Why you should let your flowers Wilt: an Interview with Asha Bey
Essay by Logan Yuhas and Rena Wetzel-Curtis:
After a while, Pride Month starts to feel like any other time of year. I get out of school at the start of it, and that excitement propels me through the unstructured first week. By the time we get to Flag Day, everyone is either out-of-town or at work and I’m left bored, lonely, and unmotivated - the opposite of what I think Pride should be. But in a city with little visible queer culture, I sometimes even forget that we are supposed to be celebrating and protesting for the vibrancy that queerness holds in my life and so many others’.
Talking to Asha Bey, a queer seventeen-year-old with strong East Meck High pride, about their upcoming work wilted flowers, a poetry compendium, and Say My Name, a scholarship documentary that became so much more, changed my un-queer June stasis. It has reinvigorated me that us young gays can and should do something to push Pride forward. Their tenacity to publish not one but two creative works should be inspiring to us all, sparking realizations in me that age is no barrier to creativity.
When asked about what made them put these pieces of vulnerability out into the world, Asha said, “I've always liked writing, like since I was born. I've written a lot of like stupid child stories. I've loved writing essays and getting chances to do creative writing in class.” They have always had a proficiency for literature; they are a classic in the making for lifelong dedication to their art. They call their childhood work “stupid”, but to me, it's evidence that they have been incubating greatness. On the arrival of wilted flowers, they illuminated us in their process: “I was working on one novel during covid I started a lot of different novels.” And by 2022, Asha said, “I decided to challenge myself and was like let’s actually write this novel let's finish it and so I was working on the first draft and I was doing pretty good and I finished the first draft at the end of the year like in August.” Still, this two-year-long process was not sufficient for them, saying, “I was reading it back, I was like, I actually hate this, this sucks, and so I wanted to re-do the whole thing,” but found themself sidetracked by depression and a new relationship. They evidence the muffling of the flame that so many of us queers feel: the constant beat-down from society makes us question our integrity. It’s a feeling I know so well, and it’s nice to hear it mirrored by a creative I look up to.
By the time their s/o broke up with them, Asha found that “it sparked a lot of emotion and that led to a lot of creativity.” They had evolved, saying, “I didn't go back to the novel. I was writing a lot of songs and poetry, and so one day I was literally like what if I make a poetry book. Because I always wanted to publish a book by eighteen - I just thought it was going to be my novel.” Mutations like these are what being queer is all about; having the freedom to ooze between binaries, ideas, aesthetics, and social groups. Insight from life experience allowed Asha to pivot without punishment, especially after that aforementioned self-flagellation at the start of their senior year. They “started writing A LOT, like at least ten poems a day so I was collecting and editing and just putting it all together” to make wilted flowers.
Asha and friends/family with their copies of wilted flowers
*******
Switching up the vibe of this article, I think Asha explained the process behind Say My Name best, so I’ll let their words speak for themselves: “With film, I haven't always been that into film. I've always loved movies, but it was during covid as well when I researched the movie industry and what went into it, and I really liked the role of a producer and a director. A producer, they handle all the money things: they get all the money together, to get their investors together and put it all together and make sure the project is using the money correctly. And the director, they have all the artistic control on the budget, so they get to hire the music people, the costume people, the camera people, and they get to be the boss of people. …So, I started working on a lot of movie projects. I started with a lot of music videos, and then from there I worked on Publicity with Maeve and my friend Mercy, who's the director, and then I did little shorts of myself. The last short I did was Take Your Time, I shot that last October. From there, I've gotten into a creative slump as well with film. And when I got out of the relationship, I started having a lot more creativity again, and that's when I started doing Say My Name for a scholarship. I started doing it for a scholarship, and then it became more than the scholarship, so that's why I decided to do the extended version as well.” When asked about the future of their relationship with film, Asha had the most beautiful words to share: “I see my production company growing, like that’s the only thing I can see; I can't see it not growing. I see it building a team of different workers, me getting a studio space, an office, finding a homebase for AOD films and just getting bigger and bigger. Making a scene in the world of someone who cares so deeply about other people being seen and feeling heard, and being able to be something for other people where they know that whatever I create, someone will feel seen and feel inspired.”
On inspiration, they noted female authors in particular: “Rupi Kaur, Shonda Rhimes, and Emily Dickinson are one of the big reasons that made me want to get into poetry bigtime, not just for myself but for other people too. Pillow Thoughts, by Courtney Peppernell, that book I used so much for my own book, for inspiration for formatting, for learning how to put a poetry manuscript together, I used her book so much. And then I read this one book ,“You'll come back to yourself” by Michaela Angemeer for inspiration on things to speak about when putting my book together.” These inspirations on the feminine experience are highlighted in both their anthology and their film.
Moreover, it has already influenced their prospective projects, with Asha saying: “I definitely want to tell more stories with different poetry books. I already have an idea in mind for a poetry book about my identity as I've grown up and still where I am with my identity. Making certain books curated for certain parts of who I am, making a book for Black people or Black girls, making a book for the queer community from me so definitely creating books so that people can see themselves in my work and hear thoughts that I've had about who I am that other people can relate to. And I definitely want other people to take my work and feel seen and feel heard and take my work and see that they are not alone.” I, for one, am more than excited to see the future of queer creativity in Asha and see where their amazing mind takes their audience next. Knowing wilted flowers and Say My Name are out there makes me radiate with joy. I’m powering through the rest of June and letting my rainbow side run amuck proudly, knowing I’m joined by visionaries like Asha.
Transcript
*much of the interview was cut out of the audio and is therefore not included in the transcript. However, Rena and Logan reached out with the missing questions and got statements from Asha to maintain the integrity/accuracy of the interview.
A - Hi my name is Asha Bey im 17 and im a senior at east meck high school and im an author and a filmmaker.. Think those are the main two things.
L-very cool
R- that's actually crazy that you can say at 17 that you're an author and filmmaker
L- ya like that's so intimidating i love it i really do love it
R- and the east meck pride is crazyyyy
A- logan do you go to east?
L-no i just .. the only other person I know is maeve so um but it seems like a good HS I haven't really heard anything bad about it so
A-ya its pretty cool
L- like i guess speaking to that though, what kinda made you decide to start issuing out creative work at such a young age? Like bite the bullet and do all this tremendous labor
A-well i've always liked writing, like since I was born. I've written a lot of like stupid child stories. I've loved writing essays and getting chances to do creative writing in class. I used to write songs as a child.. And um I was working on one novel during covid i started a lot of different novels and in 2022 i decided to challenge myself and was like lets actually write this novel let's finish it and so i was working on the first draft and i was doing pretty good and i finished the first draft at the end of the year like in august
L-snaps*
A-thank you and then as i was reading it back i was like i actually hate this this sucks and so i wanted to re do the whole thing but then i got really depressed and was going through a lot at like the beginning of the school year and so i stopped writing at all and then I got in a relationship
L- *cheers*
A…and that just made things even worse
L-*stops cheering*
A- It's ok I had very little creative inspiration and when I got broken up with and was out of the relationship, it sparked a lot of emotion and that led to a lot of creativity. I didn't go back to the novel, well I have been now but I was writing a lot of songs and poetry and so one day I was literally like what if I make a poetry book. Cuz I always wanted to publish a book by 18.. I just thought it was gonna be my novel. And so ya I decided to start collecting pieces that I'd already written and start collecting pieces I was currently writing. I started writing A LOT like at least ten poems a day so I was collecting and editing and just putting it all together. But with film, I haven't always been that into film.. I've always loved movies but it was during covid as well when I kinda researched the movie industry and what went into it and I really liked the role of a producer and a director. A producer, they handle all the money things, they get all the money together to get their investors together and put it all together and make sure the project is using the money correctly and the directory, they have all the artistic control on the budget, so they get to hire the music people, the costume people, the camera person and they get to be in control and be the boss of people and I really like the idea of that and so i started working on a lot of move projects. I started with a lot of music videos, and then from there I worked on Publicity with Maeve and my friend Mercy who's the director and then I did little shorts of myself. The last short I did was Take Your Time um I shot that last October I think. From there I've gotten into a creative slump as well with film. And when I got out of the relationship I started having a lot more creativity again and that's when I started doing Say My Name for a scholarship. I started doing it for a scholarship and then it became a little bit more than the scholarship, so that's why I decided to do the extended version as well.
