Writing Your Own Process: Javeria Hasnain
Alumni share their experiences and insights on polishing the craft and finding their own voice
How has your writing changed throughout the years? What has surprised you the most?
JH: The most surprising discovery has been that even if I don’t write for six months, that does not stop me from being a writer. The themes of my writing have changed tremendously due to my material circumstances and physical surroundings.
What do you enjoy about writing the most? The least?
JH: I am currently writing a craft talk for a workshop on the agony of writing. The perpetual agony—I think that’s the thing I enjoy most and, simultaneously, the least.
Who have you been reading lately? How have they influenced your writing or inspired you in any way?
JH: My friends recently gifted me the entire collection of Louise Gluck poems—a poet I always gravitate towards to say the thing plainly, and profoundly.
How did completing an MFA help you find your style or purpose in your writing?
JH: More than anything else, the MFA gave me lifelong friendships and community—within and outside of the school. I had some of the most incredible professors to learn from and trust. That’s all that one can really ask for.
What piece of advice would you give to current students who are in the process of crafting their first novels/collections?
JH: I used to think there will be a time I “become” a writer. Sure, you may become published, or famous, or best-selling etc etc. but you can never become a writer. Learn to love always becoming—being in perpetual making.
Javeria Hasnain is a poet, writer, and educator from Karachi, and the author of SIN (Chestnut Review, 2024). She received her MFA from The New School as a Fulbright scholar and has taught various creative writing classes, both within and outside academia. Her poems have been recently published with Foglifter, The Brazenhead Review, and Pleiades, among more.
This interview series is produced by Camilla Marchese Gonzalez.