“A battle cry against dehumanization, erasure, misrule, and oppression.”: An Interview with Poet Debora Kuan

Poetry never appealed to me much growing up. I didn’t feel the call of the sonnets, or become seduced by ballads. I think in a way, I viewed poetry as somewhat mechanical, or emotionless, which is ironic. (I blame the public school system for this one.) It wasn’t until recently that I became familiar with work that engaged me on a personal level, in terms of confronting my own ideas about life, racial/cultural identity, and savoring memories that will last a lifetime. Debora Kuan’s ‘Lunch Portraits’ made me laugh, made me question, and made me feel grateful for every satisfied bite I’ve taken out of a sandwich. I never realized that a 1PM meal could be so salacious and eye-opening at the same time. I had the pleasure of interviewing Kuan for Black Nerd Problems, so please enjoy! BlackNerdProblems: I’m curious to know your inner nerd! If you could road trip with any fictional character across the United States, who would it be and why? Debora Kuan: This is a tough one! It occurred to me as I tried to answer it that most of the characters I’ve been most drawn to in fiction are pretty unlikeable and unpleasant and some are downright despicable. So I definitely wouldn’t take any road trips with them! But right now I am reading Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and I’m pretty fascinated by the voice of the Pakistani narrator — which is the entire novel, since it’s written as a monologue — Changez Khan. At this particular moment of incredible Islamophobia and 45’s outrag…