“I would wake up in the middle of the night with a thought in my head and immediately note it down in my notebook silently, so that my parents would not wake up as well.” says Lara Su Yaman - a member of Turkish journal’s "Esenti" writing team, and a student currently pursuing her master's in English Studies. During the interview, readers will have the opportunity to learn about Lara Su Yaman's artistic journey, her involvement in journal writing and creation, and experience while working as a teacher. 

To begin with, when and how did you come to the decision to pursue writing?

I think it was not a conscious decision that one day I sat down and said I would do this. Instead, it is the accumulation of all those years starting from my childhood. When I look back, I remember our reading sessions with my dad in the living room, just the two of us. Or my grandmother, who would act like she could not read so that I could practice reading aloud to her when I was very little and just finding out about the world of words. When reading became a big part of my life, writing followed it. I believe the diary I kept during the summer break of the first grade was one of the first things I wrote. It was our homework so that we would not forget how to write. Then, I started creating stories about anything and everything around me: from our neighbors to the people on the street. I would wake up in the middle of the night with a thought in my head and immediately note it down in my notebook silently, so that my parents would not wake up as well. I feel like that childhood phase was a magical time to be, and I am still trying to get in touch with that small Lara inside me who constantly wrote and wrote.

You're mainly focused on poetry, but you mentioned you're also writing short stories now. Based on your experience, which one do you find harder to write and what makes it so?

Currently, I find writing poetry less challenging as my poems are the result of my emotional outbursts and experiences. They appear with their own feelings and characteristics in my head, so all I have to do is to materialize them somehow on the paper in the same way that they represent themselves. Writing short stories, however, requires me to create a character and go on a journey with them in the long run. And most of the time, they are new beings for me. I guess I prefer to go with what is familiar to me in my rhythm of life right now, but I absolutely love sitting and plotting in my head for a story as well. The last short story I wrote is called ‘February 11’ for E-Lit Magazine, and it felt very rewarding to see the product of holding that small idea in my head and following it.

You have revealed that you have been feeling a closer connection with the Turkish language at the moment, how does that affect your writing in English? Which language do you like to write in more? 

Now that I am away from home for more than a year, I am absolutely craving the Turkish language. I have never been abroad for this long, and it made me realize how my native language was the key to some deep connections with people. I still use both languages for my works, though. I write my journal in Turkish, and my literary pieces in English. It is so hard to change the habit once you have been taught to write in English for academic or literary purposes. However, I aim to improve my hold of Turkish so I am constantly analysing the use of language by some of my favourite Turkish authors. 

As you are working with the writing team of a Turkish journal “Esinti” right now. Do you have any type of works you are most excited to see: poems, essays, plays, short stories, or something else? What makes them interesting to you? 

 We are a really heterogeneous group of writers in the journal, and I am excited to see everybody’s creative work. We were inspired by the season, the myths, magic and enchantments and what I am most excited to see is the design of the journal. It will be like an old fairy tale book with special fonts and illustrations. After seeing the content ideas in our last meeting, I can say we will have film analysis, touch upon Scandinavian myths, women’s representation as monsters and witches and many more interesting topics. It will have that dark feeling winter brings, but also purification. 

Does working with journals or reading them have any effect on your poetry or prose? If yes, perhaps you could share any specific instances and how they influenced you?

It definitely broadens my perspective as each work is a product of a unique creative mind. I get the chance to explore how other people play with the language. For example, I am starting  to understand that I own my work, so I can be as free as I want when rhyming, deciding where to end the sentence or start another one, and visually playing with the form of a poem by using certain words in certain places. I am learning not to restrict myself and it is all thanks to reading other writers!

In your opinion, what makes a written work good? 

It does not matter whether it hits me at first or not, if its thought still lingers in my head a few days after reading it, if it still affects me deeply, then I would say it is a good work.

Since you're a teacher too, how does that experience influence your artistic side? Maybe it assists in your creative projects?

I believe children and teens think in a way from which we slowly move away as we grow older. Their thoughts are not restrained by problems and anxiety and social expectations that most adults experience. Thus, I love being with them and having the opportunity to hear the most absurd, most creative things that make me question my perspective. I feel lucky to at least have a sneak peak at their minds, and I always encourage myself to go back to my childhood years and cling on to that version because it was the most unrestrained soul I know.

You stated that you are working on your own journal. What inspired you to start creating one and what has been the biggest challenge so far?

I decided to create my own journal because the journals I knew did not totally represent who I was. I wanted something that was completely a product of my own imagination, hard work and experiences. Of course it takes more time to prepare everything alone than with a group of designers, writers and social media managers; but as I said, I want my presence to be on every page, in every little detail. I want it to be brutally raw and real, a reflection of life.

Is there anything in particular you are looking forward to when creating it?

That is a tough question, as everything about it excites me. However, I am looking forward to facing myself as I write. I will spend days trying to complete a work, reflecting on my life, analyzing my emotions, my gains and my losses. I can’t wait for those intense hours of being alone, seeing who I  was, who I am now and who I might become. And after that, I really wonder what people will find in my version of the story, because it will be my testimony.