Interview with Cryptid Parke

When did you start writing and what inspired you to start? Did you have any mentors or people who inspired you to start?

I began writing the second I learned to hold a crayon and was drawing little picture books held together by ribbons before I even learned how to spell. I grew up in a language immersion program, so I did not formally learn how to read or write in English until I was in second grade, which resulted in many Spanglish hybrid works. My first fully fleshed-out story that I remember writing was from when I was in thrid grade. It was called 'Super Tortuga y el Dia Opuesto' and was about a turtule superhero who has to stop an evil monkey-wizard who had turned everything opposite. This story came to be with the help of my teacher, Seño Melissa, and to this day I still remember her as my inspiration to continue writing.

What inspired you to write the work you submitted?

Status Update came to be due to verious events happening all at once in my life. I had just returned from a publication insternship in Italy and while it was very fun, I had been struggling pretty severly with my mental health. Upon returning to the States, I was diagnosed with OCD and was starting to have realizations about behaviors that I had always thought to be normal, but were really just the viscious cycle of obsessions and compulsions. I had been reading some of Amy Kay's poetry on Instagram when I came across her poem, Status Update, which had been inspired by Rebecca Lindenberg's Status Update. I fell in love with both poems and instantly knew that I had to write my own about my own 'status updates.'

Tell us more about your work. What is it about? Is there any message you hope for the reader to take away from it?

Status Update is about existing as a person in your 20's and just about everything that comes with that. As I mentioned before and in the poem, I had just been diagnosed with OCD and was struggling to come to terms with what this meant for me. I was lost and disconneced, and I was desperate to talk to anyone who would listen about what I was feeling. So, I took stock of where I was in that exact moment both emotionally and physically, and just wrote. If there is one thing I would want a reader to take away from this piece it would be that you are not alone. Even when the emotions are big and scary and they threaten to overwhelm you, there will always be someone who is in your corner, whether it be friends, family, or even a therapist. Also, diagnosis does not have to be a bad thing. In fact, it can be very very good.

What do you think is the best part of your work? It could be a specific line, symbol, etc.

I am of the belief that the strongest part of my work and my favotite part are two different things. I think the strongest part of the piece is the culmintation of emotions and the build up of the internal struggle, and, of course, the ultimate release. However, my favorite part is the raw honesty and simplicity. I felt, and I wrote.

You can read Cryptid's piece, 'Status Update' in Morning Star Literary Issue One: 'Seasons'.