Meet our LGBTQ2S+ Guest Curator, David Ly

We are happy to introduce Word Vancouver 2022’s LGBTQIA2S+ Guest Curator, David Ly! We sat down with David and to learn more about what inspires him and what influences his writing.

1) What inspires you in your writing?

I think it would be to further explore the worlds I've created in my poetry. I write what I want to create and exist in, and as I write more, I realize the stories in the poems are much larger than what I initially put down on the page. So, in a way, my own curiosity is what inspires me and to see how far I can push it is a main factor in what keeps me inspired.

2) What inspires you as a curator?

I think it would be trying to curate events that I wish I could have attended earlier in my career. For example, the Queer Asian event is especially meaningful to me and I hope that the audience can take away something special from the queer Asian writers I've curated for it. Overlapping identities have always been a source of inspiration in my own writing, so I am curious to see what other writers in the same spheres of existence have to say about it!

3) What are your influences?

What influences me is often outside of poetry! Weird science facts like something having to do with space, prehistoric life, or new animal discoveries find their way into my poems more often than not. Music is also a good source of inspiration for me as I have it on when writing most of the time—that or a good movie in the background. I think the imagery (visual and audio) that I get from all of these things influence how I construct my poems, and the stories I want them to tell.

4) What sort of work do you want to bring out into the community as a curator?

As a writer of colour, I'd like to showcase other writers from marginalized groups: show that we are doing really exciting work that deserves recognition. I also want to bring work that challenges what existing notions of writing and poetry are. If the work I help bring out into the community can spark meaningful conversations, then I think that means it is doing what it is supposed to.

5) What are you excited about for this year's festival?

I'm really curious to see how the events I've programmed fit into the overall festival. I'm particularly excited to be bringing an event solely dedicated to chapbooks because I feel like they deserve more of a platform. I'm also excited for the debut authors that I've included, and am looking forward to the space we've created for them to have their work showcased.

David’ latest book:

More about David:

David Ly is the author of Mythical Man (2020), which was shortlisted for the 2021 ReLit Poetry Award, and Dream of Me as Water (2022), both published under the Anstruther Books imprint at Palimpsest Press. He is also co-editor (with Daniel Zomparelli) of Queer Little Nightmares: An Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022). David's poems have appeared in publications such as Arc Poetry Magazine, Best Canadian Poetry, PRISM International, and The Puritan, where he won the inaugural Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence. David is the Poetry Editor at This Magazine.

Twitter: @dlylyly

Instagram: @divad.ly