INTERVIEW: JOY SULLIVAN
On poetry, writing joy,
I first discovered Joy Sullivan as many of us find electric words these days that force us to pause. I found her with my thumb as I scrolled through my phone. I read a line, and hovered, metallic, lifted right out of my chair.
Joy’s writing is crisp, elegant, and fiery. James Baldwin once described great writing, and great lines in particular, as ‘clean as a bone’. Evident in Sullivans work is the kind of fine needle precision it takes to be a masterful writer. It is as though each word is a pebble washed in a clean stream before being assembled. Slick, hard, thoughtful. I was so excited to sit and talk with Joy for the first in my series of interviews with sensational writers about the writing life. Joy and I spoke about books, writing happiness, and getting published.
Enjoy! and keep writing.
Hi Joy! When did you discover your love for writing? And how did you emerge as a poet through that? It comes in stages, right?
Yeah, absolutely. I started writing from a very young age as I think a lot of writers find the force of language. It feels like some kind of alchemy that puts us in touch with the world that we didn't otherwise know could be ours. It's power, right? When I was a young girl, I lived overseas in countries in which I often didn't speak the language. My family moved every couple of years, so it was really hard for me to retain language. And so I actually started writing in earnest when we were in the middle of Central African Republic. I just couldn't speak the language. I found words as a way of making sure I could understand my identity when I didn't have control over my surroundings.
So that was sort of my first immersion into language. I wrote a lot of stories when I was young, and read them back to my sisters. They were very supportive. I think we all look for that first person that says ‘yes’ you know, ‘this matters, you've got something here you need, you should keep going with this.’ And then you know, from there I started writing professionally, then I got into a master's program, then I took a lot of time off writing and found my way back into it in the pandemic.
I think it's really important to have someone willing to read your work. I think we have this misconception that writing happens in a vacuum and we do it all by ourselves and no one ever looks at it. Yeah. But I don't, I don't think that's how human brains work. I think the best art happens in a community.
How important is community in your writing? You've created a community yourself with ‘Sustenance’ and your newsletter. How important is that and how does it inform your work as well, having your own community?