Interview with Our Insightful Editor, Rian Grey

Papers: When would you say your creativity sprung? Was it back home in Australia, or would you say that moving to New York has pushed your creativity even more? 

Rian: My instinct to write has been present since I was little – I was coming up with stories for books whenever I could, and my earliest set idea has been wavering around in the back of my head for years now. So I guess, yes, it started back when I was in school in Australia. But as an adult, being in New York is the most creative place for me. It’s incredibly diverse, and the difference between it and Melbourne, Aus, gives me such an amazing viewpoint. It opens up so many doors for me, and I feel that makes me more able to pursue more established stories. I’m able to create well-rounded characters and events just because I’m seeing a whole new world unfold right in front of me. So, while Australia and the education I got there started my need to write, New York is the place that’s always peddled my creativity further.

Papers: New York seems to be the starting point for many growing artists. We know that you’ve dabbled in a few mediums, including film and media - which seems to have been a pretty big part of your upbringing. Can you tell us a bit more about what it was like working in film, and how that differs from the creative writing work you achieved while studying in university? 

Rian: Working in film roles is so incredibly removed from creative writing. What I struggle with the most when going from writing fiction or poetry, to scripts and screenplays, is that written works rely so much on descriptors, setting the scene, and things that I need to explicitly create for the audience. I can’t set a scene unless I fix the proper mood and tone in the room. For performance, a show don’t tell rule exists, where, as a writer, you need to put down only the most basic necessities. But you can’t go too far into detail, or you begin to encroach on the work of the actor, cinematographer, director, set designer. They have their own roles and, unless you want to piss them off or do their roles for them, you need to stick to writing the script in a way that’s clear enough to make sense, but also be vague enough to allow changes, and let other departments to take it into their own hands. Something else for screen, is you have to trust that the next people taking your work will do it justice. Any step of the film process is so involved. Writing for your work to be immediately read in a book, all that weight is on you. You’ve done all the legwork. It’s both so much pressure but it’s so nice to be proud of it.

Papers: We can imagine that to be a pretty daunting part of the process, but will also test your ability to trust others with your creations. Film and writing have been a pretty big part of your life, but so is your activism work. Do you mind telling us a bit more about how important your work is, and how your identity translates into your writing career? 

Rian: I truly believe that activism can come down to people power. If I’m able to give confidence or a sense of community to someone who needs it, I might be ensuring they’re able to further the message I’m trying to work towards as well, and in the end make the world a little better. For so many trans people like me, we’ve grown up seeing the old, recycled “Kill Your Darlings” trope, where the queer dies, runs away, or lives a life of tragedy. That damaged my sense of self as a teen and made me fear coming out to my own parents, who’d never shown any bigotry towards trans people. They were great about my transness, but my Dad has always wondered why I never came out earlier. My end thought is that popular media dummed it into me, that even if I was loved, the chance I’d be rejected would still be so high. So I’m using my voice as a writer, actor, filmmaker, advocate, activist, anything, to further a narrative that we don’t need to live in fear like we’re taught. We can be cautious, but those old tropes can be retired now.

Papers: We’re happy to see you walking in that, and also for your ability to speak up and speak out in regards to your stances. You’ve also recently become the voice for our Behind the Pages, which is our interview segment on our website. How has it been getting to know different writers on such a personal level, and how have those stories influenced your relationship to your own work?

Rian: It’s been incredible being able to conduct interviews again. The last time was back in college, and then the pandemic shut off chances I had at doing more of it. I love seeing the work we get to read for the magazine alone, and sometimes when I’m assisting editing, I do want to reach out to our authors and ask them about where their work came from. To be able to do that, to find the soul of the work we publish, instead of just extrapolate in my own head, it’s satisfying. I get to see something I may not have expected, and furthermore it gives our authors a renewed voice on our site. A lot of what drives me is the idea of putting myself in others shoes, and I know that if I submitted somewhere and they reached out for an interview, I’d be over the moon, so I like to imagine I’m getting to be that for someone else. In that sense, it’s made me go over my work, predominantly my poetry, and ask myself what I’m really aiming for with it. I find that I’m allowing myself more permission to be free with my work, to let the words out of me before critiquing, and, consequently, I’m understanding my own words better than I used to.

Papers: Thats awesome! And to close it out, what do you enjoy the most about being a part of Papers? Can we expect more from you in and outside of Papers Publishing? 

Rian: The chance to connect with other writers is something I’ve been striving to have for a long time now, and I really feel like this world is opening up to me. But, I do have to say, as part of Papers Publishing, I’ve taken on the role of managing the Twitter account, and I’m enjoying it way more than I thought I would. The little communities of poetry and prose, all sorts of creative work, all little LitMag communities around the world, they’re so kind and inspiring. They’re showing me all these young writers who are like me, trying to make their mark with words, trying to find a mutual connection. It’s spurring me on. For 2023, I’m hoping to really drive my projects further. I’m planning on releasing an anthology of short queer stories in the near future, and I can see a horizon approaching. Whether it’ll come to publication in 2023, I don’t know. But I do know the drive I have for it now is stronger than it’s been in years. I’m also hoping to work more on my scripts, in terms of taking them from paper to screen. I want to get myself back into the film sphere and geta short film in the works.