Q&A with L.B. Hazelthorn
“A ringtone bleats for matins: you vibrate as one. / Nineteen people liked you as you slept: / return refreshed, your profile pic undimm’d…”
~ ‘Computations’ by L.B. Hazelthorn
Your poem "Computations" explores our digital existence, mixing online jargon with religious and apocalyptic imagery. What was your inspiration behind this piece?
My parents were conservative Christians who believed in the evils of technology and the imminent end of civilisation. I was home-schooled, which was occasionally fun — I was free to follow my love of history and language — but mostly it was just bizarre: the microchips in bank cards were apparently the sign of the Antichrist and on weekends we went hunting for habitable caves for when the apocalypse strikes. I’m pleased to say this indoctrination backfired miserably and my parents ended up with a queer agnostic dreamer for whom the collapse of current social structures is #goals.
But my love of language continues. I’m fascinated by humanity’s need for storytelling and the way our search for meaning leads us to build spiritualised structures in even the most secular spaces, such as sporting events and, of course, the internet.
As well as a poet, you are also a fiction writer. Can you give us a little glimpse into the Hangfire universe?
Ah, you’ve done your research! Hangfire is my alternate-history world, and I’m currently finishing up my first full-length novel about an archaeology student in 1920s Britain, her family dramas and relationship tangles as a feminist in a changing world, and her discovery of the chasma — ancient immortal shapeshifters who hide themselves in human society, bound by curses and uneasy alliances.
There’s murder, mythology, monsters and passive-aggressive tea drinking. And chaotic queer romance. I’ve enjoyed drawing on my history and archaeology studies to build this world, and I’m hoping to unleash some Hangfire one day soon.
You are currently the editing intern at The Suburban Review, a digital literary journal based in Melbourne. What do you enjoy about editing? Has it changed or influenced your writing process?
It’s definitely encouraged me to polish my work properly before I consider it ready for submission, but the biggest influence has been the changed way I see the publication process. I think writers can sometimes have an us-against-them attitude to editors, but the reality is that most editors are excited to support great work. They genuinely want writers to produce the most original, diverse, and high-quality pieces and find an audience, and their suggestions or even rejections can actually be a great kindness. The difference between good writing and superb writing often comes down to structure and editing, and it’s exciting to experience both sides of this process.
You've said that your reading habits tend towards "vivid characters, strange stories and weird atmospheric settings." What's on your reading list at the moment?
I enjoy reading everything from literary fiction and poetry to sci-fi, fantasy, and manga. I seem to always be chasing an atmosphere — rediscovering a sense of the uncanny and dreamlike that I enjoyed so much as a child. And the best children’s fiction does tend to do this incredibly well; I’m still drawn to the works of Lemony Snicket and Odo Hirsch as regularly as le Guin, Nabokov, or Woolf.
I’ve recently had a break from reading, due to cantankerous ADHD and some tough anti-procrastination rules, but this year I’m returning it with great excitement. Beside my bed at the moment: Emma Lew’s ‘Crow College,’ David Malouf’s ‘An Imaginary Life,’ Boris Akunin’s ‘Fandorin’ series, Claire G. Coleman’s ‘The Old Lie,’ and Susanna Clarke’s ‘Piranesi.’ I highly recommend them all.
L. B. Hazelthorn is a fiction writer and poet based in lutruwita Tasmania. She dreams in monochrome and writes in colour.