Damn Bandit: The Self-Interview

To kick things off, and to encourage upcoming Bandits, I decided to answer the interview questions myself. It’s scary to go first!

1. What is the best thing that has been said/written about your writing?

Wow, I’m already going to cheat and say two. But I have a good reason! One is in reference to the title of this interview series. The other is in reference to my vanity.

Let’s start with the fun one.

In Jessa Crispin’s now-defunct Bookslut (RIP), the poet, critic, and publisher Gina Myers reviewed my book of poems, HARD REDS.

Myers said, “A little like Johnny Rotten, Homan may not know what she wants, but she knows how to get it.”

I have never, ever felt so seen.

This may be the most astute thing anyone has said about me, even if she is talking about my work.

Jesus, Gina, you get me.

But let’s move to the second instance, the one behind the title of this series.

In a conversation with a mentor discussing my work on BURN FORTUNE, she told me that I wrote like a “damn bandit.”

Did I believe her? Not really.

Did I write it down in my notebook anyway? Yes.

Did I keep mulling that phrase over and over until later, when I needed to convince myself to keep writing, and then use rainbow glitter stickers to spell it out down the spine of a lime green notebook?

Yes, yes, I did.

Two words—Two! Words!—kept me going.

And now I want to hear what words have kept others going. That’s what this space is for—language in its uses as a life-preserving force and, by contrast, a destructive one as well.

What incredible power.

2. What is the worst thing that has been said/written about your writing?

A professor in a graduate workshop once said that the speaker of my poem was “aiming for mediocrity.”

This professor knew, as did everyone in the workshop, that the “speaker” was me.

It took me a hot second to put together the classist assumptions behind that phrase, but I held onto it as a reminder that this is how some people view me, my life experiences, and the places I come from.

I hold onto it still.

3. What is the best writing advice you’ve been given?

I’m not sure it’s the best, but it’s definitely been the most practical. The poet Sterling Plumpp once said in class that for every rejection we got back, to take the poems out of the envelope (yes, a paper one!), put them in another envelope, and send them out to another publisher without even looking.

Also to send out lots of poems, like 20 packets at a time.

I did these things.

Not long after this, Sterling won a million dollars in the lottery (true story!) and retired.

I think it’s safe to say he deserved it.

4. What is the worst writing advice that you’ve been given?

The thing that comes to mind now is actually some advice I gave, not the other way around. My husband’s young cousin Luke came and had dinner with us once when he was in town visiting. He wanted to be a writer and asked if he needed to write every day.

I told him no.

I now think this is terrible advice, depending on what kind of writer you want to be in the world. The kind of writer who I want to be in the world changes all the time, but I think that if you are a writer who wants to earn a living by writing, yes, you should writer every day.

Do I write every day? Nope.

Do I try? Yes.

I’m so sorry, Cousin Luke.

5. Who writes like a Damn Bandit?

This is by far my favorite question of the five. I could name so many Bandits!

Khadijah Queen, Janice Lee, Poupeh Missaghi, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Julia Madsen, Laird Hunt.

Lily Hoang, Steven Dunn, Hillary Leftwich, Aimee Bender, Lindsay Hunter.

Jennifer Denrow, Mona Awad, Teresa Carmody, Scott McClanahan, Sam Pink.

I could go on, but I’ll (hopefully) let them speak for themselves here.

Let’s get going! 🚀