Interview with Our Newest Lead Editor & Poet, Jon
Jon (he/him) is a poet currently residing in Brazil, where he was born and raised. Jon’s contemplative and contemporary writing style derives from his lyrically rich family, and the beauty of the people around him. Jon recently joined Papers Publishing and is hoping to continue amplifying the diverse and distinctive voices Papers has acquired.
Papers: We know you grew up in Brazil, what is the writing scene like there, and how has the writing community there inspired you to create?
Jon: To be completely honest, the writing scene in Brazil isn’t that different from the ones in other places. Though it takes deep roots in romanticism and realism, more than going for the usual modernism. We have our usual suspects, like Machádo de Assis with its brand of brutal realism, or Clarice with her touch of introspection to the post-modern, but my mind was always focused on other less well known artists and writers, some even from my family.
Papers: We’re sure it was great having some kind of writing inspiration right at home! You speak a little bit about introspection and realism, but we know you categorize yourself as a poet, can you tell us a bit more about your style of poetry and what draws you to that form of writing?
Jon: When I was pretty young, maybe 14ish, I had this literature teacher that would have us write poems every month. She would then ask that we read them in public, sometimes in front of the class, others in front of the whole school. This was something that I appreciate a lot, but was never brave enough to read my own stuff publicly. She helped me overwrite this in my brain, and eventually I got to read to everyone. But among the lessons she gave, my favorite was “you can go all out in poetry”. Something that I always had felt, and at that moment made sense in my mind.
Papers: Teachers can have a pretty incredible influence on our world and how we see it. Speaking of worlds and diving into others, oddly enough—we know that you’re a pretty big gamer/streamer. What is a storyline from a video game that you played that really caught your attention? Has gaming ever pushed you to write or be creative in your own way?
Jon: For sure! There’s a couple stories from games that made me pick up the pen and just write all night, and I bet this is gonna sound pretty cliché, but Silent Hill always made me want to grab the closest notebook. Of course, games like Amnesia, Blasphemous, Deadly Shadows, Castlevania and many others always find their way into my work, be it in characters or simple descriptions.
Papers: Those are some pretty solid mentions. Now, in your role as lead editor here at Papers, what kind of writing are you hoping to discover from potential submitters?
Jon: Authenticity, I wanna hear all voices. I want to see the crooked trees, watch them grow. I want to hear what people have in their mind, be it weird or not. The dirty, the unfair, the unreasonable. I want people to be honest with themselves and with their creations. That’s what I look forward to the most, knowing everyone has a different hand to this.
Papers: What a thoughtful way to put it, and that’s why we’re happy to have you on our team! And last but not least, what are you most excited about while getting into Papers? What drew you to the magazine and what are you hoping to add?
Jon: I hope to add more of what the magazine already has, personality, originality. A perspective unique enough that has a fair element to it. Something that will make even more people want to write, or at least, something that people want to read.