By Geneva Ge
Clara Chalmers writes as a means of refuge, as a way to escape reality. The way she describes it is almost poetic, a very real glimpse into her personal philosophy: “I think it is important, also, to document oneself; our feelings, ideas, philosophies… writing was a way of doing that.” Compellingly, it is also “an outlet, or a sort of alter ego, where I am flamboyant and opinionated, opposed to timorous and shy.”
“Storytelling - the art of communicating abstract messages in a creative, engaging and relatable way - has always been a concept I am interested in.” Clara emphasizes that she has a deep well of passion for writing that she taps into: “The endeavour, unlike any other of my favoured pastimes, is a mixture of both joy and pure agony that I, for some inexplicable reason, am magnetized to, and cannot help carrying out.” To better explain her ideas surrounding the process, she has used a quote by George Orwell to sum up her thoughts: Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand. Even if slightly melodramatic, it still perfectly recaps her aspirations for literature.
Clara’s love for literature stems from reading, which she casually says is “a much less taxing pursuit”. She enjoys works written between the 19th century to around the mid-20th century, which Clara believes to have had two main phases for literature; romanticism and modernism. “Both styles were, in my opinion, the most truthful, or perhaps gritty is a better word, and dealt with genuine human emotions and tendencies.” Her thoughts on authors seemed to be that they were “dauntless, straying from conventional means and telling, for really the first time, everything that was on their mind. Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, George Eliot/Mary Ann Evans, (and many more) were particularly inspiring, as women back then weren’t regarded as ‘serious’ writers.” In Clara’s opinion, this made them “extra brave, and irrefutably talented” and “in a sense, they sort of paved the way for female writers in the future.”
Clara Chalmers writes as a means of refuge, as a way to escape reality. The way she describes it is almost poetic, a very real glimpse into her personal philosophy: “I think it is important, also, to document oneself; our feelings, ideas, philosophies… writing was a way of doing that.” Compellingly, it is also “an outlet, or a sort of alter ego, where I am flamboyant and opinionated, opposed to timorous and shy.”
“Storytelling - the art of communicating abstract messages in a creative, engaging and relatable way - has always been a concept I am interested in.” Clara emphasizes that she has a deep well of passion for writing that she taps into: “The endeavour, unlike any other of my favoured pastimes, is a mixture of both joy and pure agony that I, for some inexplicable reason, am magnetized to, and cannot help carrying out.” To better explain her ideas surrounding the process, she has used a quote by George Orwell to sum up her thoughts: Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand. Even if slightly melodramatic, it still perfectly recaps her aspirations for literature.
Clara’s love for literature stems from reading, which she casually says is “a much less taxing pursuit”. She enjoys works written between the 19th century to around the mid-20th century, which Clara believes to have had two main phases for literature; romanticism and modernism. “Both styles were, in my opinion, the most truthful, or perhaps gritty is a better word, and dealt with genuine human emotions and tendencies.” Her thoughts on authors seemed to be that they were “dauntless, straying from conventional means and telling, for really the first time, everything that was on their mind. Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, George Eliot/Mary Ann Evans, (and many more) were particularly inspiring, as women back then weren’t regarded as ‘serious’ writers.” In Clara’s opinion, this made them “extra brave, and irrefutably talented” and “in a sense, they sort of paved the way for female writers in the future.”
Blurbs for Collingwood School Yearbook
Fall |
Winter |
She holds a rather strong dislike of most modern-day teen fictions, including adding a slightly comedic comment on what she sees as “vampire romances, two genres I, personally, cannot stand.” Clara even sees herself as an old soul, with a love of both “timeworn traditions and antiqued language.” Furthermore, Clara believes “for a book to be considered a ‘classic’ is perhaps the highest honour, as then the author has officially created a piece that will withstand the test of time, and hence become a sort of legacy.” To her, this is testament to the quality of the novel: “Regardless of what genre I am writing for, I always try to keep a common thread - it’s sort of like my personal philosophy, and that common thread happens to stand for authenticity. I always try to have the content somehow reflect my experiences. This doesn’t mean one has to be strictly confined to the events of things that have happened to them, but just merely to ensure there is some sort of personal undertone to their work.”
As far as the future is concerned, Clara is positive she wants to pursue something that involves the use of her literary skills. “At the moment, I am trying to broaden my literary palette,” she recounts, and her goals for the future are that she hopes to submit some pieces to competitions in the near future and to challenge herself accordingly. Clara is involved in Arts Mag, Ad Verum (the school newspaper), the Artisan Farmers’ Market, and her own blog. “My favourite pieces, however, are the creative short stories I write on my own time. Not only am I a better creative writer, but there are no deadlines, and no need to show what I complete to anyone else. This alleviates the stress by a lot, and correspondingly improves quality.” She plans to pursue literature in Oxford, stressing that she has big dreams, and then take up a literary career. Clara is content with publishing, journalism, content creation, and really anything to do with writing and literature. “Ultimately, I would love to become an author and literature professor at Oxford University.”
Excerpt from a Story
Rosalind first visited us on a warm summer’s evening when I was fourteen years old, and she seventy four. Her erratic drop by was spurred by no particular event but the mere conviction that she, as our dutiful neighbour for the past ten summers, had the right to a social call at any given time. Why this liberty suddenly dawned upon her, a good decade after we were first acquainted, remains unfathomable, but nonetheless, ever since that fateful day, she has made the habit of “dropping by” each and every Sunday afterwards. We would be assembled along the porch, me perhaps reading, my siblings likely engaged in some mild card game, and my father, almost indubitably, napping by the fireside, when she would materialize, quite unexpectedly, with an unruly “GOOD AFTERNOON.” The day would continue in similar fashion, her talking, us listening, all drinking the canister of tea Rosalind invariably brought with her. Not that we would ever complain; maybe roll our eyes, or make a cloying quip at some of her stranger tendencies, but we were very careful never, ever to complain. This was caused not out of politeness, or a fear of being rebuked, but the secret trepidation that she might not come back one week. And that possibility was, despite the nebulosity of it, our greatest fear.