We were lucky to catch up with Jammie Huynh recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jammie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I have been writing stories since I was 10. I was always so fascinated with creating my own worlds. I grew up in a tumultuous household and writing became an escape. I stopped writing in middle school because the world convinced me I had to pick a more lucrative career path. I wouldn’t pick it back up until I was a sophomore in high school in English II Honors. My teacher had a dry sense of humor and not many people liked him because he never gave compliments freely. One day, he made us all write a poem and all it took was him telling me he liked it to push me to start writing again, but this time poetry. But once again, I was convinced that I had to choose a career path that would get me a good job so I started of college as a mass com major. That ended after the first semester and I finally chose to do what I wanted and started to pursue creative writing.

But I didn’t see myself as poet until my junior year of college. I had been taking a poetry class that semester and there was an arts event going on with an open mic that all of my friends were going to one night. One of the assignments in my poetry class was to write a spoken word poem and perform it in front of everyone. I remember starting to cry when I read it out loud the first time, I had to leave the room but I came back and finished. So the night of the open mice, I decided I would read that poem. I was nervous at first because it was a heavy poem. The name of the poem was “I Wish I Was a Boy” and was about how my father never wanted my sisters and I. It talked about domestic abuse and other trauma from my childhood so needless to say, I was very nervous. When I got up there, I was shaking but I felt a rush come over me. I performed the entire poem, voice cracking slightly at times but never crying, and you could hear a pin drop. The murmurs and chatter of the crowd all died away and every single person was looking at me. Every single person was looking at me. They were quiet because of me. They were listening because of me. That was the moment where I decided I was a poet and I wanted to be a poet and it didn’t matter how much money I made, I was going to pursue poetry professionally. There was a huge amount of applause after and so many people came up to me saying I had touched them or that they could relate. It was euphoric, knowing my poetry could affect others like that. I want to keep writing poetry that touches people.

Jammie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Jammie Huynh and I am a second-year MFA student in poetry at the College of Charleston. I work as a senior editorial assistant on the literary magazine swamp pink, previously known as Crazyhorse. I perform and occasionally host open mics for Free Verse Poetry Festival, the first and only poetry festival in Charleston, SC . Last year, I submitted a manuscript of poems for the Free Verse Poetry Inaugural Book Prize and won. My collection of poems were published as a book, Out of Darkness. I write for my family. I write to tell our stories because we so often went ignored. I write to understand and navigate what I have been through, I am most proud of my book, Out of Darkness. I never thought I would be a published poet at 24. I had trouble believing in myself as a poet. and had major imposter syndrome coming into my MFA program. This award reminded me that I was good enough and that I deserved to be where I was. I am still in disbelief that I have a book, it’s hard to even tell others about it because of how surreal it feels. In my work, I always strive to tell my story and connect with others through my poetry. My poetry can deal with heavy subjects but I hope through my work and career, readers can find that there’s a light at the end of it all.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is being able to see how people react to your work. Nothing feels better then hearing a crowd go silent and watching them be completely captivated by your poetry and performance. It’s also so rewarding when your work can touch people. I’ve had so many people come up to me after open mics and tell me how much my poem made them feel or how much they could relate. It’s an amazing feeling to be able to connect and touch people with my work and I hope to continue doing so.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I just want to tell my family’s stories. I want to give them a stage in my poems, a place for us to be heard. I just want to keep on writing poetry that is cathartic and allows me to tell my story.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: arithepoet/ jamgohamm

Image Credits
J.B. McCabe Lynn Luc