Interview with Tina Engelfried: 2024 Q3 CNF Contest Runner Up

Tina’s Bio: Tina Engelfried has spent 53 of her 63 years playing with words. Because of WOW and the classes and contests they offer, she has gained enough confidence to find her writing identity. It will be a long time before she gets comma use done correctly. She unschooled her two children until they were ready for college and considers that time as the best years of her life. Her partner in all of her endeavors is her husband, Steven. 

If you haven't done so already, check out Tina's award winning essay "We Started with Walnuts" and then return here for a chat with the author. 

WOW: Congratulations on placing in the Q3 2024 Creative Nonfiction Contest! How did you begin writing your essay and how did it and your writing processes evolve as you wrote? 

Tina: I began to seriously consider writing about the subject of unschooling while taking classes through WOW. The guidance I received helped me to organize my scattered thoughts. Chelsey Clammer laughed in all the right places in the assignments for her class and made me realize that I don’t have to write in a straight line. Learning to take the time to write is a big hurdle that Kelly L. Stone helped me jump. The classes I took with Kimberly Lee and Kandace Chapple showed me how to recognize the beginning of a good idea. 

WOW: That’s fabulous that you learned so much from WOW’s instructors and used that to craft an award-winning piece! What did you learn about yourself or your writing by creating this essay? 

Tina: I always thought that when I sat down to write about unschooling it would be easy. I had so much to say, I had learned from trial and error and had buckets of information. But it wasn’t easy; it was too close to my grieving process over that time in my life being over. I knew I needed to approach this subject with a little distance. 

WOW: I love the style of your essay. Can you tell us more about your decisions to use this style and challenges and/or successes you experienced with it? 

Tina: I have written poetry since the age of 10 when my 5th grade teacher paid me a compliment and posted my poem on the class bulletin board. When I was having a hard time expressing myself through an essay, I went back to my old friend, poetry. Poetry welcomes random thoughts and I do best without structure. Once I had a poem, I could take it apart and present those thoughts as an essay. 

WOW: I find it fascinating – and helpful – to hear how writers use multiple genres to craft their work. Thank you for sharing your innovative process. Which creative nonfiction essays or writers have inspired you most, and in what ways did they inspire you? 

Tina: I am one of the many millions of fans who love Anne Lamont. Her sentences take a sudden turn and become poetry when the reader least expects it. She exemplifies how to be funny and serious at the same time. 

WOW: Oh yes, her writing is well-loved for good reasons. If you could tell your younger self anything about writing, what would it be? 

Tina: If I could go back in time to that 5th grade girl, I would tell her to read her poetry to anyone who will listen and to have faith in her ability to write stories. I would let her know that even garbage writing is valuable; getting the garbage thoughts out the door leaves behind shiny thoughts. I would use this analogy so that I could clean my room. 

WOW: Anything else you’d like to add? 

Tina: I have been entering contests through WOW and NYC Midnight for just a year and have now written something worthy of an honorable mention. So maybe the future me told the present me to keep writing. 

WOW: Thank you for sharing your writing with us and for your thoughtful responses. Happy writing! 

Interviewed by Anne Greenawalt, editor-in-chief of Sport Stories Press, which publishes sports books by, for, and about sportswomen and amateur athletes. Engage on Twitter or Instagram @GreenMachine459.