Grace Lee was one of our 2024 Digital Residents. As a part of this program, we do Q&s with our residents to feature them, their work, and their words. See our Q&A with Grace below, and explore more Spotlights here.
TSW: What were you processing during our residency program? Did anything unlock for you? If so, what new entrance did you find for your work or for yourself as a writer in the world? And what caused that shift?
GRACE LEE: I came into the program hoping to heal from an episode of creative trauma, with questions like, “After all that pain, is it still worth writing? If it is, then what is worth writing? In what way can the act of writing draw my heart-mind toward peace, regardless of my writing’s reception?”
And through the safe and tender space of the residency, I found a new approach to my art-making: writing as a gift to my reader. A gift as in the way I bring home sunflowers from the farmer’s market because they’re my lover’s favorite. As in 🌻 these words are for you 🌻 I thought you might like them 🌻 it brought me so much joy to think of you 🌻.
TSW: What’s a mantra or motto that you have in mind these days when you are writing or creating?
GL: “I am already free.”
TSW: What is something that someone said — a fellow resident, a past mentor, perhaps something from one of the bonus sessions — that helped change the way you see your writing or work?
GL: After getting to know me a bit, a highly venerated monk once said that I am objectively smart and good. When I heard this, I wept until my legs trembled. This made me step back and see not only my positive traits but also how hard I’ve been on myself for my whole life.
It showed me that I don’t need to keep trying to prove myself. I can just be.
