Google docs.
SR: What are your future plans as a writer?
I'm only 16, so I have no idea where my publication journey will follow, but I know that I want to become a lecturer in creative writing - inspiring people and uplifting them with my words is my main goal in life, and I want to be able to share that goal with the new generation.