Welcome, Kim Rooney
Sundog Lit is excited to introduce our newest CNF Editor, Kimberly Rooney. Our blog team spoke with Kim about her interests, writing process, and her favorite piece of writing advice.
Where are you from and/or currently based?
I grew up in Maryland near D.C. and am currently based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
What type of writing are you drawn to? What writing excites you?
I love lyric essays with experimental forms that complement the themes and topics in the essay. It excites me when it’s clear that the writer has an answer to the question, “Why is this piece in the form and structure it’s in?” I like learning something new through the writer’s eyes and piecing together how the knowledge is shaped by the person relaying it.
What’s the last thing you read that stuck with you?
I read Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer, and Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner, simultaneously earlier this year. Each has stuck with me, albeit for different reasons.
What other medium do you draw inspiration from?
Film! For the past few years, I’ve challenged myself to watch a certain number of movies that I haven’t seen before, and this year I added the caveat that at least ten of them have to be non-American or non-English-language movies. It’s helped me a lot in thinking about pacing, scene structure, dialogue, and physicality, as well as shot framing and what is and isn’t in the “frame” of the narrative at any given time. On a sentence level, I love listening to music and getting into the habit of listening to rhythm and tempo. I’ve loved singing my whole life, and I recently started learning the guitar, so when I struggle with writing, I practice music to retain some artistic momentum.
What’s the best piece of writing advice that you’ve received?
Touch the back wall on a piece before trying to turn around and change things.
Kimberly Rooney 高小荣 is a Chinese-American adoptee from Jiangsu Province. They now live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with their cat Toaster. Their writing has appeared in The Offing, Longleaf Review, Chestnut Review, and Waxwing Magazine, among others, and it has received recognition as a 2022 Best of the Net Finalist and support from City Books. When they aren’t writing or working, they enjoy calligraphy, singing, and crocheting. You can find them at kimrooneywrites.com.