Meet Sajah Francesca | Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sajah Francesca and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sajah, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Since I was a child, I have always naturally gravitated towards interests and avenues that are derived from a means of artistic expression. I was raised in a religious environment, which encouraged the attending congregation to think simply and discouraged the idea of questioning the institution. I felt incredibly restricted in this environment, especially since it was prevalent in all avenues of my life. My mother worked as a children’s minister, my father was a deacon, and I attended private schools which upheld specific religious values and ideals until my final year of middle school. Many of my classes required me to meditate on the Bible and memorize long, complicated passages staring at age five. Though, for the majority of my life, I knew nothing aside from the beliefs I had been taught by the church, I simultaneously understood that there was something about me which didn’t fit into these roles which my religion was attempting to project on to me. I found outlets through different forms of artistry, becoming heavily involved in theater and choir, but where I found my true passion was in writing.
Writing had always allowed me the space to question, to analyze, and to rationalize the world around me. It was the first true safe place I found where I could express emotions or make statements which would have been silenced if I had tried to express them verbally. I can thank author Shel Silverstein for sparking a love of poetry in me. The more poetry I read, the more I was able to comprehend the harsh realities of the world, while simultaneously learning to appreciate the mundane beauty that surrounded my life which often went unrecognized. I began writing poetry intensely in my junior year of high school. The spark that ignited this fervorous compulsion to write poetry was a string of deaths in my family, which irrevocably shook up the dynamic of my household, and completely changed my perspective of life, religion, and love. I found myself resonating with the works of Emily Dickinson and weaping over the writings of Ross Gay and Ada Limon. My experience with literature, poetry, and storytelling as a whole has given me a drive in my life, to continue to learn and to share what i’ve learned with others.
As of now, I have various publications in a number of literary magazines, been a part of the creation of Long Beach’s i2izine (founded by Ellie Kerns), written an original manuscript which I was able to see performed on stage, and have finally published my first full poetry collection, titled “Nasty. Unpredictable. Nonsense.” I have additionally decided to pursue this love further in my education, and am now studying English Literature to pursue teaching. I aspire to share my love of literature with younger generations, who hopefully will find solace in the written space of literature, which is devoid of judgement and accepting of curiosity.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My published collection “Nasty. Unpredictable. Nonsense.” is broken into three parts, consisting of poems and short stories which I wrote from 2018 to 2023. During this time, I was entering college, living independently for the first time, coming to terms with my experience in my queer identity, and there was also a world wide pandemic… which meant I had an exceeding amount of time in which I felt insanely isolated. Being alone made me revert into my head. I began to lament the life I once had and it re-spawned a mourning period within me. I was mourning my childhood, my naivety, my spirituality, and many of my family members who had passed away in the years prior. The mind is a funny thing, because there’s no escape from it. I recognize that it is me, my memories from my perspective in my voice, but it is also my harshest critic and most relentless bully. The way I was able to rationalize the overwhelming thoughts I was having was by putting all of those thoughts onto paper. I needed a way to take the darkness and reconfigure it into something beautiful and uplifting.
That sentiment is what created “Nasty. Unpredictable. Nonsense.”. It consists mostly of confessional poetry, written through a surrealist and image heavy lens. What is important to me as an author is discussing “taboo” subjects, which are commonly rejected by academics and avoided by many social groups. Having direct and often upsetting discussions about topics such as indoctrination in religion, the abuse of drugs, and grief after loss, is necessary, as it allows others who are experiencing similar pain to find connection and understand that there are people who resonate with their dark experiences. However, it was also important to me to emphasize the beauty of other “taboos”, such as queer expression. The compulsion to shut down and negate conversations around queerness, and specifically queer joy, is and has always been pervasive and hateful in our society. These conversations are being taken out of educational spaces, denied by the government, and banned in literature. It was important to me that, at a certain point, the narrative would shift away from a place of trauma and darkness, and that the elements of queerness reflected the emerging joy within my life. My queerness is what has kept me alive. My queer community has always accepted me, with all my flaws and quirks, without question. Most importantly, understanding and accepting my queerness has taught me how to love myself and my life. Aside from those major themes, my collection promotes introspection, self-exploration, recovery, and acceptance.
I am so proud of this collection. It encapsulates me in an interesting way, and, though it has just been published, every time I re-read it, I see how much I have grown since. But nothing about the process of writing or publishing is easy. It is intensely emotionally and mentally draining, though the euphoria that hits once you solidify a solid poem cannot be beat. Writing can be really fun, in that regard. However, poetry is fascinating to me because poets often do not have a separate narrative voice than that of their own. There is no character to hide behind. No shield. No matter how much we separate the “art” from “the artist”, it is still incredibly vulnerable. I had many doubts around publishing the collection, because it offers an extremely personal glimpse at my life, my mental state, and my questioning around my gender identity. I did not know if I was mentally ready to be perceived by an audience in that way. On top of that, poetry has never been an avenue for making money. That doesn’t matter to me necessarily; I knew I wasn’t going to be the next Colleen Hoover and make millions of dollars. But I, personally, had to fund my book. That, in itself, was extremely difficult, and it is rather upsetting to me that for many writers, there is not another option to get your name out there other than sacrificing your own savings.
However, I decided to follow through with the process after I saw the reactions people were having with my single poem publications in various literary magazines. I had editors and readers telling me how shaken they were emotionally by something I had written, and that it had helped them process a similar grief they struggled with reconciling. I had people close to me choking on their words trying to hold back tears as they told me how my poem made them feel. Even my boyfriend was reciting lines from my own poems back to me from memory, telling me that those specific words strung together resonated deeply within him. If there is one thing I want my poetry to do, it’s just that; To make people feel seen and for people to also see me as I truly am. With my writing, I hope to build a community. I hope to make broken people, queer people, lonely people, feel connected to one another through a language of pure, open-minded love. That is explicitly my mission.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to start by thanking my absolutely amazing educators who have instilled this love of literature in me. My love and my security in writing is the direct result of the passion, dedication, and patience of my teachers and professors. They dedicated countless hours discussing writing techniques with me, breaking down literary theory, introducing influential authors to me, and constructively criticizing my art which I had entrusted them with. I would like to thank, specifically, Sarah Strahan, who was the first educator who encouraged me to pursue writing as a possible career path. Additionally, I would like to thank Tucker Amidon and Paul Tayyar, two professors who mentored me in my writing, encouraged me to pursue publication, and ultimately broadened my understanding and love of literature. I am so grateful to have experienced their wisdom and their passion.

I, also, cannot thank my amazing family enough, especially my cousin, Becca Nichols, who spent years assisting me with my writing. Thank you for accepting all the Iphone notes first drafts, being there for lengthy Facetime calls, and for dedicating so much of your time to reading, re-reading, editing, and meditating over my poems. I am so blessed to have such a talented person and fellow poet in my life. You can find her on instagram @beacardellapoetry and I would highly recommend reading her original poetry.

Additionally, behind the image of an individual writer in each literary movement, there is a circle of talented people who uplift and assist them. From the early days of sonnets to the rambunctious and determined Beat Generation, every poet needs a community of colleges to support them. I am so lucky to have found a plethora of amazingly talented people who have helped me understand art, who inspire me deeply, and who have assisted me in my own artistic journey. I would like to thank Aphrodite Armstrong (Actor/Scriptwriter/Comic), Lauren Brooks (Writer), Lars Toler (Actor/Writer), Ellie Kerns (Artist/Editor), Willow Holmes (Artist), Lena Zelenz (Artist), and Daniel Espinoza (Writer). I am so grateful for all that you have done for me. I have no doubt that every one of them will continue on in their own art to influence the world in beautiful ways.

Finally, I need to thank my amazing partner, Adam Ruilova, who is my muse, my life-line, and my biggest supporter. Thank you for listening to my late night ramblings, supporting me in my art, and encouraging me endlessly to pursue my ambitions.

Website: https://www.archwaypublishing.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/860094-nasty-unpredictable-nonsense

Instagram: sajahfrancesca

Image Credits
Ellie Kerns, Becca Nichols