Meet Allyson Roche | Writer & Artist

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

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.
I am a writer and collage artist, but I don’t see the two roles or endeavors as separate. While my writing work ranges from fiction to nonfiction, from poetry to literary criticism, it always takes on a collage-like nature, the boundaries between genre dissolve, and I immerse myself in a space of in-betweenness. When submitting a piece of writing for publication, I often fret over which category it fits. This used to discourage me from honing my style, but it was my experience at UCLA, of writing and reading literary criticism and theory, that allowed me to embrace uncertainty, to sharpen my perspective, and to define my intentions as an artist and writer. I am most proud of my Research Thesis on Virginia Woolf, which won UCLA’s Thompson Prize for Best Honors Thesis, for how the process taught me to ask questions, to trust myself, and to always try diving down into the rabbit hole that might lead nowhere – because it most likely will lead you somewhere.

My critical work has immensely influenced my creative work, which embraces movement, multiplicity, and cyclicality. It rejects linearity and resists narrative. I see my writing like I see collage-making – moments, images, impressions, and influences are the materials gathered from different sources from different times, repurposed to coexist in simultaneity. I curate, cut-up, and layer. Some of the questions I ask myself when I collage also occur when I write – “What happens if I place this image next to this one? What does that do to the first image? How does its context change? What effect and affect does layering offer?” Virginia Woolf, an inspiration and research subject of mine, expressed her frustration at the “tyranny of plot,” which I think about often. I’m always trying to access a temporality through writing that more accurately represents the temporality of lived experience and memory, which we experience every day in both a cyclical and simultaneous way. Linear plot is similar to calendrical time, which is rigid, and isn’t recognized by our feelings, whereas the framework of a collage offers room for the coexistence sense, thought, and memory, for layering.

Embracing this impulse to disregard category and exploring its consequences has opened so many doors for me. My writing has most recently appeared in Mister Magazine, The Cry Lounge, and Inside Voice Zine. My collage work will appear in Fiilthy Glo Magazine and was just featured in Moleskine’s national newsletter. A lot of these ideas have influenced one of my current projects, which is a series of written works that analyze and explore the process-oriented practice of diary writing, a definition-resisting space. This first started as an informal series on my substack. The diary is a space determined by its writer, which can change at any moment. It’s a space for becoming, for comparing, for self-creation and reflection, a space of transition, and I cannot think of another space that is as wildly fascinating when it comes to how temporality and narrator are represented, who the audience is, how the audience is addressed, and how this combination of questions establishes the diary’s form and content.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Hmmm. My favorite breakfast food is at Nat’s or Sweet Butter in Sherman Oaks. Jump onto the 405 and hit The Getty or The Hammer Museum in Westwood. If you’re like me, by the time you’re done with that, it would be dinner time. Go to the Italian restaurant La Pergoletta in Los Feliz. After, take a short walk to the Los Feliz 3 Theatre and see what the American Cinematheque programed for the evening. They’re currently doing 5 films from Chantal Akerman and they have a Noir Fest coming up. After the film, stop by Skylight Books right next door, then hop over to Figaro Bistrot to have a drink and people watch. Trust me, you’ll find plenty to watch and you’ll stay entertained. Oh, and you should probably go to the beach at some point.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would not have the confidence in myself as a writer — and a conviction in my perspective and approach — had I not worked under the mentorship of Professor Louise Hornby in UCLA’s English Department. She advised my award-winning research thesis, “‘Between Gloom and Laughter’: Female Longing, Unhappiness, and Structures of Absence in the Works of Virginia Woolf,” and was the first person to know, instinctually, what I was after in the style of my writing. She witnessed me struggling against my own instincts, having listened to professors who called my creative writing “analytical” and my analytical writing “too elaborative.” She changed everything for me when she said, “you know, you can make your sentences even longer. If it’s too much, I’ll tell you.” Her guidance forced me to trust myself, and I found freedom in her patience and in her willingness to follow my fragments. It was my time working with her that allowed me to build a foundation of trust in my perspective. She also introduced me to so many writers and artists that have shaped my worldview. I also owe a lot to Professor Elizabeth DeLoughrey, whose guidance I received only in my last few months at UCLA. She saw something in me through my assignments – perhaps a passion and hunger for knowledge – and encouraged me to apply for Ph.D. programs in English, which is what I plan on doing soon. Her research inspires and challenges me so much, and I see it influencing both my creative and analytical work.

Website: allysonroche.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyson.roche/

Other: https://allysonroche.substack.com/