Lisa de Niscia (1993) took some time to talk with us about her writing process, recent whereabouts and more.
1. What inspired you to become a writer?An annoying compulsion to write inspires me, and I suppose I’m trying to make sense out of things I see, hear, feel, and experience. So it makes perfect sense (ha!) that one of the first stories I wrote when I was a kid was about a little girl detective chasing a monkey armed with a pistol.
2. What is your most recent writing project?
I’m working on a novel, and I never talk about my writing before it’s finished.
3. What have you been up to since the MFA program?
Most recently, I started a publishing company called Whitepoint Press.
4. Where does your writing fit into genre?
I don’t like genre; it makes me categorize, and it makes me think of horrible, cliched writing. But my writing has been described as “contemporary.”
5. What have you been reading lately?
Whitepoint Press submissions
6. What advice would you give to incoming MFA students interested in pursuing a career in writing?
Try to get a day job that doesn’t make you crazy.
7. What was your favorite memory as an MFA student at ND?
I have two: Michael Vore’s amazing ability to drive on ice and Marcela Sulak’s yummy pasta with tofu.
8. What kinds of projects would you like to work on in the future?
Successful ones.
9. What’s the best piece of advice you have received?
To disregard most advice.
10. Who or what inspires your writing the most?
I work part-time as an Adult Literacy Coordinator at the Los Angeles Public Library, and the adult students who come into my office looking for help with their reading and writing are extremely inspiring.
Cheers,
Dev