BCC Shines A Light on: Robin Kinzer
Name of the piece published by BCC:
When/where was it originally published:
Beyond Queer Words, a queer anthology out of Berlin
What is the background of the piece? What led you to write it? What’s your process?
This piece, at the heart of it, is about a time I thought my soulmate and I (she was and still is my soulmate, so that ended up luckily!) were going to stir up our usual trouble. And I really wanted to finally kiss her. But instead, there was a boy there. And silly me, it was a boy I’d try to set her up with because I was too scared of my own huge, queer feelings at age fifteen. It took this girl and I another two years to be less scared to the point that we kissed. We both bottled up a lot of feelings about various silly boys the other dated, so this poem is essentially about that moment of what feels like terrible rejection. And it’s also just about, as the title simply states, the pure agony of being fifteen in general.
How did you feel when it was first published and how have your thoughts or feelings on the piece changed from then to now?
I felt close to it, but now I feel closer to it. I’ve written a lot more about this particular girl-now-woman and I since then, so that’s probably why I feel closer to the piece now. I’ve been diving deep into the textures of my queer youth, and plan to continue to do so more in my writing.
Is there a specific message you'd like readers to take away from reading this piece?
I think the message a reader takes away is very specific and personal to the reader. When I write, sure, I have points and messages I’m including in my work. But ultimately, if a reader gets something totally different from the piece, but still enjoys it, and maybe even grows from it— well, that’s lovely too!
Where can readers find more of your work? (Website/social media, etc)
A bunch of my recent work is catalogued at www.robinkinzer.com I’m also on Twitter as @RobinAKinzer
