Q&A with J. Marahuyo

J. Marahuyo is a neurodivergent Filipino-Australian award winning poet residing on Dharug country. She was shortlisted for the Newcastle Poetry Prize 2024, won the Writing NSW Varuna Fellowship 2024 and won the Living Stories Prize 2024. Her debut collection, which explores themes of identity, mental health and the power of vulnerability, will be released early 2025 by WestWords Books. Her work can be found in Cordite Poetry Review, FemAsia and Gems zine. When she’s not writing you can find her pspsp-ing random cats or getting on the wrong train. Her instagram is @j_marahuyo and website: jmarahuyo.com

Thanks for sharing your gorgeous piece with us—‘my executive is not functioning’ captured our attention with its unexpected reversals of tone and those beautiful closing lines. It absolutely resonated with my own experience of an iffy executive function—weary endlessness at fighting through the mundane. On an extremely practical level, how do you make time to wrestle inspiration into solid form? Are you a scheduler by nature?

Oh, this is something I’ve been thinking about for a bit! I’m developing a relationship with myself and finding systems that work for me, right now it’s the calendar and notes app on my phone. I have different-sized notebooks and pens too. I try to use my calendar to block out time for certain things and give myself options to choose from so I don’t feel restricted and honour what I need in the moment. I’m an avid gamer, so I try to redirect the motivation of logging onto whatever game is currently giving me dopamine hits into the practicalities of life, whether that be my chores, writing or some other source of soul nourishment. Reading and being involved in the writing community, like attending workshops or open mics, is also a great way for me to soak in creativity, let ideas keep percolating and transform them into solid form. My ADHD diagnosis helped me implement strategies that work for me and allow me to hold greater care and kindness towards myself, which is crucial for my writing and life balance.

You’ve been involved with a lot of slam poetry events, and it makes me curious—do you think this intimate experience with words in their spoken form has shaped the way you approach writing your poetry? If so, what are its manifestations?

I honestly use slam events as a form of rejection therapy since slam poetry style isn’t the best tool in my toolkit. It has definitely shaped my writing as it reminds me to stay open, authentic and be true to my own voice. It reminds me of the importance of playing with sound and how immensely valuable it is to connect with writers and other creatives. I read all my pieces out loud in the editing process to better understand each poem’s flow, rhythm and where I want to place emphasis when formatting. 

Sometimes I get stuck because I’m stubborn and want a poem to fit a certain container, so having these warm and welcoming spaces to be brave highlights to me which parts resonate with people thanks to the in-the-moment feedback, clicks, stomps and ‘mmm’s! In saying that, I tend to not think about audience too much and if I find myself fighting for a phrase or word in workshops then I know that’s what’s meant to be in the poem.

Congratulations on receiving the Writing NSW Varuna Fellowship! Can you tell us anything about your current project? What are you excited to write about?

Omigosh, thank you! <3 I’m currently working on a collection with the central theme being ‘disclosures of violence’. This whole project excites me as I’m definitely baring my teeth in these poems. Its focus is on intergenerational trauma, it is deeply rooted in intersectional feminism and utilizes my emotions, experiences and understanding of my place in the world to deconstruct and analyse the burden of violence on the physical body, my psyche and the wider Filipino diaspora community. My aim with this project is to highlight inherited patterns, how they are perpetuated and (hopefully successful) attempts to break them. I honestly think it’s my way of dealing with my past and current relationships and their outcomes. I’m finding that the mundane is seeping into these poems, which emphasise how ordinary violence can be when it’s what you’ve known and it’s only when you’re out of that environment that you recognise it for what it was. Definitely watch this space, one poem is eight pages long and has diagrams!

L. B. Hazelthorn

L. B. is a writer and editor. They read poetry with Overland and concoct fictions about demons, dreamers, and secret languages. They’ve spent half a lifetime in imaginary worlds, leaving behind a trail of aliases and unfinished Arts degrees, and now live in lutruwita/Tasmania. Their hobbies include baking brownies and simping over villains.