Pact Press Titles

Writing Times with Mikhal Weiner

July 12, 2017 Leave a Comment

Pact Press author Mikhal Weiner — Mikhal Weiner

Most writers have day jobs and frequently have difficulty finding writing time. How do you manage it?

Finding time for writing is a huge challenge for me. I have a day job, as do most, and am also a musician, which basically means that I’m constantly trying to maintain three careers at once. Needless to say, this requires a lot of drafting and redrafting of lists. Usually there are two things that help me make sure I make time to write. The first is a project I feel passionate about. This anthology is an excellent example of something that felt extremely important to me, something I didn’t want to miss. The second is a deadline. If I have a hard and fast deadline that’s being imposed by an external source I will absolutely find time to make it happen. In the case of this essay, I had to put in some late nights to get it done, all of which I had scheduled ahead of time. I doubt I would have been so diligent had I not had a hard deadline to meet.

How long have you been writing and do you perceive your writing to have evolved in any particular way that you would like to share?

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember, but I only decided to write professionally less than a year ago. I think the biggest difference I can point to since making that decision is a more cohesive voice. Part of the reason I began taking my writing more seriously was because I understood that I had a point of view I wanted to share with others, so I’ve been trying to be diligent about having a cohesive voice as I do so.

What appealed to you about being a part of the Pact Press Speak and Speak Again anthology?

The shock, despair, and uncertainty I felt the morning after the presidential election were profound. I truly didn’t know what to do with myself, wandering the streets of New York and looking for a way to explain what was happening to me, my friends, my values, and my country. When my editor from Entropy Magazine sent me this writing opportunity I was immediately interested. I’ve always processed my thoughts and emotions through either my music or my writing and this was a perfect opportunity to work through my confused ideas.

What do you think is the responsibility of the writer in today’s polarized environment?

I think the responsibility of the artist is always the same – to express thoughts and ideas that provoke others out of complacency and into critical thought. As long as there has been society there have been ills in need of our attention, and it’s our lot to point to them, and to encourage others to point to them as well until we’ve come together to create a lasting solution. The artist needs to have an opinion and to express it clearly. Often this is an uncomfortable space to occupy but it’s how societies move forwards – by sharing ideas.

Connect with Mikhal:

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Writing Times with Frances Kai-Hwa Wang

May 12, 2017 Leave a Comment

Pact Press author Frances Kai-Hwa Wang

Most writers have day jobs and frequently have difficulty finding writing time. How do you manage it?

I have four children and nine jobs. I manage it by not sleeping. Ever.

How long have you been writing and do you perceive your writing to have evolved in any particular way that you would like to share?

I have been writing since fifth grade when I wrote a book review of “Old Bones” for Highlights Magazine. I did it for the money, $5. Since then, I have written news, feature articles, reviews, essays, columns, blog posts, prose poetry, and creative nonfiction, primarily for ethnic new media. I have also created multimedia artworks and I have hand sewn chapbooks. I speak often to college students and young professionals about Asian American history and media, challenging them to resistance and action. Regardless of the form, I find that I am always searching for meaning, for truth, for better understanding. My guardian angel once observed, “You’re the sort of person who doesn’t even know what you think until you’ve written it.”

What appealed to you about being a part of the Pact Press Speak and Speak Again anthology?

I love the Southern Poverty Law Center, Teaching Tolerance, and all the great work that they do!

What do you think is the responsibility of the writer in today’s polarized environment?

Make trouble. Move hearts. Incite people to action. #GoodTrouble

Why do you do write? Why do you do what you do?

I really want to help empower younger Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders so that they do not have to go through the same stuff we did with identity crises, being a minority, always being “the only one.” I would love to spare people (starting with my own children) the angst of wrestling with who they are, what they are, how they fit in, and help them develop a strong sense of identity, culture, and pride. I advocate and speak up for the older generation and more recent immigrants who might not have the education, political awareness, or English skills to fight for their rights and their children’s rights. I talk to the mainstream because I figure that the best way to protect my children from racism and discrimination tomorrow is to educate their peers today.

Frances Kai-Hwa Wang is a second-generation Chinese American from California who now divides her time between Michigan and Hawai‘i. She is a contributor and essayist for NBC News Asian America. She has also written for AAPIVoices.com, NewAmericaMedia.org, ChicagoIsTheWorld.org, AnnArbor.com, PacificCitizen.org, InCultureParent.com. She teaches Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies at University of Michigan. She has published three chapbooks of prose poetry, been included in several anthologies and art exhibitions, and created a collaborative multimedia artwork for a Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

Frances has three chapbooks available from Blacklava Books

Imaginary Affairs—Postcards from an Imagined Life

Where the Lava Meets the Sea–Asian Pacific American Postcards from Hawai‘i

Dreams of the Diaspora

Connect with Frances:

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Writing Times with Daniel A. Olivas

May 11, 2017 1 Comment

Daniel A. Olivas, Pact Press author — Daniel A. Olivas lives in Los Angeles with his wife. By day, he is an attorney.

Pact Press sits down with Daniel A. Olivas, who offers thoughtful insight on the writing craft and on the duty of writers in a polarized age, with a inspiring message for emerging writers. Pact Press is very proud to be releasing Daniel A. Olivas’ poetry collection, Crossing the Border, in the fall of this year.

Most writers have day jobs and frequently have difficulty finding writing time. How do you manage it?

First, I have a very patient spouse who understands my artistic compulsion to write. Second, I am a compulsive writer. Third, I derive great joy from creative writing.

How long have you been writing and do you perceive your writing to have evolved in any particular way that you would like to share?

I’ve been writing since I learned how to spell out words. My mother saved some of my very early little books that I wrote…simple stories with illustrations. I wrote all through school but put aside creative writing when I went to law school and started my legal career. But even as a lawyer, I wrote constantly: briefs, memos, letters. I also wrote articles for our legal newspaper here in Los Angeles. Then at the ripe old age of 39, I started to write fiction and poetry which started to get published. Now, 19 years later and almost a dozen books to my name along with critical and scholarly recognition of my writing, I’m still in love with the creative process. In terms of my evolution as a writer, I believe that my stories and poetry are deeper yet more economical.

What appealed to you about being a part of the Pact Press Speak and Speak Again anthology?

With the election of Trump, we’ve entered into a very dangerous time in our history. I feel as though I have a duty to be part of the literary resistance movement. I will not sit back quietly. I believe Speak and Speak Again is part of that movement.

What do you think is the responsibility of the writer in today’s polarized environment?

As a writer of color, as a Chicano writer, I feel as though I have a duty to speak out in favor of diversity, civil rights, and justice especially during these perilous political times. Also, I believe that when a person of color gets published, that—by itself—is a political act. As I often tell students when I get a chance to speak in front of them: if we don’t write our own stories, someone else will, and they will get it wrong.