Business Of ... Sam Reese

On Wednesday, The Lockdown Creative had the opportunity to speak to award-winning critic and short story writer, Sam Reese. One of the brightest prospects in New Zealand's emerging literary generation. We wanted to discuss with him how lockdown was affecting him as a professional, as well as the impact he has seen on the independent publishing house, Platypus Press.

How are you doing and how has lockdown immediately affected your work?

I’m quite enjoying lockdown, which is probably a typical thing to say but it's nice because I’ve found myself with more time, but I’m not sure how that happens because it feels like I’ve got a lot more writing time. I’ve had more ideas than usual, maybe it’s a bit of the strange atmosphere. I remember the first few weeks I had a lot more strange dreams, which all probably went into the same alchemy of creativity. I’ve done a lot of writing in lockdown, but not all of it was great or needed to be written about. A lot of my thinking has happened on my walks. I have written a lot but needed to edit more than usual, and be careful about what I choose to produce.

Do you think quarantine will disproportionately affect smaller publishers such as Platypus Press, or does their independence give them the freedom to weather the storm, so to speak?

A lot of publishers have found lockdown difficult because they’ve not had an immediate space to access, but they’ve had a lot more time to read. Being independent means they are always at risk of going under. They often make money from direct sales form the website, rather than going through retailers, which probably helps. It’s easier for independent publishers to access emergency grants, but then again the larger publishers don’t really need them.

What is your perception of the effect of lockdown on providing writers with stimuli or inspiration to be creative?

I think it’s really good in that it’s forcing people to really evaluate what’s important and what ideas matter. For a lot of people it’s reinvigorating that idea of why literature matters. People will respond to the immediate experience of lockdown in a bit of a knee jerk reaction, much like Brexit’s impact in literature. There has been a move towards more creativity as well as people moving back from thinking about lockdown and exploring other things.

For many, short story writing comes from anecdotal inspiration, does the short story benefit or suffer more so than other literary forms during lockdown?

The short story suffers least, for two reasons: lots of great moments that create vignettes for short story narratives. The narrative of our lives has been put on pause, so to speak. Every day is based on our immediate circumstance, our immediate bubble. The short story is a literary bubble, it has a limited circumference and in lots of ways, it’s been good for the form.

Lockdown has created a universal experience for us all to endure, and we must be aware that for many, isolation and loneliness aren’t exclusive to lockdown. Do you view lockdown as equalising or divisive in our perception of hardship?

One of the things I really value about literature is that it allows us to imagine ourselves into other people’s lives. In my research into loneliness, historically, writers have used short stories, novels etc. to describe the experience of loneliness. Lockdown forces us to imagine what life is like for those for whom these experiences are not exclusive to lockdown, particularly elderly people for example. People don’t experience lockdown equally, so I don’t view it as an equaliser, but I think it has the potential to promote equality as we become aware of the circumstances of others.

To submit a poem for our anthology, or get more information about our project, please email: businessofbooksg6@gmail.com