Photos by Michelle Castillo
It was a surprisingly gorgeous day in North Berkeley. The chirp of distant birds and rustling trees filled my ears as I sat down to interview Bay Area-based Poet Giovanna Lomanto. Ahead of the release of her second poetry book, Jupiter Fell Out The Sky Last Night, we discussed the intricacies of vulnerability and the necessity of listening to the world around you.
TW// eating disorders
What originally got you into writing? What’s your inspiration when it comes to writing?
I was doing a lot of writing around a trauma narrative, which was not necessarily the most healthy or the most helpful thing. It was mostly catharsis for myself.
For a while I thought about trying to release poetry. Eventually, I did release a poetry book a couple years ago. I’m simultaneously proud and not proud of it. So many people have reached out to me saying that the things I wrote were really heavy. The more I thought about that, the more I was like “okay, I want my work to be heavy. I want it to sit with you.” But I’m also thinking that there should be some level of hope that I feel that I want to be reflected in my writing.
And so currently, my inspiration is trying to emulate the same kind of wonder of a child in some way. In this next book I talk a lot about mythical and magical things. And also things that open my eyes and make me realize that life isn’t so bad.
With your first release, how did it feel having such vulnerable works out there in the world? Had you ever been that outwardly vulnerable before?
I have. My first book was mostly about my eating disorder. I was anorexic my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college. Sophomore year of college, when I first published the book, it was really strange to be that vulnerable all at once. I also was still hiding behind it because a lot of it was abstract. I know a lot of people who bought it, so they didn’t understand it when they read it.
As much as I was feeling really vulnerable, I realized that there’s a screen between me and my writing. The more that I learn about English the more I realize that when we talk about the Speaker of a poem, we don’t necessarily think about the author. It’s strange because my work feels like an autobiography. But it’s an autobiography that people don’t necessarily connect in their heads which is sometimes good for me.
Can you tell me more about your upcoming book?
It’s called Jupiter Fell Out the Sky Last Night. The title came from a poem called “Reality In Which I’m a Kooky Old Lady Who Makes Too Much Sense”. It’s a letter to and from my 8-year-old self. In it, the old lady randomly looks up at the sky and says “Jupiter fell out the sky last night”. That really stuck with me.
My first book was like a teenage story. This next book that’s coming out feels like a coming of age in some ways. I’m finally re-navigating things that I’ve previously established. I’m hoping that every book I write will be a different coming of age narrative. But there’s no strict narrative in this upcoming book. It’s mostly about my relationship with writing, romance and relationships; I talk about so many different things. I feel like the main center of it all is about me rediscovering wonder, which I think is really exciting.
Your upcoming book is more mature. Not saying that your first book was naive in any way, just that you’ve grown and are understanding yourself more. So having a solid piece of work is showcasing this character development.
Exactly. It’s really cool to be able to look at your work and be proud that you made it. The manuscript that I sent out the first time took two or three years to actually get published. When I got it published I handed it to my professor and said I’m not proud of this work. This is not my writing anymore. He said that that’s something every poet experiences. He called it self difference. It means that you differ from your past selves. That really helped me not be afraid to just put things out into the world.
How has it been balancing school with creating this new book?
It’s sometimes difficult. With a publisher and everything you have deadlines and you have to make edits as soon as you can. The biggest thing is that I still keep poetry as a hobby. I don’t want it to feel like a second job. The fact that I have so many poetry classes and I teach classes at Chapter 510, it gives me a lot of time and space to actually sit with myself and create.
Have you ever made a poem that was too difficult to write so you had to scrap it? Or did you push through?
I definitely have had poems that are too difficult to write. I have a lot of saved drafts floating around in my computer that I don’t look at. Sometimes it’s because I think they’re bad or they’re too personal. There are so many reasons. It’s the same thing I feel about not finishing a book. If I’m 60 pages in and think it’s shit, I don’t need to finish it.
As much as I love poetry and the expression of it, I also have to be realistic. Time is finite. If something isn’t good and you know that it’s not worth your effort, it’s better to move on. It’s sad because you’re saying goodbye to this thing that you put some time into. Ultimately, if it’s causing too much anxiety I just have to stop.
Can you tell me more about the non-profit you’re working with?
It’s called Chapter 510. They are a creative writing and publishing center. What we do is we focus on low income, queer and bipoc youth and we hold free workshops for them to attend and learn how to write full novels or poetry collections or anthologies. At the end of their workshop we publish their works and they become official authors in the Library of Congress. They have ISPNs and they get 50 free copies of the book that they can do whatever they want with. It’s really eye opening to be able to see that. It’s something I wish I could have had as a kid.
What are you the most hopeful for when it comes to pursuing the arts?
I’m thinking of transitioning into temporary poetry installments in museums and places like that. Playing with the idea of poetry as a performance, but not necessarily slam poetry. I have this dream in which I have four speakers in a square and they;re reading different poems that are parts of the same poem and they echo and repeat to each other. It will be a really difficult project to tackle, but I’m really looking forward to doing something along those lines.
If there was one thing you could say to a younger writer or artist, what would it be?
Take time to listen to yourself and others. To the world around you. My friend told me this saying where you have two ears and one mouth. Meaning, you should be doing twice the listening and half the talking. The more I thought about that the more I realized how much my art is influenced by listening to conversations. When I listen I’m like that’s interesting. Or when I’m looking at something beautiful it inspires me to write something about it. Listening is so important, and it’s generative, too.
Giovanna Lomanto
