BtL

Ishani Agrawal is a 15-year-old from the DC area. An avid writer of poetry, she has recently begun exploring the art of short stories and flash fiction. She is the co-editor of her school's international teen publication, the Fountain Pen, and has been gaining more editorial experience through her work for Polyphony Lit. In her free time, she enjoys watching The Big Bang Theory, reading Margaret Atwood, and spending time with her dog. 

​How do you see your poems connect to the larger patterns or styles you explore in your poetry and writing? How might your poems respond, overlap, or build on each other?

In these three poems, some themes that I was interested in examining were self-worth, growth, and perfection/idealism. I think that these themes are quite relevant in our current society, especially the last one which is highly valued in our society and global political leadership. These themes are quite consistent with the other themes that I explore through my writing because they are often prevalent in my own life. In these three poems, specifically, I see a strong connection between all of their relationships to guilt and how that manifests in our world where it can be hard to own up to mistakes or even acknowledge them.

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What's one question about poetry you've been wanting to ask others?

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To be honest, I have so many questions about poetry that I would want to ask others. Poetry is a personal experience for me, and many times I have difficulties expressing the full extent of my emotions in my figurative language. Thus, my question would be: How do you incorporate effective figurative language without your ideas and themes getting lost? Used correctly, I think similes and metaphors can be an ingenious way to make writing even more engaging. However, I also think that these literary devices can be challenging because they add a layer of depth to the piece that your reader needs to decipher.

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What's something you want to write about or on your writing "to-do" list?

My writing “to-do” list is incredibly long, and I add to it every day. I know that I’m not going to complete everything on this mental list, but I nevertheless like keeping track for inspiration and encouragement if I am facing writer’s block. I would say that the item that I hope to check off one day is an idea for a dystopian, Margaret Atwood-inspired short story that I’ve been thinking about for years. Every time I have tried to write it, the story has never come out the way that I have envisioned it to be, so I really hope to complete it one day.

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If you were to create a 2025 Writing Wrapped, inspired by Spotify Wrapped, what is one thing you would definitely see there?

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In my 2025 Writing Wrapped, one thing you would definitely see there is exploration and experimentation. Throughout this past year, I have enjoyed experimenting with different voices, characters, and I even began writing short stories instead of exclusively poetry. Not all of the short stories I tried were “successful,” and I didn’t finish all of them, but I still learned a lot and enjoyed broadening my horizons. These three poems, however, were very much in my comfort zone, so this year was still full of personal growth through mediums that I understand and enjoy.

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What's something you like to do outside of writing that inspires your writing?

This might sound like a really obvious answer, but one thing I do that largely inspires my writing is reading. I find that I gain so much inspiration and exposure to new ideas from what I read. Oftentimes, after reading an interesting short story or poem, I am left thinking about the main themes or plot points, and an idea for my own piece slowly starts to form. Books help broaden my horizons of what is even available to me as a writer, which is why I enjoy reading not just for the thrill of taking an adventure with the characters, but also to learn something new.