Amelia Kirkness
“My favourite New Zealand books and authors would make an incredibly long list…
At the moment, one of my favourite poets is Tayi Tibble. She has a fantastic voice that embodies this sense of un-ashamedness about being a young woman and all that entails, which I'd really love to strike in my own way, in my own writing.
I’ve been writing since I was eight years old. I started out attending Write On School for Young Writers, and I really don't think I'd still be writing today if I hadn't. Write On is a not-for-profit organisation based in Christchurch that offers tuition to young writers. At eight, it was just a bit of fun but as I got more into that high school age range I started taking it a lot more seriously.
This year, my last at high school, two of my pieces ‘Cloud Watching’ and ‘How Did the Sky Look?’ were published in online literary journal Starling. Writing each, I definitely benefited from the feedback and mentorship from the various wonderful writers I've been taught by, particularly Jenna Heller who tutored my Write On class in 2021. Both pieces are nostalgia-tinted, I would say. ‘Cloud Watching’ explores some hyper-specific childhood memories and friendships. This is a favourite topic of mine, and I like to play with references to pop culture and childhood media. An example might be a line which brings up Barbie and The Diamond Castle to illustrate a friendship dynamic.
It was also massively helpful to have the opportunity to share both pieces out loud at Catalyst, a monthly, local open mic night. I’ve been going to Catalyst for a few years and have met some incredible local voices that have influenced me a whole bunch. The Catalyst anthology was also the first all-ages opportunity that I submitted my work for – I was a little bit shocked when my piece was accepted.
Having a sense of creative community is incredibly important to me. Through Catalyst, and Write On, as well as the writer's group at my high school, I've made so many connections and been able to learn from such a broad and diverse array of writers. Being able to work with other young people also feels like we're on a creative journey together.
There are poem topics that my friends and I have all written our own takes on, in one way or another. Reading our final pieces, you can still so distinctly differentiate our work because of our individual voices and experiences and influences. I guess what that means, is that overall I view my creative rights as really important in preserving my ownership of my individual style and work. When I write a piece, it absolutely feels like something that belongs to me. That feeling never really goes away, even for the stuff that I wrote at age 8 for Write On magazine. Every piece that I create is something that comes from me and, as much as the older stuff makes me cringe, it's weirdly comforting to remember that it's all mine and documents my growth.”
Amelia Kirkness is a poet, writer and student.