An overwhelming of reality in which perception begins to warp.
Ai Jiang
Ai Jiang is a Chinese-Canadian writer, Nebula, Bram Stoker, and Ignyte Award winner, Hugo, Astounding, BSFA, Aurora, and Locus Award finalist, and an immigrant from Fujian, China currently residing in Toronto, Ontario. She is a member of HWA and SFWA. Her work can be round in F&SF, The Dark, Uncanny, among others. She is the recipient of Odyssey Workshop’s 2022 Fresh Voices Scholarship and the author of Linghun and I AM AI. Find her on X (@Ai-Jiang_), Insta (@ai.jian.g), and online (http://aijiang.ca).
Short Interview
- Write a 10-word sentence that embodies how you understand sensory overload
An overwhelming of reality in which perception begins to warp.
- What scent/s would your poem be?
I tried my best to incorporate all senses, including the sixth sense: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, and proprioception.
- What did you intend your audience to feel when reading your piece?
I want my audience to feel a sense of overwhelming anxiety and nervousness, of a growing embarrassment and unwanted heating of the body, of senses sharpening then warping, of extreme proprioception where being grounded and being aware of your body, its movements, and your surrounding becomes something to fear rather than something that brings comfort. I want my audience to feel discomfort and claustrophobia and suffocation and paranoia and the clawing worry of performance, the failure of performance, and the uselessness of it all in the end.
- Describe your favorite type of light.
My favourite type of light is the type that you cannot see, the type that you can feel growing within you, within others—the type that widen eyes, leave mouths hanging agape or smiling, leave hearts pounding with excitement and comfort and hope. The type that is impossible to hold in your hands or form into words.
Angry Gable Press 