In/Words, Carleton’s literary magazine, released its latest issue of poetry, prose, photography and art on Feb. 28. This issue has a foodie focus that’s sure to satisfy all of your cravings.
Manahil Bandukwala, editor of In/Words, was writing food-inspired poetry when she came up with the idea. It started out as a joke, until it actually turned into a viable theme for the magazine.
Thanks to the theme, the submissions came from many different cultures. A poet from India is featured in the issue, the first time the publication has received a submission from a person of colour outside of North America.
Ren Iwamoto wrote a poem for the issue, titled “Obento.” Inspired by her own upbringing, it describes her experience as the only Japanese student at school.
“That alternatingly made me feel special and proud, and very lonely. I tried to capture those conflicting desires: remaining unique and true to my heritage, and fitting in. Moreover, food is, in my opinion, uniquely important to the diasporic experience,” Iwamoto said.
To describe her poetry writing as a “process” feels dishonest to her.
“Mostly, I just unleash a demon I have trapped in a rosewood box, and it does the work for me,” she said.
For Iwamoto, the most challenging part of submitting her piece was the editing.
“Editors at magazines are not actually editors, but curators. They need a polished product. I’m not very good at judging my own work, so I’m very thankful for my writerly friends for helping fix things for me,” Iwamoto said.
She admits that people will always impose their own meaning onto art.
“I guess what I want people to know about my work is that I, too, am but a humble goblin trying to find meaning amongst the chaos,” Iwamoto said.
Dorian Bell submitted a poem titled “summernotes.” He calls it “a series of fractured tomato memories, which explore preternatural conceptions of time and remorse in relation to fallen tomatoes.”
Bell doesn’t have a process to approaching his work either, instead he prefers to “think” in poetry.
“I don’t have a specific process, I just love to write, but I also love making music and taking photographs and watching awful YouTube videos and . . . at this point, I just like to think in poetry. Some days inspiration strikes like a fever, but mostly, I write one-offs knowing very well they’ll never see the light of day. I honestly think both are just as important,” she says.
Bell said there is more to come for his work.
“I hope to publish my sophomore chapbook, Less than a Dot, before the end of summer 2018 and start [exhibiting] my photography and music on a more consistent basis,” he said.
A glance at the most recent issue of In/Words takes you into the world of Newfoundland cuisine, a blend of languages, and the childhood experience in different cultures.
After the release, Bandukwala said she was shocked by the variety of submissions that the issue received.
“The pieces that we got were so interesting, there is so much that people can do with food, and we had such a diverse range of submissions . . . you have ideas of hunger, of family, and belonging and culture. This theme is something that definitely pulls that out,” Bandukwala said.
In/Words will be selling the issue at Versefest, Ottawa’s International Poetry Festival, where Carleton students have free admission.
So those looking for an artsy and foodie fix all in one—you can have your cake and eat it too.
Photo by Angela Tilley
