Tania Asnes: On Creativity
Marianna
Do you use a process to come up with ideas?
Tania
Writing poetry-on-demand has put me in the habit of mentally tossing out all the cliches that arise when I first set my mind on a theme. They might be metaphors or words... once they’re out of the way, I can usually access something more original or unexpected.
Marianna
What creative accomplishments are you most proud of?
Tania
I recently published a poem in Soft Punk Magazine (@softpunkmag) called “Oh, My City.” It’s in their special “Corona Papers” issue, and it’s about the strangeness of the first few weeks of social distancing here in New York. I think it came out well, and it was refreshing to process an event in language basically in real-time, and then to be holding the magazine two weeks later. It’s a really glossy, beautiful publication.
People have also responded to my self-created medium of “makeup erasure poems,” where I create blackout poetry, only using makeup and beauty magazines as a medium. It’s been my clearest expression thus far of some of my deepest and most personal “stuff,” and it’s stretched me to think visually.
Marianna
Do you experiment in your work?
Tania
I’ve been trying to turn off my inner censor lately, and experimentation works well for that. I don’t know if I see my creative process as a series of experiences, but the more I push myself to play with form, syntax, structure, and meaning, the more interesting things get.
Marianna
What sources of inspiration do you use to foster creativity in your work?
Tania
Joni Mitchell, the ocean, Poetry Magazine, the endlessly creative nightlife performers I am lucky enough to call friends. Sometimes, I decide to do something creative outside my mediums in order to feed my creativity. A few months ago, I bought some Play-Doh at the local toy store and messed around with it, just for the tactile experience and to engage with color.
Marianna
How would you describe your creative process?
Tania
Flow meets compulsion.
Marianna
Do you have a routine or ritual for entering into a creative headspace?
Tania
I’m one of those writers who likes to be struck by creativity at random. But when I need to buckle down for a project, I do the same thing I do when I’m working on an acting role: fantasize. I focus on an idea or theme or word and let my mind wander. I have to write in silence, or the relative silence you get living in NYC... Music distracts me, even if it doesn’t have lyrics.
Marianna
Do you have any habits you've built for yourself to foster creativity?
Tania
Reading other poets and watching other actors. Whether I like or dislike a poem or performance, I usually get inspired.
Marianna
What does creativity mean to you?
Tania
It means allowing flow to happen by making unlimited space for possibility.
Marianna
When do your best ideas hit you?
Tania
Usually when I’m in the middle of something else: a phone call, cooking, walking.
Marianna
What are the unexpected turns your life took to lead you to become who you are today?
Tania
Oh boy. A marriage and terrible divorce in my twenties, for one thing. Starting over on my own close to thirty. I think taking odd jobs over the years has shaped me, too. I’ve been an administrative assistant, a cocktail waitress, a promotional model giving out cranberry juice in Rockefeller Center in the summer heat... sometimes my life feels like a series of vignettes, and maybe that’s part of why I prefer short-form writing.
Marianna
What do you think is something that the most creative people in the world have in common?
Tania
Self-doubt! Or should it be, self-doubt?
Marianna
How do you make sense of chaos in your life?
Tania
I have a pretty atheistic, “there is no sense to things” view of life and the universe, so I think that helps me accept randomness and chaos. I don’t try to find meaning in the chaos—I just let myself feel it and try to do the next thing that makes sense given what has changed.
Marianna
Where do you think ideas come from?
Tania
This question might break my brain. You can print that!
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About Tania Asnes:
Tania Asnes, also known as TAz, is a poet and actress based in Queens, New York. She studied creative writing at Barnard College and has spent many years writing poetry-on-demand at events around NYC, the country, and even in Paris, France.
Her ongoing visual-poetic series of “makeup erasure poetry” is collected on Instagram.
Tania is currently a senior writer with the poetry group Ars Poetica and is volunteering for the Poems for a World on Pause project, composing poems for people around the world to help relieve a bit of anxiety and foster community around the coronavirus crisis.