Write (especially) if English is not your first language
Interview with exophonic writer Ozge Gozturk for Battersea Anthology
Battersea Anthology aims to raise profiles of writers associated with the Battersea and Nine Elms area, and foster a strong artistic spirit and community. Learn more about Ozge’s work and her literary pursuit in this interview.
About Ozge Gozturk
Ozge Gozturk is a British-Turkish, hearing-impaired, exophonic writer, and poet based in London. A graduate engineer with an MA in Creative Writing. She is the founder of the London Independent Story Prize and LISP Film Festival. Ozge is widely published and decorated with multiple awards for my various works of poetry, fiction, stage play and scripts.
Q: Do you always have story/poetry ideas in your head?
I do, actually, have a new idea popping into my mind almost on a daily basis. I think that is just a muscle you gain if you keep producing works of fiction. I try to wait before jumping into an idea, let it simmer for a while, and think if that idea (or inspiration) is best for poetry, short story, novel, or script. And, of course, what I am interested in writing at that moment also affects what I will do with that idea.
Q: How did you decide to start writing this time around for Battersea Anthology?
I wrote the selected poem way before I knew about the Battersea Anthology. I was gazing out the window, reading Wandsworth news: ‘Wandsworth Council leader welcomes new neighbours Apple to Battersea home’, and watching a heavily pregnant woman slowly cross the road.
Then, I wrote my poem, The Big Apple with no hopes for publication as it was a poem on a local topic. Then, when I learned about the Battersea Anthology, I submitted this particular poem, thinking this anthology would be a fantastic home for it.
Q: What was the experience of coming up with the idea and putting it down to paper like?
The less you seek for an idea, the more they appear. Writing poetry is a fantastic form that encourages you to be present. It is a meditative process for me, but only until the editing part. You need to be unconscious while putting down the first draft of a poem; let it take you wherever it wants you to go. Then, while editing, you must be very conscious of form and style.
Q: How do you feel when the final word is completed?
When you finish a poem, you are a better poet than before, so if you go back to your past poems, you may find things to improve. However, it is a forward-going process. You need to keep producing better work and accept the level of your previous ones. Otherwise, you may end up working on the same chunk of work for years. So when I feel like I’m done with a poem (which may take weeks or months after re-editing), it is always a bittersweet feeling, but I focus on the experience and tell myself, ‘Now, you can write a better one’.
Q: How did you find the editing process - both self-edit and working with an editor?
The editing process is not for the faint-hearted. First, it’s always re-editing, not just one editing process. After a while, I go blind and can’t see small (or big!) typos/mistakes I made. It is a relief to work with someone else to iron the creases.
Q: I know you speak multiple languages. What made you write in English as opposed to your mother tongue? How did you find the process? Do you have any tips for writers who are exophonic as well?
I’ve been writing in both languages since I studied Creative Writing (Module Course) at Oxford University while I was living in Germany. So, it wasn’t like choosing one over the other. I wrote my first novel in Turkish during those years and various short stories in English. I still write in both languages. However, I’ve been living abroad for over a decade, and I sincerely believe that language is organic, and it evolves, so I am mostly focused on English as I’m exposed to English more than other languages.
I scribble some Spanish Haiku poems, but they are for the joy of writing; they will stay in my drawer. When you want to get your work published, I think it is important to acknowledge the language of where you are rather than where you were born. For instance, poetry is all about listening to people, overhearing strangers' conversations, knowing the odd corners of your neighbourhood and so on. So, it is a natural process if you ask me.
My recommendation is to stay calm when someone assumes that you used a specific word because you are not native whilst you were experimenting with a metaphor. Learn more about exophonic writers, and read more books written by exophonic writers. Understand how people think if they know only one language and do not take criticism personally. I’ve been told to stop writing in English various times by various people, professional or non-professional, but I love challenges and couldn’t resist taking a new one.
Q: How do your friends and family feel about you taking on this challenge at your age and your stage of life?
Honestly, I don’t really know what they think! I think writing is personal, and a writing career is a hard one; it mustn't be easy for people around you to see you continuously typing something.
Q; Would you do it again? Has writing this piece activated your desire to write more?
I’ve been working on my second novel for a while. There are days I regret even starting it, but I’m desperate to write it. I’m desperate to see it finished because only then that story will be out of my mind. Back to the first question, writing is one way of self-expression. A way of dealing with the ideas that keep occupying our minds. So, for writers (published or unpublished), you just have to put those ideas on the page to have a good night's sleep; otherwise, they’ll haunt you.
