Zinnina Hansen (US) embodies the ethos of Write the World: she was inspired by the prize-winning review of one of her pieces to both deepen her own peer reviews and pay it forward. Her resulting win for Best Peer Review in our Poetry & Spoken Word Competition proves that there is really nothing as helpful and motivating as being in community with other writers!
Get Zinnia’s tips on how to connect with a piece you’re peer reviewing, her favorite pieces she’s written this year, and more!
Last month we awarded Best Peer Review to amaryllis for her review of your op-ed; this month, you won Best Peer Review! How does it feel to come full circle?
It’s definitely a cool piece of symmetry. amaryllis’s review was insightful, nuanced and extremely helpful. It inspired me to step up my Peer Reviewing game! She showed me how a peer review can be both encouraging and insightful. I really felt like she “got” my Op-Ed. And that was super cool because it both reassured me that my essay was understandable and it allowed her to contribute some brilliant ideas that made my piece so much better. I hope that I am able to do that with my peer reviews: affirm and contribute.
Guest Judge Jacob Sam-La Rose said your review stood out because it “offered evidence of real investment” in the poem. What advice do you have for your fellow reviewers on establishing a sense of investment in a piece, whether or not they immediately connect with it?
For me, appreciating literature is not necessarily about relating to a piece of writing or even understanding it, but rather appreciating the art of it. I think (and this is actually something I could be a lot better at) the trick is to explore how a poem, a story, or an essay manipulates reality and translates it into art. Often, as in the poem of Nyla’s that I reviewed, this process of translation allows an author to reveal something profound and weighty. But that is not always the case. Sometimes a piece of writing is simply beautiful, and I think beauty is something everyone can relate to.
How does giving peer reviews support your own writing?
It really really helps my grammar. Looking for those silly little mistakes helps me notice them in my own writing. Peer reviewing has also given me a sense of the general shape stories take and a deeper appreciation for how they are crafted.
What is your favorite piece you’ve written on WtW so far in 2021?
That is a hard question! I have written so many of them it’s a little bit embarrassing. I actually think my favorite might be the essay I wrote for May’s Food Writing Competition, “Spring Salmon in Skagit Valley.” But I am also very proud of my essay "White Trash” and my short story “Narcissus Boy.”