By Grace Pateras
Johanna Aitchison, a successful New Zealand poet, balances teaching creative writing at a university, training for marathons, raising a son, and writing year-round.
As part of the International Writing Program, Aitchison lives in Iowa City with other writers from around the world. Learning about other cultures, she said, is important.
“Because you get to know the people, you get to personalize what’s happening in political situations, and for me, that’s really interesting,” Aitchison said. “But also when I hear something on the news about, say Turkey and how people are being massacred, or political problems in Pakistan, when I know the person, it makes me think of them.”
Together, the group of 34 writers have been to Chicago, New Orleans, and Baltimore, and they look forward to traveling to Washington, D.C., and New York.
Though this is Aitchison’s first time in America, she’s been all over the world — Japan, regions of Asia, Ireland, and Australia — teaching, exploring, and visiting family.
New Zealand poet Johanna Aitchison talks about why she thinks it’s important for people to immerse themselves in different cultures. Aitchison is a writer in the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program. (Audio compiled by Grace Pateras & edited by Lily Abromeit)
“I think it’s good to be out of your comfort zone,” she said. “Because if you stay in your own country, then you don’t have to question your culture, your values, your own way of doing things. So I think it’s really good to be in that state of uncertainty.”
Since being in Iowa, Aitchison’s writings have been inspired by the landscapes and fall colors, she said.
“I think it’s more collecting experiences,” she said. “I think I might write about America maybe a year after I get back. There’s often a time lag.”
She finds it easy to write at her desk in her hotel room but typically likes to be at a cafe with some background noise.
Back at home, Aitchison’s day job is at an international private university teaching creative writing.
She also has a 6-year-old son, Lennox, who is being cared for by Aitchison’s parents while she’s away.
Between teaching, reading, and writing, she still makes time to run marathons. She ran her first marathon in 2012 and has since ran two more, in addition to eight half-marathons. Her best time is 4 hours and 11 minutes. She aims to beat that in May.
“I just fit it in,” Aitchison said. “I can run at lunchtime at work sometimes. I just make the time.”
Aitchison’s most recent book, Miss Dust, came out this year. The main character came from an initial poem and grew as Aitchison continued to write.
“My ultimate taste is to write a book that I want to read,” Aitchison said. “I want to write something that is memorable and distinctive and that when people look at it they know it’s me.”
Her advice for college writers is to practice their craft often.
“The main thing for any writer is to read a lot in your genre,” she said. “Also, it takes a lot of practice. For example, my books that I write, I probably throw out hundreds and hundreds of pages of work. I do a lot of free writing.
“Just like training for a marathon, there’s a lot of logging the miles and just getting that regular writing practice going. It takes time.”
