Three on Thursday: Fumiko Shinkawa

Fumiko Shinkawa leads the creative team at the Kaleidoscope, Florida Tech’s art and literary magazine.  Here are her thoughts about what she’s been writing and reading lately and who inspires her.

1. What is the last topic you wrote about? If you’re a creative writer, tell us about what inspired your composition. If you’re a student or scholar doing research, explain the context of your piece and what motivated you to choose that topic.

Fumiko: The last topic I wrote on was “inviting evil in,” for a term paper where I researched the innate fear in one’s hospitality being betrayed and how that fear has led to a common theme in the horror genre.  I was motivated to research this topic when I noticed a common thread in a lot of works I had studied; many victims in the works had, in some way, consented to their role.

2. What conclusions or assumptions (right or wrong) might someone make if they looked at the books on your bookshelf/desk/backpack right now? Tell us about some particularly interesting selections and any books you’d recommend to others.

Fumiko: Anyone that looked at my shelf would probably think I’m some kind of sci-fi/fantasy dork.  Most of my shelf is Piers Anthony, Isaac Asimov and David Eddings, peppered with the very occasional Larry McMurtry and Patrick O’Brian.  They’d be mostly right!

3. What or who inspires you when you are feeling creative?  Your response doesn’t necessarily have to be about writing. It could be about anything you do to express yourself creatively and the inspiration that fuels that creativity.

Fumiko: Chuck Palahniuk is absolutely my greatest inspiration in writing.  Each of his stories take on a life of their own and his style adapts to each of his protagonists, speaking in each of their voices.  I couldn’t recommend his works enough.