.Writers.on.Writing.
Get to know our authors, the foundation and heart of Yellow Arrow Journal, and what writing means to them through our monthly series.
W.o.W. #42
A’Eysha Kassiem
Describe an early experience where you learned that language has power.
I am a black woman who grew up in Apartheid South Africa. Apartheid was not just a system designed to oppress and discriminate, but it also classified everyone who was not white as lesser. There were various derogatory terms that white South Africans used to refer to people of color to reinforce their otherness. I was nine years old when a white boy used this terminology in reference to me—an insult that was meant to inflict harm in a way like nothing else could. It was my first lesson in how words can also be weapons that are sometimes harder to heal from than any physical wound.
If you didn’t write, what would you do?
I would be an archaeologist—I love history and exploring ancient ruins. So a black, female, Muslim, South African Indiana Jones (hit me up for a script, Netflix! Wink wink!)
What does your inner writing voice tell you?
Me: This sentence is brilliant!
Also me: This is the worst sentence that has ever been written in the history of the world!
A’Eysha Kassiem is an award-winning South African writer and journalist, whose work has appeared in several international publications. Her debut novel, Suitcase of Memory, was awarded the 2022 University of Johannesburg’s Creative Writing Fiction Prize for a debut novel. Her piece “The Suitcase” was included in Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. VI, No. 2, ANFRACTUOUS. A’Eysha participated in “An Exploration of Belonging: The Anfractuous Reading” last year. You can hear her read part of “The Suitcase” below and find the reading in its entirety on the Yellow Arrow YouTube channel.
You can find her on Instagram @aeyshakassiem and @suitcase.of.memory, on Facebook @aeysha.kassiem, and on Twitter @a_kassiem. Visit her website at aeyshakassiem.com.