Can You Tolerate This by Ashleigh Young
Can You Tolerate This?
Personal Essays - written and read by Ashleigh Young
"It took about seven years between starting writing this essay collection and actually publishing it. In a funny way, it was my belief that my writing was small and unworthy that allowed me to start writing this book. I didn’t think anyone would ever read it, and that gave me courage to keep writing. But what allowed me to finish the book was a combination of time passing and a new confidence, maybe recklessness, maybe boldness, maybe a sudden idea that I did perhaps have something to say. The fact that it snowballed was and is still quite shocking, and my response to someone saying they have read it is still one of fierce embarrassment." Ashleigh Young
Ashleigh Young works as an editor in Wellington and teaches creative science writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters. Her poetry and essays have been widely published in print and online journals, including Tell You What: Great New Zealand Nonfiction, Five Dials (UK) and The Griffith Review (Australia). Can You Tolerate This? is her second book, which won the Windham–Campbell Prize from Yale University in 2017; her first was the poetry collection Magnificent Moon (VUP, 2012). She gained an MA in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters in 2009, winning the Adam Prize. She blogs at eyelashroaming.com.
Interview on The Pantograph Punch