Like the Transcendentalist authors who inspire her, it was the connection to nature that drew Suhanee Mitragotri to the piece she edited for our Poetry & Spoken Word Competition. The result was a review that guest judge Anne-Marie Te Whiu called “thoughtful” and “generous.”
Read our interview with her to discover what poets she recommends as well as how she’s occupying her time during social distancing!
How did you decide which piece to review, and what was your process for reviewing it?
When I was looking through possible pieces to review, “The Tree.” by Erin Whell stood out to me. I immediately noticed the beautiful connection that the writer had with nature, and the strong metaphors drew me in. The writer had a great message, so I focused my peer review on providing suggestions as to how to incorporate the message more strongly into the poem. After looking at overall themes and fluidity of the poem, I delved into certain lines which I thought could less explicitly state the message and describe it more through imagery. My review was a combination of focusing on the big picture as well as the small details, both of which I find to be very important.
Guest judge Anne-Marie Te Whiu said about your review: “What is clear with Suhanee’s review is that they are a keen reader, and for many poets, this is a part of the literary equation that is often forgotten. Many poets focus on writing rather than reading. For me, the best poets are the broadest readers and for me, that’s what Suhanee’s review reflects.” What authors/books have influenced your writing and editing most?
One of my favorite poets is Maya Angelou. Her writing is raw and emotional, and her strength is shown through her words. She inspires me as a writer to clearly identify the messages I want to convey, and I incorporate this into my editing as well. I always advise people to not just write sentences that sound “impressive,” but rather write sentences that convey something. That not only makes the writing clearer, but it also makes it more powerful. I have read many pieces by Transcendentalist authors, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. They write about how society’s pressures affect individuals, and after reading their work, I began to write more about my views on what conforming to society feels and looks like. Additionally, I enjoy reading John Green’s and Alice Walker’s books. Their novels are filled with thoughtful commentary on society, relationships, and human desires, and they are both very talented authors.
What are your current writing goals?
My current writing goal is to write poetry from a different person’s perspective. I rarely write from other people’s perspectives, and I definitely want to try doing that. I also want to create a poetry collection of my own, which is going to take a lot of writing and revising, but I am looking forward to it. I additionally want to do more peer reviews on Write the World and work on my revising skills more.
Are you finding any unique or fun ways to occupy your time during social isolation?
One of the main things I have been doing is writing poetry and reading others’ poetry. I also have been spending a lot of time with my dog and my cat. I have been taking my dance classes online, which has definitely been different than in-person classes, but it has been fun.
