Why Jane Shi opened up about heritage, trauma and disability to write her poetry collection

Jane Shi's echolalia echolalia is a collection of poems which focus on experiences of being queer, disabled and in the diaspora.

Reflecting on her own identities, the Canadian author wrote about chosen family — and resisting colonial projects and ideologies that seek to dehumanize.

Shi is a writer and poet based in B.C. Her writing has appeared in the Disability Visibility Blog and Queer Little Nightmares: An Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry. Shi graduated from the Writer's Studio Online program at Simon Fraser University and StoryStudio Chicago.

She is the winner of The Capilano Review's 2022 In(ter)ventions in the Archive Contest.

• The 2025 CBC Short Story Prize is currently accepting submissions

Heritage and trauma

"I wanted to write a book that was a bit coming of age. [I was] exploring the concept of resignation in the sense of intergenerational heritage, like intergenerational trauma or just the things that we passed down from our ancestors and family members, specifically around things like protest or just resistance in general.

"The sense of resignation that things can't change was something that I wanted to explore. That was the book that I wanted to write, but ended up writing this one."

Disability in art

"It was the framing of it that changed. Whatever book I write will always be about queerness and disability, but I think that during the pandemic especially, I was thinking more about how important it was for disabled artists, poets, writers to make their experiences known and also to articulate those experiences to themselves and each other.

That was kind of why the focus changed. But my framing of the book or thinking about what the book would be evolved because that initial prompt evolved into something else as I kept writing."

I was thinking more about how important it was for disabled artists, poets, writers to make their experiences known and to articulate those experiences to themselves and each other.

Exploring the multiform

"So one of the things about this collection is that I wanted to keep the multiform, like various forms going across the whole collection. I didn't want to stick to one type of shape or structure.

I think for me echolalia echolalia is about all of these different strategies that we use in different situations where we become almost somebody else, where we camouflage or put on a show for other people depending on the situation.

"And that is something that a lot of multiply marginalized people have to do, whether it's because they are facing ableism or racism or other experiences. I think the reason that I chose all of these forms is based on that you have to be a chameleon, almost. There are poems where that form is not necessarily about that outward display, but about an internal exploration or just dealing with the materials of life that are already there that you have inherited."

echolalia echolalia is about all of these different strategies that we use in different situations where we become almost somebody else.

Another dimension of expression

"I also write essays and I write prose, mostly nonfiction. I think that poetry for me has been a place where exploring a lot of the more internal and personal things feels more natural or just more intuitive.

"There's something about lyrics or the metre in poetry or the shape of visual poetry that's like another dimension of expression.

"I think that the interesting part of that process is that you write your first draft or second draft and in the editorial process maybe your editor will point out that, hey, you're actually doing this in this poem, and then you didn't realize that you were. And that adds another layer, if that makes sense. So I think that a lot of this comes intuitively to me, but also there is still a process or a craft involved."

Publishing a first book

"It's definitely a little bit intimidating and terrifying for sure. I'm happy with how everything has gone in the publishing process, and I really love the cover. I feel like because there were other people involved in the process, so I don't feel like, 'Oh, this is just me,' kind of thing. I feel like I can sort of say, 'Hey, this project was made possible by all these other people.'

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"But I do think that it's an interesting and a little bit of an intimidating process to be so vulnerable in public. On the other hand, I'm also relieved because I have been working on these poems for probably five years and I have been writing poetry for most of my life, so it kind of makes sense for there eventually to be a book. But it's a little bit surreal that it is finally out in the world."

Tinkering away

"I write a lot of reflections, or half drafts or unfinished poems. And I guess what's important to know is that I did write this book during a pandemic, so I feel like I just spent a lot of time at home and lots of hours just tinkering away.

When I feel something needs to be written about, I write.

"When I feel something needs to be written about, I write. I write it in my notes app, or in my notebook or in the doc and I just kind of tinker away at it until it feels like I've gotten to something."

"But for the writing of this particular book, it involves a lot of support from a whole bunch of readers. I think that there was a lot of collaboration in the sense that people offered me feedback and I had lots and lots of questions draft after draft. I think that the initial drafting stages come really easy to me. So what was different about writing this book was just that there were more hands on deck. There was more of a desire for me to ask for feedback, just because it was my first book. I felt like I didn't know what I was doing until I actually did it."

Daunted by poetry

"I think that poems are not about what they mean, but how they make you feel. If you're reading a poem and it makes you feel something, or learn something about yourself or the world that you hadn't learned before then that poem has done its job. So I guess my response is just, what poems do you want to read about? Like what subject matters and interests you the most and why do you feel moved by a poem. 

Think of poems as espresso shots of language.

"I feel like poems are full of language and we're all sort of full of language, like advertisements or news articles. And so I think a lot of poetry is concentrating that. It's sort of like an espresso shot of language.

"So I would just say, think of poems as espresso shots of language."

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.