Francisco Serrano

What was your favorite book as a child?

As a child my favorite books were the Magic Treehouse books by Mary Pope Osborne, I loved being able to read these books and really visualize all these adventures they'd go on.

Do you remember the original reason or motivation why you started writing creatively?

The moment I started writing creatively was when we started poetry in my 10th grade English class. Back then, I didn't understand why I loved the idea of poetry so much, but now I know it's because I am someone who has a lot to say. I found the abstraction of poetry much fun. With poetry you can write something as short as a haiku and still get the same personal joy or relief as with journaling. Even better: The reader would interpret it in their own way and change the whole meaning or intention of my writing. Finding out that there are more styles of writing than just journaling and essays to be graded blew my mind. The type of freedom I get from writing is what keeps me motivated to write poetry; it's one of my favorite mediums to share.

What was the most adventurous or thrilling thing you ever did/experienced?

I don't really think I can say it.

Do you listen to music while reading or writing?

It's not music, but I do need noise in the background if that makes sense. Since I never write on the spot, I don't have a playlist ready, usually I write in the subway or in public settings. I like having noise in the background because when I lived with my Mom, there was always noise going on and I just had to write. If I'm trying to edit a poem, I try to listen to music that's similar to the mood of the piece, just so I can feel I'm in the same moment as I was when I wrote it.