Meet NUNUM's contributor: Rachel Noelani Bovee

NUNUM

Blending Flash Fiction & Art

Interview with Rachel Noelani Bovee

What is the first book you remember reading all by yourself? 

If you believe family lore, I have been reading books alone since I was an infant, preferring to curl into the corners of my playpen, working my way through a stack of picture books, instead of being held or played with. And, as the daughter of a single working mom, most of my childhood afternoons after school were spent at the San Francisco Chinatown Library, balancing haunting the stacks 

for new stories to devour with trying to keep my younger siblings out of trouble. So, the first book feels like an impossible question. But one of the earlier books was Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Something about that wayward, wordy little girl with her big emotions, and her sadness, and a sharp inability to fit in really stuck with me.

What writer(s) or which book(s) influenced your decision to become a writer?
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​I always loved books and always daydreamed about being a writer but it wasn't until I started to read more disturbing and poignant stories (a few: Red Azalea by Anchee Min, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston) that being a writer felt tangible and true.

Is there a craft book that you would recommend?

Honestly, I kind of hate craft books. I know that's a hot take and I fully admit they are useful and brilliant (most recently loved "Literature Class, Berkeley 1980") but I feel like obsessively reading any and all novels - "good" or "bad" - you can get your hands on is how you really learn craft. 

Is there a writer who has influenced your current writing style?

Oof, currently, my writing style feels like a collage of every written thing I've ever read, every filmed thing I've ever seen, every place I've ever been, every person I've ever talked to. That's a crappy answer, but it's not untrue. 

Why write flash fiction?

Flash feels so authentic to me. Novels are captivating and short stories are exciting but, in reality, we experience our lives in small vibrant experiences that we sew 

together after the fact to create narratives like short stories and novels. To me, our real lives are happening in flash. Flash feels like practicing the art of working to be solely and simply in the present as genuinely as possible. ​

What advice do you have for someone who is just starting to send their work out to journals?

Every time I start to feel like publishing is a hopeless journey, I find one or two places that feel like a fit for my work and I submit on that day. Obviously consider rewrites when needed, search for places that fit your work, celebrate rejections... all of that. But really, just keep submitting. 

Who is a writer/book you reread often?

There are a ton but here is a short list: Min Jin Lee, Carmen Maria Machado, Curtis Sittenfeld, Lorrie Moore, Ann Patchett, Jane Austen, Amy Bloom, Miranda July, Celeste Ng.

What is one good writing habit you have?

Keeping notes, everywhere. I have notes on my phone, in a writing notebook, in google docs, in word docs, on slips of paper, everywhere. 

What is one bad writing habit you have?

Perfectionism. I get too caught up on line level and take a long time to move forward.

Rachel Noelani Bovee, a hapa Native Hawaiian from San Francisco, received her MFA from California College of the Arts, writes fiction & essays, and is currently working on her debut novel. Rachel lives with her partner and two toddlers in Seoul where she works as a professor at Kyunghee University.
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NUNUM

Blending Flash Fiction & Art