Insights for creatives
Snapshots from Contributors
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Snapshots from Contributors *
Six of our treasured authors and artists reflect on what drives their work—and how masculinity, identity, and expression speak through it.They all contributed to The Evolving Gaze: Society’s Voice for Masculinity (2025, First Quarter Literary Magazine).
Thank you for all you do.
Christian Emecheta, author of “Expectations”
My advice for other creatives is to write toward your most vulnerable truths. The moments that feel
too personal or uncomfortable to share often contain the most universal truths.
In "Expectations," I found that honestly confronting my relationship with masculinity resonated with others in unexpected ways. Start with concrete, sensory details—like standing before a mirror—before moving to larger themes. This grounds abstract concepts in tangible experience. Also, embrace revision as part of the creative process; some of my most important insights emerged only after multiple drafts allowed me to dig deeper. Finally, seek out communities and publications like IHRAM that align with your values. Having your work read in context with other voices addressing similar themes amplifies your individual contribution to important social conversations.
Harilaos Stefanakis, author of “Unshackled: A Reclamation”
Trust what unsettles you.
Let your art reveal what others may overlook.
And, don’t forget to make space for healing, one honest line at a time.
Edward Ficklin, artist of “Angel” and “Change”
Create for yourself first and foremost. Contemplate the differences between audience and community.
Don’t worry about originality, celebrate our interconnectedness instead.
Delight in the ways the same ideas will percolate throughout mediums and voices at just the right moment.
Joshua Kepfer, author of “Boys to Men”
Write now.
I'm serious. Put down your phone and pick up a pencil.
Richard Jeffrey Newman, author of “In That Moment of Change”
Read everything; question everything.
Be willing to learn as much from what you don't like or respect as from what you do.
Kael Luzon, author of “Perhaps a Ballad of Every Girly Boy”
Always choose to master what you love, but never confine yourself to spaces you thought you would never strive in. Don’t just do what you know; do what you’re still trying to understand.
And most of all, keep protecting your voice.
It’s not just yours. It could also be someone else’s map to finding theirs.
Ifesinachi Nwadike, author of “The Exile on Becoming a Father”
No two poets write the same thing.
Just stay true to your art, to your heart, to that voice in your head, and write as you deem fit.
You must write a work that you first must enjoy. If you don't enjoy what you write, there is no point in writing.
Support Artistic Activists
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Support Artistic Activists *
Read and enjoy our contributor’s work in THE EVOLVING GAZE
Our First Quarter Literary Magazine for 2025.
Make it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.Rea
