Jess Row
(1991)
How would you characterize the influence of your YWW experience in your life?
The YWW was a transformative experience for me: it opened my eyes to all kinds of imaginative and intellectual connections between literature, philosophy, spirituality, and politics. A lot of that I credit to Margo’s leadership—she had a kind of genius for opening up the life of the mind in a way that teenagers could connect with. The visiting poet in that session, Nick Bozanic, distributed a packet of reading materials—ranging from Novalis to Aristotle to paintings made by elephants—that I still keep in my files. I also formed very deep connections with the friends I made at YWW. This was more than twenty years ago, pre-Internet, and so I wasn’t able to keep up with them into adulthood, but I still think about them and miss them.
What’s the best advice you can give a Young Writer (in general or in your specific genre)?
Don’t limit yourself to publishing in your high school literary magazine; don’t limit your circle of readers to your friends. There’s no reason why a sixteen or seventeen-year-old (apart from attending YWW) can’t take adult writing workshops—I did. Think of yourself as an apprentice and find established writers to be your mentors. Ask. Assert yourself. And above all else, read. Your primary task is to read and absorb everything you can find. Haunt the bookstores and libraries in your town. Read literary blogs and online publications like The Millions to find out what people are talking about. Don’t go to college to study creative writing: pick the best college you can get into (and afford) and major in an established field: literature, psychology, philosophy, economics. Then take workshops on the side. Use college as an opportunity to get the widest education you can. If you can, try to learn one ancient (Greek, Latin, Hebrew, classical Chinese, classical Arabic, Sanskrit) and one modern language fluently and try to start translating while you’re an undergraduate; take every opportunity you have to travel and work abroad.
What do you find yourself most often reading or listening to lately and why?
Here are a few books I’ve been excited about lately (this is in spring of 2013): Joshua Cohen, Four New Messages; Trevor Paglen, Torture Taxi; Ali Smith, Artful; Revolution: A Reader (Paraguay Press); Kenneth Goldsmith, Seven American Deaths and Disasters; The Interventionists: A Guide To The Creative Disruption of Every Life (Mass MoCA).