Désirée Jung

Oyster River Pages: Why do you write and/or create?

Désirée Jung: I write because I don't understand and writing helps me ponder about my own questions, never really getting any final answers but raising new ones.

ORP: What books have you read more than once in your life?

DJ: Mrs. Dalloway, The Hours.

ORP: Do you know more than one language? How does this influence your art and/or writing?

DJ: Yes, my mother language is Portuguese and I also speak French. I cannot imagine not knowing other languages, though I think we all speak a foreign language, since by nature, speaking is taught to us by an external other, and is always mediated by confusion, as per the myth or story of Babel, and our confusion of tongues. But indeed, it does help me, though I had to adapt to being imperfect at all times, which I don't mind. It is actually my best quality.

ORP: What does vulnerability mean to you as an artist and/or writer?

DJ: The only essential tool and truth.

ORP: Do habits help or hinder creativity? Why or why not?

DJ: Intuitive and nonforced habits are what works for me. My body has its way of telling me what it wants and what it does not want. I think it is different for each person and you have to "feel" it along the way.

Désirée Jung is an artist born in Brazil, and adopted by Vancouver, Canada. She has published translations, poetry, and fiction in several magazines around the world, taking part in many artists residencies. Her education includes a film degree from Vancouver Film School, a BFA in Creative Writing, an MFA in Creative Writing, and a PhD in Comparative Literature, all from the University of British Columbia. Her series of video poems about topics ranging from psychoanalysis, sexuality, memory, landscape, and language, screened in various film festivals, can be seen in her youtube channel. Writing, for her, is a never-ending attempt to capture and hold light. Her most recent book “Meu Jeito de Viver,” was published by Editora Selo, in Brazil, 2022. For more information, please check her website: www.desireejung.com.

View Désirée’s Visual Art from Issue 6.1 “Untitled” HERE.