Contributor Spotlight: Eileen R. Tabios

Eileen R. Tabios’ excerpt from “When I Was” is part of Issue 78 of Bellingham Review. Subscribe or purchase a single issue through our Submittable page here. 

What would you like to share with our readers about the work you contributed to the Bellingham Review?

I find “constraints” useful in writing new poems. In the case of my poem “When I Was,” the constraint is to begin each stanza with each year of my life, starting with “When I Was 1” to what would be my age when I finally finish the poem. The constraint was inspired by an Anselm Berrigan poem, “Seven,” whose first line is “When I Was 7.” A finish to my poem, of course, is artificial because after catching up to my age I could still continue the poem each year until I die. And I love that the result is a de facto autobiography—I love to tinker with new ways to write biography and autobiography because I think that the form is impossible. That is, is it really possible to fully articulate a life when to live is inherently to create elisions, if not secrets?

Tell us about your writing life.

My mother says I began writing at age 5, but writing visually. For example, I would crayon a yellow circle at the top of the page for a line I would read to her as “The sun is out.” For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved words. I really think I began as a writer by beginning as a voracious reader. Later, my first career was print journalism which, with hindsight, was another manifestation of my love for words. I didn’t actually begin writing as a so-called “creative” writer until my mid-30s. This means I’ve been writing for over two decades. I spent most of those decades focused on poetry, but I’ve recently returned to fiction. If I had to choose one word to capture a recurring obsession, it would be lucidity. I think that if my writings are to have any relevance, it would be because they resulted from seeing as clearly as I could. By seeing and lucidity, I mean analyzing, understanding, learning what lessons surface, then applying them beyond the page to real-life.

Which non-writing aspects of your life most influence your writing?

Ideas influence my writing. They could be ideas on matters I would not think are of interest but if the idea about them is interesting in some way, then they’re influential. It’s like how I choose what to read—it could be on a topic that I didn’t think interested me, but if the writing is interesting (including “good,” however one defines it), then that work interests, thus, influences me. As well, I am highly sensitized to the visual arts and they’ve probably been the top influence on my poetry; I have written a lot of ekphrastic poems.

What writing advice has stayed with you?

To write well, read voraciously and experience widely.

What is your favorite book (or essay, poem, short story)? Favorite writers?

Right now—and just right now—and reflecting my renewed focus on novel-writing, my favorite books are those that create the series My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgard. But my long-time favorite novelist is Gina Apostol and long-time favorite poet is Eric Gamalinda.

What are you reading right now?

I read more than one book at a time. I’m currently reading The Letters Of Sylvia Plath, am about to begin Elaine Castillo’s America Is Not the Heart, and reflecting my obsession with “tiny books”: The History of Miniature Books by Doris Varner Welsh, among others.

What project(s) are you working on now, or next?

After 20 years of working on and off on a novel, I finished my first long-form novel in 2016. I set it aside because I wanted to maximize my objectivity when it came to editing it (editing a novel can be as prolonged a process as writing it). On January 1, 2019, I began the editing and that’s my primary task right now, even as I have four poetry books released/scheduled to be released in 2019. As regards poetry, the work is mostly done and the books’ publication just reflects the time-lag between writing and publishing. My 2019 poetry books are The Great American Novel: Selected Visual Poetry (Paloma Press); Witness in the Convex Mirror (TinFish Press); Evocare (GMGA); and The In(ter)vention of the Hay(na)ku: Selected Tercets (Marsh Hawk Press).

Anything else our readers might want to know about you?

Out of my home, and reflecting the influence of my love for the visual arts, I recently opened a gallery focused on contemporary Filipino-Pilipinz artists. My North Fork Arts Projects gallery is primarily online-based and you can see it at www.northforkartsprojects.blogspot.com.

Where can our readers connect with you online?

Through my website: www.eileenrtabios.com

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Featured Image: “Clocks” by mrkittums