Writer Feature: Pamela Gustafson
The Writer's Notebook
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The Writer's Notebook *
Pamela Gustafson is from the USA, and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is one of IHRAM’s treasured writers. In this interview, she shares her musings, inspiration, and honest thoughts on her experience with us as an author and activist.
Her latest publication with IHRAM Press is Lessons in Diversity, featured in IHRAM Quarter 3 Literary Magazine: Childhood Dreams & Aspirations.
Thank you for all you do, Pamela.
Now be honest, how has your experience been with IHRAM Press? How did you find us and why did you choose to publish with us?
IHRAM Press asked me to write a poem for this issue. Not sure how they found me. My assumption is they read a poem I submitted to a contest. I was delighted with the request.
Would you recommend IHRAM Press to other writers/artists?
Yes! They are welcoming and provide a perspective about people and diversity that is sometimes lacking.
Share a couple of quotes from your written piece/s published in IHRAM Literary Magazine 2024!
“I loved to chant familiar rhymes and songs
Found out later other people were wronged
And the rhymes did not accurately portray
Groups of people who lived their own way
Eenie, minie, miney mo I would exclaim
A way to take turns, a fun little game
My mom knew they were offensive just the same
Correcting me, teaching me to avoid hate her aim
Mom chopped off weeds of hate roots stayed intact
Came back as an adult and it took a student to extract
The weeds which had formed in my privileged mind
Listening to a middle schooler, my systemic bias I did find”
Now for the fun questions! What compels you to pick up a pen or open your laptop to free-write? And what inspires/influences your writing, particularly when it comes to addressing human rights issues?
I am fascinated with language, words, and communications between and within cultures. I will hear a snippet of language in a news cast or television show and it takes my mind places. The news frequently reports on human rights issues and the conflict between people and I assimilate what I hear into what I know. Since I worked in teacher coaching, and teaching adults about diversity in classrooms, I am concerned about the world we live in and humans getting along.
The human rights concerns addressed in the IHRAM literary magazine are often complex and challenging to navigate. How do you navigate the balance between highlighting these challenges and maintaining a sense of hope or optimism in your writing?
The balance of despair and hope is complicated. Right now, I have to be honest, I am leaning towards despair. I am not liking the stories I am seeing on the news. I feel powerless, in an America which is turned upside down. I used my poetry to provide balance, despair, and hope during the pandemic and found it therapeutic. Poetry has become my therapy again.
How do you personally connect with our mission? Particularly on the power of art and literature to influence social change, and our values of beauty as a fundamental creative principle, sincerity, vulnerability, celebrating diversity, and opening doorways of engagement.
I connect because your publication shows me thoughts, feelings, and people I would not meet normally. Art and literature are a way to truly understand others and to put faces to the people in the news. Art and literature create empathy.
The IHRAM magazine aims to celebrate authors contending with their identities within the context of their environments. How does your environment influence your view of the world (your home country, city, and surrounding culture)?
I grew up in the bubble of white privilege. It took me many years to understand how many things I took for granted and how many people lived differently from me. I ended up teaching public school and attending church in a large urban area where I encountered diversity. I am so grateful the bubble popped. Diversity is interesting and eye opening. After I retired from teaching I became heavily involved in prison ministry and understand that sometimes justice is elusive and is often proceeded by trauma.
In comparison, how does your intersectionality influence your view of the world (your personal beliefs, gender expression, religious affiliations, etc.)?
I am very aware of my unconscious and systemic bias. They are hard to shake after being raised in the bubble. I identify with the Christian Left and not the Christian right, and try to be as inclusive as possible. My mantra is Matthew 25: "For I was hungry and you gave me food I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me." I try to accompany men after they are released from prison, but have some fear because I am female, and have been told by others it is not safe for me.
As part of circles of support for returning justice impacted people I was part of a group made up of mostly Islamic men and women. I grew to understand their faith and their reasons for converting to Islam in prison. In their eyes Christianity had let them down. I was glad my faith intersected with theirs. We did not try to convert each other. We tried to appreciate each other's faith.
Support Activist Writers
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Support Activist Writers *
Read and enjoy all of Pamela’s previously published work:
“Dying from COVID Is NOT Pretty” by Wisconsin Public Radio.
You can find Pamela on Facebook.
