.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. #65
Samantha Liana Williams
How did you first publish your writing and what was it?
The first thing I ever published was in my university’s literary journal. It was a poem titled “A Coming Home,” which was like an ode to my paternal grandmother that everyone compared me to as a child.
What period of your life do you find you write about most often?
My teenage years. I am beginning to write about my early 20s, but I became a mom young, so for me, the periods where I was my freest self I tend to write about.
What is a good writing habit you have picked up?
I journal. I think as a writer, it’s important to keep track of feelings and also crazy and different comparisons that can be brought into poems. I also have what I call “a word bank.” It’s like a document with all my favorite words based on how they sound to my inner ear that I tend to pull from. I also kind of write in phrases, like I’ll be thinking or watching something, or even listening to music, and something will make me write a line or a phrase in my head, so I’ll jot it down on paper. I have this document full of random thoughts that I tend to pull from. It’s like an archive.
What does your inner writing voice tell you?
To always be listening. That words and poetry are magic. That kids really do say the darndest things and if you listen closely and pay attention, kids are the best poets. They have a way with imaginative comparisons and throwing two things together that you wouldn’t think relate but somehow do.
Samantha Liana Williams is a writer and poet. Her work about two-ness and nostalgic reflections has been seen in BlackJoy Archive, Obsidian Literature, and Soft Quarterly. She is a poetry reader for Muzzle Magazine and a 2023 recipient of the John Lewis Writing Grant for poetry. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her eight-year-old daughter and newborn.
Yellow Arrow published Samantha’s piece “An Extenuation of Thanks” in ELEVATE, Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. IX, No. 1). You can also find her on Instagram @samanthaliana_.