Emerging Writers Series: Claire Engkaninan Low
“My paintings are made with the precision of a concert violinist, while my writing is closer to nightmares jolted out of my brain. Why is painting completely tidy while writing is a chaotic surprise? I wish I knew. I just know I need both in order to live and breathe. Art is my heart, and writing is my lungs.”
Claire Low’s story, ‘After I Found Her’, featured in the horror-aligned genre anthology This Fresh hell (2023), does that beautiful thing that short stories were made for: it makes you feel the story is about one thing, only to slowly reveal it's about something else entirely.
It’s a masterful piece, and if you want to find out more, you’ll have to read our review and then grab a copy of the anthology yourself!
Claire is also an exceptionally talented artist, and I loved the opportunity to explore how these two creative pursuits converge in her life, what it means to be published in an anthology, and what’s next for this talented human.
I love to start these interviews with a bit of an easy one that helps our readers get to know you, so could you share a little more about your background and what got you started as a writer?
Writing has paid my bills since I was 20. My background is in print journalism as a newspaper journalist and magazine editor.
When I was a small child, I wrote a paragraph-long story about being in space, a disaster unfolding, and stoically trying to get the situation under control “like my mum and dad taught me”. This tale of being from some kind of deep space astronaut dynasty feels like a good start in fiction.
My first published pieces were poems in the local newspaper’s children’s mailbag, for which I was paid a $5 book voucher each time. This same newspaper eventually published me as an adult journalist. In short, I had a lot of words in me—I still do—and they all need to go somewhere.
You’ve recently been published in the international anthology ‘This Fresh Hell’ from Clan Destine Press, a collection of stories that subvert horror tropes. Can you tell us more about your experiences getting published in the anthology and what this means to you as an emerging writer?
I have a friend, Annie McCann, who founded the Read3r’z Re-Vu community of readers. She sent me a copy of a different anthology, Hometown Haunts, and I told her I regretted not pitching a story. She asked if I had a short story in the works since a friend of hers, Katya, was putting a horror anthology together. I said I did. I had nothing at the time, but it all worked out great.
Katya turned out to be Katya de Becerra, a YA novelist who was co-editing the anthology with another writer, Narrelle Harris. And it all flowed from there. I picked the tropes I wanted to twist, made sure Katya and Narrelle liked my pitch and used my partner’s laptop to email myself my story in nightly installments like a modern-day Scheherazade.
It meant a lot to me to be published in a beautiful book available in paperback, hardcover, ebook, the works. It was launched in two cities and at the Sydney one, at Galaxy Bookshop, I loved signing it for people. Annie is also published in This Fresh Hell, and we got to speak about the anthology at Oz Comic-Con on a panel. Among its spec fic, sci-fi and horror titles, This Fresh Hell has been a bestseller for Clan Destine Press. It has a Goodreads page. I’ve had some amazing feedback from readers.
I have had glimmers of success as a short story writer before. But this was way more exciting.
Many new (and established!) writers often struggle with the editing process and polishing their works so they are ready to submit for things like anthology inclusion. What have you found works for you in this process?
I find the editing process awkward, almost embarrassing. When editors go through my work and suggest changes, it’s like they are seeing my messy house. As a journalist, sub-editors tidied up my copy. They encouraged me to write as cleanly as possible, so text could go through largely untouched. But it can be hard to see my own problems.
What works for me is reminding myself how much I want people to see me as a professional. So I get in there and try to scrub out all my errors; ensure sentences flow; and catch myself out with grammar and spelling. Quite often, reading text aloud will reveal weak turns of phrase, repetition, or overly long sentences.
An outside perspective helps, so I sometimes hand over drafts to my partner, Richard, a lawyer and an avid reader. He once pointed out that in an early version of a story, the seasons ran in the wrong order.
You’re also an award-winning artist, and I’d love to ask you about the creative synergy between these two art forms. Do you find similarities between your creative approach to painting and writing?
Being an artist and being a writer are definitely linked for me. They are separate but related, like two rooms in the same house. My creative approach to painting is systematic and orderly compared with writing. If I have a concept, I know how I will roll it out from sketch to varnishing.
Creative writing is much messier. I am a ‘pantser’ and tend to write stories as they occur to me, like someone trying to recall last night’s dream. This can involve combinations of words emailed to myself, a few paragraphs in a Google Doc, and a handful of scribbled pages in longhand.
So, my paintings are made with the precision of a concert violinist, while my writing is closer to nightmares jolted out of my brain. Why is painting completely tidy while writing is a chaotic surprise? I wish I knew. I just know I need both in order to live and breathe. Art is my heart, and writing is my lungs.
I love the sense of community and support that forms around writers when they’re part of an anthology. How important has it been for your writing journey to connect with other emerging writers?
It’s hugely important. The life of an emerging writer is probably going to be weird and solitary in order to get any writing done. It helps to talk to other solitary weirdos. In the Read3r'z Re-Vu group chat, I was lamenting about how cringe-inducing it can feel to take up edits and people in that gang knew exactly how I felt.
As a writer and artist, I am always trying to attract other creatives into my orbit (my ‘5 Creative Questions with…’ series on my blog has so far showcased 19 other people). We speak the same language, and we can commiserate with, celebrate with, and support each other. The value of this can’t be overstated.
I once attended a funeral of a family friend, a jazz musician. An entire community of jazz musicians showed up to play for him one last time. Since then, I have tried to live a creative life – but, crucially, a creative life in the company of other creative humans. A common thread runs through us; it’s a beautiful thing.
The Australian Literary scene has long been criticised for its lack of diversity despite the incredible multicultural communities across our states. Are there more opportunities for diverse voices, and what would you like to see more of in the future to feel supported as a writer in this space?
My hope for the Australian literary scene is that it comes to reflect the demographics of Australia itself. For example, according to the 2021 census, 17.4 per cent of the Australian population has Asian ancestry. But is roughly one in five celebrated books by an Australian author by an Asian Australian? More diversity would, of course, be welcome – and not just in terms of race. We need to see disability represented; different sexualities; gender identities; body types, and more. This can only enrich us all.
What would make writers feel supported in this space is money. Support diverse books with your wallet, and if this isn’t possible, a visit to your local library followed by a review. Aim to diversify your to-be-read pile.
There are various challenges out there. Have you read a book by an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander writer, a queer writer, a trans writer, a South Asian writer, a Muslim writer, a neurodivergent writer? Please consider adding one – or more – to your TBR if not.
I love to know what inspires people; can you share any books, movies, podcasts, or music sparking your creative process lately?
Books: A friend just sent me Funny Weather – Art in an Emergency by Olivia Laing, which I am looking forward to digesting. I also like to open my copy of Still Life by Amber Creswell Bell most evenings. Creswell Bell curated the National Emerging Art Prize, and I was a finalist last year. Still Life is, as a friend puts it, a gallery in a book, and I find it inspiring to read about artists’ different processes and ethos while admiring their studios and paintings.
Podcasts: Fail Like An Artist, especially its episode about jealousy and comparison, reveals the struggles as well as the joys of a creative life. You Are Good delves into what in various iconic movies sparks emotional connections for viewers.
Music: I love CDs because they have no ads and are not tracking me. I love to work to ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots’ by the Flaming Lips and anything by AKMU. I also love the music of Twoset Violin. They may be violin virtuosos, but they are also two goofy dudes from Brisbane. Their main message is simple yet powerful for any creative: go practise.
And lastly, can you tell us more about what’s next for you and where we can engage with more of your work?
As a writer – I have a short story in an upcoming horror anthology with Castle Bridge Media.
As an artist (I use the name Claire Engkaninan Low to differentiate myself from another artist called Claire Low), I have a group show at Balmain Watch House from 1-3 March 2024 with the Wet Paint Collective, a group of emerging artists.
A painting of mine titled All Monsters Are Real will also be on show as a finalist for the North Sydney Art Prize at The Coal Loader from 11 May to 2 June 2024.
Claire Low, also known as Claire Engkaninan Low, is a Chinese-Thai Australian writer and artist living on Cammeraygal land. A former newspaper journalist and magazine editor, she was twice shortlisted and highly commended for the ACT Writers Centre's Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Prize and was a runner-up in Yen magazine’s Short Story Competition. Her creative non-fiction has been published by SBS Voices, Voiceworks and The Emerging Writer. Low's short story, After I Found Her, is published in Clan Destine Press' horror anthology, This Fresh Hell, out now.
Website: clairelow.com
Instagram: @clairelow_
