Spotlight - Julia C. Wong '05

Although she has yet to graduate, Julia C. Wong ’05 already knows well the business of imaginative writing. In fact, the Leverett House resident serves as the Fiction Editor of the Harvard Advocate, frequently enrolls in fiction workshops and is even pursuing a creative thesis under the guidance of the legendary author of fiction Jamaica Kincaid. This week, the English and American Literature and Language concentrator took a brief break from her literary business for some time under the “Spotlight,” sharing her thoughts on her development as a writer at Harvard.

What is your assessment of Harvard’s artistic community and culture? How do student publications enhance the creative writing scene at Harvard?

It’s difficult to describe a community of writers at Harvard, since writing is a solitary art form. There are no late nights at the studio or all day rehearsals, and this can make writing at Harvard seem especially daunting. However, through the Advocate and creative writing workshops, I have met people with whom I can talk about writing—and we also engage in each other’s writing processes. One of the best things I did this summer was a “workshop” with a friend on her back porch, in which we read each other’s stories and gave one another serious criticism.

What do you find rewarding about writing? What inspires you, as a busy college student, to continue to participate in an art that requires such time commitment and intellectual thinking outside of class?

Writing is, to me, the most interesting and intellectual thing I can do. I will walk around thinking about certain ideas and things I’ve been learning for weeks before I decide that I have a story. My classes expose me to more and more ideas that will eventually twist themselves around so much that I think I have something to write about; and once I start to write, it’s easy for my problem sets or a response paper to be overlooked.

Briefly describe your creative process in sitting down to write a piece.

I usually start a story with an image and try to write a plot around it, which, I guess, leads me to have very dull plots but occasionally nice images.

What do you regard as the most inspiring locale on campus? Is there an untapped resource you find especially appealing at Harvard?

One of my favorite places to be is the basement of the Carpenter Center, during the time when final projects are due for photography classes. I especially like the transition that occurs when the late-night crew comes in around 3 or 4 a.m., infusing those students who have been there since dinnertime with new energy. I haven’t taken a photo class in a couple of semesters, but I still like to go down there to write sometimes.

What has been your most fulfilling artistic/academic experience?

Being on the Advocate, and especially being the Fiction Editor, has been the most important thing I’ve done at Harvard. I can’t describe how much I love the people, the building, the endless Sunday and Wednesday nights wrangling over pieces, or even the excitement of seeing a new set of boxes, with the newest issue, line the hallway.

Where do you imagine yourself next year, post-graduation, and in 10 years?

Next year I would either like to be tucked away in an MFA [Master of Fine Arts] program somewhere or in New York (and there, I would like to either work at some artsy or intellectual magazine or raid the designer closet at Vogue). In 10 years, I would like to be in New York writing novels and doing the same.

Which do you prefer: writing and editing your own material or editing a piece written by another writer?

While editing other people’s work is extremely interesting and fun, I don’t think anything really compares to working on my own pieces and getting to a point where I start to think that I’ve gotten something right.

What draws you to editing?

I really love to read other people’s work. It’s inspiring to see what other students are writing, and it’s really fun to be able to provide comments and criticisms, which will hopefully help those writers. As Fiction Editor, I’ve been spoiled because I have the chance to read so much of what is being written on campus, and there is always something I can learn from every piece I read.

I have been told that you are writing a “creative thesis.” Could you briefly describe it for us?

I’m writing a short novel for my thesis. It’s about a woman who forgets how to use her senses.

—Vinita M. Alexander