Contributor Spotlight: Leone Brander
Leone Brander’s essay “Tick Tock Town: A Photo Essay” is part of the special international section “Place & Space in Canada” in Issue 74 of the 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’ve always been drawn to exploring how different artistic mediums can work together to create something whole. One artist that had a big impact in my creative process for this piece was Neil Shea. He’s a writer and photographer for National Geographic. What inspired me in particular was his instagram account (@neilshea13) where he posts photos and writes beautiful lyric vignettes as the captions. I wanted to adopt a similar technique for my essay.
What writing advice has stayed with you?
Say what you mean.
What is your favorite book (or essay, poem, short story)?
It’s tough to pick favorites, but I’m very inspired by the lyric ease of Sarah de Leeuw’s work. Her essay “Quick-quick. Slow. Slow.” had a great influence on this piece.
What are you reading right now?
Tenth of December by George Saunders
What are you working on now, or next?
I’m about to start my MFA in fiction at Boston University, where I hope to continue work on a novel.
Where can our readers connect with you online?
leonebrander.com or @only_leone on Twitter.
Hailing from the prairies, LEONE BRANDER is currently wrapping up a BFA in Writing at the University of Victoria where she specializes in fiction and creative non-fiction. Outside of school, she serves as Design Director for The Martlet and fiction intern with The Malahat Review. Her work is upcoming in Canadian Notes and Queries.
Featured image: “bodie ghost town” by praphulm