Thu-Ha Hong is an English Literature and Creative Writing student here at Brunel University.
What writer(s) influenced you most and why?
Writers such as Amy key, Warsan Shire, Benjamin Zephaniah and Franz Kafka. Amy Key because her poems are feminine, romantic and experimental. She fuses reality with the fantastical through a plethora of similes and metaphors. Warsan Shire poems because her poems are extremely emotional, provocative and political. She also includes references to Somali culture in her poems. Performance poet Benjamin Zephaniah because the social, racial and political issues in his poems are historical and relevant now. He gets serious messages across through rhyme and a conversational tone. Franz Kafka’s short stories such as ‘The Hunger Artist’. This story can be interpreted in many meaningful ways and is still relatable in the twenty-first century despite being written nearly a century ago.
What’s your favourite genre and why?
I like reading poems that have deep meanings whether it be about love, womanhood, cultures, problems or situations in today’s society. In terms of novels, I like reading novels where love is a theme as the plots are usually heartfelt. I like The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I have seen the film ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ and want to read Jodi Picoult’s novel. I also like reading chick lit novels such as Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding and The Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. This is because they are post-feminist novels that make us question women’s decisions and are light-hearted reads.
What are you currently reading (or what was the last thing you read)?
I am reading ‘Lullabies’ and ‘Love and Misadventures’ by Lang Leav to get inspiration and continue writing my dissertation on poetry.
Can you give us a brief insight into your writing process?
When something comes to mind, I make a note of it on my laptop, on paper or on my phone and then write about it on my laptop.
You can read Thu-Ha’s short story, alongside many others, in The Psyche Supermarket released on the 11th of March.
You can also find her on Twitter at @thuhahong and check out her fashion blog at https://stylingtelltalesbythuha.wordpress.com/
Brunel Writer 