What was the inspiration behind your piece?
The piece is loosely based off an experience I had in a similar setting as the speaker in the poem. As a woman of colour, I am heavily interested in the place of women in academic settings, and for me, a ‘fair society’ is one in which women and people of colour are given equal opportunities in education. I wanted to convey the anger, immense discomfort and sense of displacement that myself, and many other women have felt in a highly Male-dominated academic sphere. Sylvia Plath’s ‘The Applicant’ was a key piece of inspiration behind the poem, too.
Why did you pick the form you did?
Free form has always appealed to me since I began studying poetry. A poem written in an unstructured, loose style draws attention to the rigidity and the sense of suffocation my speaker feels.
Why do you write?
I write because the written word is far harder to silence than speech.
Any advice to fellow young writers?
Read as much as you can. Find your style, your voice, and be patient with yourself. We will only get better with time!
What's a piece of writing/poem/novel/article that has influenced me?
Virginia Woolf’s ‘A Room of One’s Own’. It is a reminder that the personal is always political.
You can read Devki's freeform entry to the Orwell Youth Prize, The Interview, right here on Voice.
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