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Jamila Reddy

 

Jamila ReddyJamila Reddy is a queer/Black/woman from the South. Each of these identities informs the other, and she likes to think, talk, and write about how. Jamila is a writer, theatre maker, and facilitator of dreams. No matter the form, all of her work is in pursuit of freedom. Jamila is currently an MFA candidate in Creative Writing at California Institute of the Arts, which mean’s she’s based in LA for now, but always in pursuit of magic wherever it may be. To find out more, please visit jamilareddy.com.

On your nightstand: 

A plant and a cup of tea. I’m working on minimizing clutter this year; normally this list would be much longer.

Do you prefer reading print or ebooks? 

Print, hands down.

If you could spend a day with an author, who would it be? 

Toni Morrison.

What book made the biggest impression on you as a kid?

The Giver.

What’s your writing routine? Are you an early bird or a night owl? 

I try to write either as soon as I get up or right before bed. My waking hours depend on my sleeping hours; if I’m in bed before 10, I’m up with the sun. I do write in a journal every day throughout the day, from small reminders to look up a particular artist/idea to reflections on my life’s most recent happenings.

Who or what inspires your writing?

As a queer, Black, Southern woman, being seen—and more specifically, feeling unseen—has had a significant influence on my writing: its style, content, and the reasons I have chosen to pursue a life as a writer. My writing is informed by a desire to reclaim space in places I have previously felt unseen—American policy, art, literature, and popular culture—and to reclaim the narrative of what it means to be queer, Black, Southern and woman. Being a witness to false and incomplete representations of these identities has been a source of personal and collective shame, and has ignited my utilization of myth-creation and origin-storytelling (re-membering), as healing practices.

Besides writing, what’s your passion?

The pursuit of pleasure! I’m really interested in pleasure politics, specifically how historically/socially marginalized people can use the pursuit of pleasure as a radical and revolutionary act.