Our founding editor, Svetlana Sterlin (SS), spoke to Issue 4 contributor Milla Fargo (MF, pictured below) about her writing process, literary influences, and creative non-fiction piece, ‘New West, Approximately’.
SS: I noticed right away that your piece, ‘New West, Approximately’, has a very particular tone and mood and draws on the work of some prominent literary figures. Can you walk us through how you landed on the essay’s framing device and how this format has influenced your writing?
MF: Didion’s essay ‘On Keeping a Notebook’ is an ode to the craft of notetaking. Her essay’s structure and mode of exposition is reminiscent of the everyday notepad, and so I think recreating this feature was integral to my imitation of the text. I really enjoy that the essay is defending the very mode of delivery it is written with.
SS: There’s a self-awareness in your writing, a lot of self-reflection and being on the outside looking in, very much leaning into the coming-of-age aspect of the piece. Is this something you’re interested in throughout all of your work—that feeling of dissociation and disconnect between internal feeling and external experience—or does this piece capture a unique time in your life?
MF: I believe writing about yourself in retrospect definitely allows some impartiality. That said, I do find my essay is, like a lot of my creative writing, very introspective. I believe this is an authorial side-effect of mine. It can feel a little self-indulgent, describing each moment and everything my perception of it says about me, but I think this is what makes the notebook such a liberating literary device.
SS: Locations are prevalent in your writing; would you say that you begin with settings to establish a mood and work from there (as someone like Annie Proulx might), or is it a more instinctual process?
MF: I generally start with setting; I find it’s a great vehicle for defining a subject – the way they settle into a location or writhe in discomfort. My essay follows a ‘stranger in a strange land’ narrative, so Vancouver and I are defining each other through our contrasts and likeness. I find that characters and setting have their own interactions that can form the whole narrative arc.
SS: You’re obviously a fan of Joan Didion’s writing—are there any other authors or artists you feel particularly inspired by?
MF: I find inspiration for my prose from writers whose work rushes at the reader desperately. I remember at the time of writing this essay, I’d just read the infamous poem ‘Howl’ by Allen Ginsberg for the first time. I make no comparisons, but his words have the urgency and specificity I’ll always be inspired by.
SS: What can readers expect from Milla Fargo moving forward? Are you working on anything exciting; do you have any publications on the horizon?
MF: I’m daring to try my hand at some longer fiction works. As any creative will attest, the tug of war between life commitments and creative practice is a constant strain. Nevertheless, I’m eager to create more work defined by location and see them have a meaningful impact on readers.
I’m sure we are all eager to see what Milla does next! In the meantime, enjoy the feeling of getting swept up in her essay, ‘New West, Approximately’.
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