Kartika_Issue15

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KR: What is the physical act of writing like for you? MT: I wrote both my novels at many different residencies and also in my writing room in Brooklyn. Wherever I am, I place my desk right next to a window. On the desk, I set up a simple visual tableau related to the story that I'm working on. A set of tiny silver-plated salt and pepper shakers for The Book of Salt. A ceramic ashtray in the shape of North Carolina for Bitter in the Mouth. Sometimes, I'm convinced that I have to be wearing shoes or I can't write. I try not to write while wearing my PJs and never just my underwear (sorry, over sharing). This is all certainly related to my need to escape the house or building (and my manuscript) in an emergency. I'm not joking. Feeling in control and prepared is necessary for my process, especially since what's happening on the page/screen is so often the opposite of that. I believe strongly in the ritual as opposed to the routine of writing. Ritual and routine are not the same. Ritual (a long walk beforehand, a cup of roasted rice tea during, an salutary nod to my literary heroes, Gertrude Stein and Marguerite Yourcenar, whose works in various forms occupy a place of honor on my writing desk right now) is about the physical, intellectual and emotional transition that needs to take place before I can shed my day-to-day self and become my writing self. Routine is the numbing repetition of an act: laptop, daily word count, and deadlines. KR: Stories versus novels: with which do you feel more comfortable, and why? MT: I love the short story, but I haven't written a short story in decades. In my novels, I’m always hoping to achieve the emotional economy, tautness of language, and gestural symbolism that are present in the best of them. KR: In what way/s has your law background informed your fiction? MT: The law taught me precision. Find and use the word that means exactly what you want to convey. Do not compromise or there will be ugly consequences. 78
ISSUE 15 | SPRING 2013 KR: What advice do you have for beginning or emerging writers? MT: I recommend that they travel, not just while they are emerging but during the whole of their writerly lives. I also recommend that they take off their headphones or ear buds when on the subway, bus, train, etc. In other words, eavesdrop. Everyday people say amazing and odd things. The other day I walked by a group of older African American men on Sixth Avenue, and one of them was adamantly repeating this phrase several times: “God and Hilary Clinton…” I should have stopped and listened to the denouement, but I was in a hurry. That too: Don’t be in a hurry. You end up missing things. 79
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Cover Art: “The Home Front" from
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MISSION STATEMENT Kartika Review se
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EDITORIAL Eugenia Leigh Dear Reader
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Purvi Shah’s “Tree Risings” d
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The Home Front Jordan Josafat 10
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lip as she tried to swing her swoll
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“Masayuki! Tsune, sit quietly. Be
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simple wedding was kept. Along with
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Etsuko had backed out the door slow
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SKIN DEEP Anu Kandikuppa To: Kinder
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northwestern part of India, in part
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must use a blend of oils and perfor
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To: Ms. Clayton and Ms. Simpson Fro
Page 28 and 29: To: General Manager, Crayona Compan
Page 30 and 31: “Yes,” I said, “though I’m
Page 32 and 33: THOUGHTS OF SINKING Kaitlin Solimin
Page 34 and 35: I paused. How had she remembered th
Page 36 and 37: never touched any of the girls inap
Page 38 and 39: the next generation couldn’t best
Page 40 and 41: Chenxi climbed up the silver ladder
Page 42 and 43: she’d tried. She’d climbed to t
Page 44 and 45: else. For now, this tall, slow Amer
Page 46 and 47: “That’s true,” I said. I hate
Page 48 and 49: I’d read a newspaper article many
Page 50 and 51: Bomb the Morons 50
Page 52 and 53: Into the Wild 52
Page 54 and 55: Runaway Train 54
Page 56 and 57: PAROUSIA I Karen An-Hwei Lee Red bu
Page 58 and 59: QUARANTINE Henry W. Leung My feet p
Page 60 and 61: THE TRANSFUSION OF YUKIYO KANAHASHI
Page 62 and 63: 5. Some people will accuse me of bi
Page 64 and 65: Platonic knowledge is joyful recoll
Page 66 and 67: our self, freed from the constraint
Page 68 and 69: the story of how I began studying J
Page 70 and 71: Jackson Bliss earned his MFA from t
Page 72 and 73: piece suit nearest the air conditio
Page 74 and 75: AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH MONIQUE TRUON
Page 76 and 77: suspect everyone in Saigon was conc
Page 80 and 81: CONTRIBUTOR BIOS FICTION Sharon Has
Page 82 and 83: ART 82 What The Jordan Josafat Jord
Page 84 and 85: Nonfiction Editor, Jennifer Derilo
Page 86 and 87: Kartika Review is a national Asian
Page 89: ISSUE 15 | SPRING 2013 89
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