Abigail Bereola will be reading at Difficult to Name on Saturday, December 9
Your personal essay "What I'm Really Saying" is part of a series on the Rumpus centered on "rape culture, sexual assault, and domestic violence." How did you come up with the structure of breaking down the meaning behind phrases like "I don’t know what’s more gorgeous, you or the dress"? And do you find that such an important exploration of language continues to inform how you write dialogue?
With that piece in particular, the dialogue actually came from real things that men had said to me on the street. Late in 2016, something made me decide to start keeping a list of the things that I hear. It can be incredibly demoralizing and scary when you're just going through your day, to hear things said or to have kissy noises made at you when you're on your way to work, or to the store. The consistency of it has magnified my distrust. When I was writing the essay, I needed a way to break up the sections. In this case, I found that collecting these words came in handy and also, I think, helped to amplify what I was trying to convey.
Do you have a favorite holiday tradition?
My favorite tradition, if you could call it that, is having everyone in my family in one place and celebrating together.
What can people expect from your reading?
That I will be there and I will be reading!