Interview with Literary artist Jennifer Juan
Literary artist Jennifer Juan has had an impressive year, and shows no signs of slowing down as she enters December with two exciting new projects.
Following the release of her critically acclaimed feminism themed poetry collection Kissing Boys, Just For The Thrill, released at the beginning of 2018, and her début EP Wildflowers, which was released over the summer, Juan returns with the brand new poetry collection 27, With A White Lighter and the holiday themed single Winter Girl.
What can we expect from your new poetry collection, 27, With A White Lighter?
It’s a collection of poems based on events and observations from my life, at the beginning, up until where I am now, and where I’ll go next. I wanted to take a moment to look at my journey, and celebrate the experiences I have been lucky to have, and make piece with the bad experiences. Sometimes it gets a bit dark and raw, but there are lovely, bright spots too. Writing it and putting everything together was a trip down memory lane, for sure.
What are some of your favourite poems from the new collection?
My favourites would probably be Chain Smoking and The Guardian. Chain Smoking was something I based on a dream I had. It was very dramatic, and it was like being in a film. I woke up feeling very inspired, so I wrote Chain Smoking. I had all these ideas from the dream, about the nature of romance, and destructive dependency, and they just flowed onto the screen in front of me.
The Guardian was very personal for me, because it was based on something from my childhood. My Grandfather has always been someone that inspired me, he’s very educated and aware of the world around him, and he is one of those people who does everything he can to help people and empower them. He used to read news stories to me, from a newspaper called The Guardian, when I was a little girl, and we would talk about the world, and all the things that were happening, and it’s something I’ve always remembered. Sometimes, as I grew up, I felt like I wasn’t growing into someone he could be proud of, and it was difficult to reconcile with the fact that as a human, I’m going to make mistakes, and I am going to disappoint the people I care about, but being able to tke those thoughts and anxieties, and create something from them, helped me to calm down and feel okay about it.
Can you tell us about your new single Winter Girl?
While I tend to be a bit of a Grinch about some aspects of the holidays, I’ve always liked holiday music, and I’ve never really done anything like that before, so I thought I’d give it a try. I found some sounds that really worked together, and created a cozy, winter vibe, and I thought about what kind of song I wanted it to be. When I think about winter and the holidays, one of the most prominent themes is being with people you love, and I think in the modern era we find ourselves in, in terms of romantic relationships, things can be a bit shy and casual, so I started playing with the idea of someone who has feelings for someone, but is trying to hide from that, but proposes the idea of being together just for the winter, and the holidays, while hinting that they want more than that.
What do you have planned for 2019?
I’ll be releasing an EP called Subliminals in the Spring, which I’m really looking forward to sharing with people, and I’ll be releasing a special poetry project next year. I can’t say too much about that, but it’s something I haven’t really tried before, and I’m excited for it.
Where can we find your new projects?
You can find my poetry collection 27, With A White Lighter on Amazon, all over the world, from Monday the 3rd of December, and Winter Girl will be available on all digital music stores and streaming services from Friday the 7th of December.
For more details about Jennifer Juan:
Website: www.jenniferjuan.com
Instagram: @MissJSquared
Twitter: @MissJSquared
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/missjsquared/
