Summary: In this interview, Didem tells me all about her writing process, the hardest parts of writing and whether or not we should expect another “Luca”!
Intro: Welcome back Females of Filadelphia readers! I try to interview people every so often but it seems that isn’t working. So new year, new promise! I won’t be posting every Sunday but instead I’ll post every Sunday I get an interview. It will usually be every other week but it could be a lil less or a lil more. Bear with me! Today we have a very cool person *wait for it* — Didem *applause*!! This is my first time meeting Didem in person but from what I’ve seen and heard she is a true creative. She self-published a book, titled “Luca”, she writes poetry, and she’s from California! Let’s hear all the deets from her- tell me about yourself Didem.
D: Well, in technical terms, I’m a sophomore, English major with a concentration in creative writing! I moved from state to state growing up so I think that adds some semi-adventurous character to me (or speaks for my slight commitment issues LOL). I was born in Ohio, raised in Chicago, moved to Pennsylvania for two years and then moved to California. Philadelphia is my home but the Bay area is unquestionably my second home. However, I dream that I will end up working in New York City and traveling between there and Europe.
V: What is Luca about and what was the inspiration behind “Luca”?
D: Luca is a unification of scrambled poetry and a narrative .The protagonist in this book, 18-year-old Astrid, has recently graduated high-school, and is facing the crippling anxiety of what to do next after living her whole life as an anxious misanthrope. The typical teenage experience has been tainted for her because of her mother’s mental illness and eventually her own.
After graduation, she decides to move to Florence, Italy, to live with her aunt that she’s never met and pursue acting. Obviously, she struggles in Italy, yet through the course of this unknown life she pursues, she finds success in her field and meets Luca on a whim, where then their love story begins maturing from their first interaction.
I honestly can’t tell you the specifics in regard to the inspiration behind it. I envisioned a story with a significant juxtaposition between grief and self love at the same time. Through my own challenges of living with a mental illness and difficult family relationships back in high-school, I was inspired to create Astrid and her mental processes. For Luca, her love interest, my imagination kind of just ran wild. Pretty intangible for somebody’s first love to be stowed away in a dreamy foreign country–but that’s me I guess!
V: I wish you could all hear Didem talking because I feel like she’s reading a poetry book when she talks– it’s pretty cool. What is the process of writing a book like? Or should I say your writing process in general?
D: I could talk about the writing process (in general) because it took me give-or-take one month to write “Luca”. It’s kind of difficult because my writing ranges from poetry to fiction to articles and op-eds. One of my favorite pieces that I’ve written is featured on NPR. I have written a lot of political pieces that reflect me as a young, brown, Muslim woman and the daughter to two immigrants, but that was the first time my work was showcased by a major platform. I began receiving criticism and positive feedback, which inspired me further and heightened my passion for writing.
The writing process for ‘From a Brown Girl to Yours Truly’ wasn’t that difficult in comparison to fiction. Fiction is hard because you can have so many ideas looming in your head and a fear that you can’t piece it all together smoothly. With personal or political pieces, I can just generally talk about my own experiences without a filter. It depends what genre you are writing, but regardless the writing process is difficult and varies for every individual writer. The audience won’t always love what you do, but it’s a subjective work.
V: What is the hardest and easiest part of writing?
D: Great writing is slow work, which is ironic because “Luca” came together in roughly a month. Successfully formulating an array of ideas and writing everything down takes a lot of determination. It’s painful but ~enjoyable~. For me, editing and playing around with words is the easiest part. But starting from scratch and getting it all down comprehensively is the hardest for me.
V: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?/ Is this something you want to continue in the future? Will there be another “Luca”?
D: Always. Writing is an extremely therapeutic getaway for me. All throughout my life, my biggest coping mechanism for whatever I faced was always writing. It’s always been a healthy way to comfortably express myself and think outside the box, which is empowering. My senior year of high school is when I came to that realization.
After I did my work for NPR and was featured on KQED, my teachers really encouraged me and I felt a fire within me (cheesy) to continue doing it and strive for big things. Writing is not just the exclusive act of putting words on paper. It’s a form of storytelling, performing and ultimately evoking emotions on readers. I did theatre my whole life, which is my other great love. With writing I also get to perform regardless if it’s a non-fiction story or spoken word. If I ever stop writing, I give anyone that I know the right to smack me across the face.
I don’t think there’ll be another “Luca”, or at least a story terms of “niche love stories.” I’m currently working on creating something that is more important to our modern day such as immigration, the political climate, and its effects on humans around us. I feel that it is very crucial to our future, and needs constant light shed on it. There’s nothing wrong with love stories and self-exploration, but I am extending my writing to things that have personally affected me, my family, and millions of dreamers! I don’t want to say like…stay woke…but like, stay woke.
V: Random question time: If you couldn’t live in the USA, where would you live?
D: Definitely anywhere in Europe! There’s so much diverse culture to experience there, and quite frankly the education and political system in the majority of countries there are way better than here. So if I could, I would buy a one-way ticket to either Amsterdam, London, or Germany and have a hay-day!!!
V: Thanks so much for taking the time to be interviewed! I’m always so happy to tell people’s stories and hear about their successes. If you want to buy “Luca” go to: https://www.amazon.com/Luca-Didem-Arslanoglu/dp/1719958831. It’s not expensive and it is supporting someone just like you and me!! Make sure to check back in soon for the next interview and follow @femalesoffiladelphia to stay up to date 🙂
XOXO, V