Author Interview: Shantell Powell

Shantell Powell is a two-spirit swamp hag raised on the land and off the grid. She’s a graduate of the Writers’ Studio at Simon Fraser University and a Classics graduate from the University of New Brunswick. Her writing is in Augur, The Deadlands, SolarPunk, and more. When she’s not writing, she wrangles chinchillas and gets filthy in the woods.

Shantell's flash fiction, "Sirens Don't Sing Underwater," was published by MoonLit Getaway last December (2024).

MG: What got you into writing?

SP: I was hyperlexic and learned to read around the age of two or three. I remember showing a book to my Dad, saying it was such a great story that it had won a Newbery Medal. In response, he told me that I could win one, too. That gave me pause for thought. Maybe I could be a writer! In grade two, I wrote my first short story. Although my teacher was abusive and couldn't stand me, when she read my story, it startled her into admitting to me that it was very good. I figured that if I could get someone who loathed me to admit I was good at something, that maybe I ought to continue with that thing. My first publication was in grade four when I won a national essay contest. My next was when I was in grade six and won a regional contest. I kept on writing all through school and university, where I minored in creative writing. However, when I wasn't accepted into an MFA program in the early 1990s, I was disheartened and drifted away from writing.

For the next couple of decades, I focused more on other forms of expression. I was a professional dancer, a martial artist, and I worked in the music and entertainment industry. I played a lot of tabletop roleplaying games and spent a few years LARPing. I was a costume designer, a jeweller, a photographer, a typographer, an aerialist, and a multidisciplinary visual artist. In early 2020, I lost access to my painting studio due to the pandemic. For a while, I tried to continue making art from my home studio, but I found I'd lost my zeal for it. Then I remembered writing. I picked up my pen again, and though I was rusty, I realized I was better at writing than I was at my other artistic endeavours, and decided to throw myself into it full-time. I went larval. I took all the online writing workshops I could find. I listened to all the writing podcasts I could find. I read all sorts of books and articles about storytelling and the craft of writing. After a couple of years of this, I became more discerning and found courses and programs which would help me complete my first novel. I have The Writers Studio at Simon Fraser University, the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive, and the Novel Immersive for LGBTQ+ Writers at GrubStreet to thank for this. I'd also like to thank the Waterloo Arts Fund who helped fund me while I finished my first draft.

MG: Tell us more about Sirens Don’t Sing Underwater—what inspired it? What makes it unique?

SP: Sirens Don't Sing Underwater has its origins in a generative writing workshop I took with Saraswathi Sukumar at The Fairytale Sessions (upcoming workshops get listed on EventBrite, and you can find some of her workshops in book form here). I can't quite recall which fairytale we were deconstructing in that particular workshop, but it may have been "The Little Mermaid." I have a Classics degree, so my knowledge of Greek and Roman mythology came heavily into play for this story, which bears no resemblance to Hans Christian Andersen's seminal tale. I workshopped an early version of my story with Alex Davis, who hosts wonderful writing events, and then MoonLit Getaway snapped it up when it was done.

MG: Are you currently working on anything else?

SP: I am always working on multiple writing projects. I'm currently plugging away at my second draft of "The Everwhen," a sacrilicious and intertextual retelling of the Great Flood story. It features the Sumerian god of water and semen, the serpent from the Garden of Eden, a trickster raven, and an abundance of bizarre biblically-accurate angels. I'm also finishing up the first draft of a creepy modern gothic called "The Development" which reads like Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" by way of David Cronenberg. In between these major projects, I continue to write short stories, poetry, and personal essays. I'm part of a couple of writing groups, and their feedback and support has been invaluable. And even now, while I'm busting my ass to finish these projects, I'm already planning another novel which will be loosely based on the life of John Dee, court astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I.

MG: What’s your favorite piece you've ever made? Why is it your favorite?

SP: I'm not sure which is my favourite piece I've ever written. Perhaps The Everwhen, as it was the first time I was ever able to write in long form. I'd tried numerous times to write novels over the years, but they always stalled early on. I'm proud of myself for completing the first draft. I used to think my ADHD would prevent me from doing so, but I found a way to make it work with the help of writing groups, mentors, and my extremely supportive partner. Writing this manuscript has been therapeutic. It's helped me deal with my religious trauma and climate trauma in a productive way. Honestly, though, I'm proud of myself every time I finish another writing project. They're my word children, and I love them all—even the ugly ones.

MG: Are there any writers who inspire the way you make your pieces?

SP: As a lifelong reader, my list of inspirations is too long to put in a short article. I grew up reading widely. Westerns, Regency romances, adventure novels, English classics, the Bible, gothic horror, comic books, science fiction, fantasy, Time-Life books about the occult, encyclopedias, thesauruses, dictionaries, medical journals, etc. I swear, I read anything with words, including ingredient lists on cereal boxes and warning labels on cleaning chemicals. Though I never tried to write like any author in particular, I draw upon certain writing traditions from time to time. For example, I use the Homeric epithet "rosy-fingered dawn" in Sirens Don't Sing Underwater, and have employed formal King James Bible-style English and Grimm Brothers' fairytale English in some of my poetry and prose. Stephen King uses Maine vernacular in his stories, and that emboldened me to write in backwoods New Brunswick vernacular for some of my work. The lyrical, ecological prose of Robin Wall Kimmerer inspires me, and so does the prose-as-magick of Alan Moore. I also recommend Mark Forsyth's entertaining/educational book of rhetoric: The Elements of Eloquence.

MG: Do you have any social media you'd like to share?

SP: I've lived online since 1989, but have been off Facebook and Instagram for several years due to harassment and unchecked racism. These days, I haunt Mastodon on the Fediverse. You can find me there, or at my writing blog: Nudity is Only Skin-Deep.

MG: Do you have any advice for other writers?

SP: As for advice, I don't know that I have anything to say that hasn't been said before. Read widely: not just good stuff, but appallingly bad stuff, too. Learn what makes the good stuff good. Learn what makes the bad stuff bad. Find yourself a supportive writing community; it will make all the difference in the world. Practice free-writing and write as quickly as you can for several minutes without stopping, second-guessing yourself, self-censoring, or editing. Read your work aloud, or have someone else read it aloud for you; this will help you hear mistakes you will otherwise miss. Eavesdrop on conversations in public to hear the poetry and rhythms of dialogue. And remember that when you're getting your writing workshopped, if you don't like the advice someone is offering, you do not have to use it. It's your writing, not theirs.

READ: "Sirens Don't Sing Underwater"