Interview with Tess Kelly, Runner Up in the Q3 2024 Creative Nonfiction Contest

 

Tess Kelly’s work has appeared in Ruminate, Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, Sweet Lit, and Cleaver, among other publications. She lives and writes in Portland, Oregon.

 ----------Interview by Renee Roberson 

WOW: Welcome, Tess, and congratulations again! When did you first become interested in writing creative nonfiction? What was your first published piece and what was it about? 

Tess: I started writing creative non-fiction seriously about 8 years ago when I enrolled in a flash CNF class. Prior to that I was a dabbler. I fell in love with the short form and have been playing with it ever since. The first piece I ever published in the CNF world was called "Sound and Silence" and was about experiencing sudden hearing loss and getting fitted for a hearing aid. 

WOW: Writing an essay that involves a true crime can be tricky. How did you first get the idea to share this experience and your feelings about it on paper with "A Good Guy?" 

Tess: I was in a writing group at the time and the facilitator's assignment one week was to write about discovering something about someone that changed how you felt about them. I immediately thought of Finn and the shock I felt when I learned he'd killed his girlfriend. I had spent a bit of time writing about it in my journal and so I had all the raw material to quickly get the first draft on paper. 

WOW: What is your favorite line (or lines) of this essay and why? 

Tess: I like this question! Here it is: 

Finn's here to unveil the prototype of a board game he calls “Feds and Heads.” Marijuana isn’t yet legal in Oregon, and the good guys are growers and dealers, the bad guys federal agents who chase them around our kitchen table top. We talk about the real War on Drugs. 

The reason this passage stands out to me is because it refers to the good guy/bad guy binary that is so popular; later in the story I have to consider Finn's good and bad sides. In life we're all a mix of both, even if we don't participate in anything as egregious as manslaughter. 

WOW: Another published essay of yours, “On Grudges,” revolves around a concept bridging together multiple different events. How do you come up with ideas for your creative nonfiction and have you ever had a piece of work stump you during the process? 

Tess: "On Grudges" was fun to write. My family, like many, often simmers with resentments just below the surface if not overtly. My mom and her sister had a tense relationship for as long as I can remember. There were numerous occasions during my childhood where my mom's anger seemed out of proportion to whatever she perceived as insulting. I wanted to explore the various types of grudges we hold and to illustrate how absurd they can be, in a mostly lighthearted way. I didn't want to get too deep into the psychology of grudges, although that would be interesting too. I get stumped all the time, as to where to go with a kernel that seems dazzling but that doesn't gain traction when I sit down and unpack it. Sometimes I just give up. I've recently struggled with a piece about deer--I want to do a segmented essay that examines the mammal from various angles but have come up short on segments. I put it aside for now and realize if I pick it up again I'll have to do deeper research. I spend a lot of time in my head analyzing the world so I end up writing about the observations that interest me the most. Probably like a lot of writers. 

WOW: There are so many ways to be creative when writing essays. What do you recommend to writers who are looking for fresh angles for their ideas? 

Tess: There are so many wonderful essayists to learn from. I love it when I read something that moves me to laughter or tears, or that completely absorbs my attention. I'll sometimes deconstruct a piece of writing to understand why it resonates with me and then try to emulate the style. With enough drafts my own voice comes through clearly. And of course, keeping a journal to record those flashes of brilliance we all experience but that are all too fleeting.

WOW: Wonderful advice. We look forward to reading more of your work in the future!