Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Savannah Manhattan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Savannah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on so far is my upcoming poetry collection, The Deadname Triptych. It’s book two of a surreal auto-biographical poetry trilogy based around a trans woman who discovers herself, overcomes adversity, and ascends to glory. Book one was released in late 2022 and it was called There’s Something About Theo. Once I wrote that collection, I was still charged with electric creativity, so I immediately started The Deadname Triptych.

I’m inspired by the epic works of Allen Ginsburg, TS Eliot, and Yevgeny Yevtushenko. Their poems centered around traversing cities and towns in order to find themselves. I love the vibrance and possibilities of the metropolis, so it was important for me to center my character in Los Angeles, where I live. Since I’m also a thriller/horror writer, I wanted to infuse adventure and supernatural entities into my story to create a blurred territory between fiction and real life. Bret Easton Ellis did an amazing job of combining those literary elements in Lunar Park. I believe it can be up to us to build a myth out of ourselves, and that is the philosophy of my trilogy.

The Deadname Triptych pinballs the protagonist between the many sections of Los Angeles and exposes her to bigotry, ignorance, inner peace, epiphany, melancholia, and euphoria. She even has to avoid the sinister Steamroller Man who destroys the light of the world. I wanted to highlight the experiences that I and many trans people face on a daily basis, but I didn’t want to craft a “woe-is-me” tale. Instead, I wanted to say “It’s okay to suffer but it’s even more okay to thrive.” We can’t live our lives in fear, or the oppressors win.

I’m excited to release the book nationwide sometime this year. I’ve submitted it to award committees and magazines. Fingers crossed! Overall, it’s meaningful to me whether or not I win anything with it. Finishing it was its own victory.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Gosh, I feel like I’m doing everything these days! I moved to Los Angeles from Minnesota nine years ago to get away from the snow. Who wants to live in -60 degree weather? Not this girl. I’ve written since I was in third grade and I started poetry when I was a late teenager. Horror and thrillers appeal to me, so I did some as my first short stories.

I started in Los Angeles writing screenplays for my brother’s company and then launched a career in stand-up comedy. Stand-up led me to perform around the nation, meet the greatest people I have ever been around, and find out how to be funny among the deteriorating fall of Rome we’re in right now. Since 2021, I pivoted back to poetry and fiction. 2022 was my first book release, There’s Something About Theo. It’s my debut poetry book about discovering my butterfly moments within myself. In December of 2022, I was also published in a national anthology called Meet Me at Midnight for a sci-fi short story I wrote named The Module. The anthology debuted at number 1 on the Amazon charts, which still boggles my mind.

To boil me down into some terms, I am a fiction and poetry writer who has the ability to be hilarious. I also am a coffee fanatic, cat lover, and fashionista. I can be hired to edit, write food reviews, jokes, stories, and grocery lists. I love writing and reading a lot. Almost too much. It’s concerning.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

For one, buy people’s work that you love. Don’t ask for discounts or hookups. Artists make a living because they get paid. Landlords don’t want exposure credit. They want cash. People get arrested for exposure. Stop exploiting and downplaying artists. You can’t expect your friends to make it big if you don’t support them. Building a fanbase starts on the smallest of levels, and that is you.

The second commandment for society is: stop telling artists to get a real job. If a painter tells you they’re a painter, don’t say “But how do you pay the bills?” If I hear another person ask that, I will mold them into an unspeakable creature. Art is a legitimate way to pay the bills and live. How do you think famous actors and musicians are paying the bills? Also don’t ask how our little project is going because it’s bigger than your puny brain, okay? Sorry, I got heated there. Being unemployed is taxing. Just kidding! Gotcha.

The final commandment is: Stop demanding work from artists. They don’t owe you anything. We create for ourselves, not for you. It takes everything to squeeze out something meaningful. Be happy there’s anything. Be grateful, damn it! People who barrage creatives for autographs just to sell them online are vulturous wimps. Can I say that? The only exception is do that to me so I know how much my autograph fetches online.

Treat artists and creatives as if they are the world’s greatest creations and realize you have it within you to create. Creating is never perfected overnight. As a matter of fact, it is never perfect. It is an expression of you. Show the world who you are. We need more of that and less bullying online.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

When they started, people paid millions for them. Last month, someone sold the same NFTs for 20 dollars. I think that says everything. Value isn’t permanent and it isn’t objective. Use that money to buy real art. Also, AI art is ridiculous and cold.

If I seemed passionate and angry throughout, just know I’m also a hugger.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @savannahmanhattan
• Facebook: Savannah Manhattan
• Other: Purchase my book There’s Something About Theo on Amazon, at Barnes and Noble, Skylight Books, and Stories Books and Cafe.