SARAH CIPULLO

I'm an exophonic writer.

​

According to Wikipedia, this means I practice creative writing in a language, English, that is not my mother tongue.

​

I would say I’m a person who doesn’t understand very much about what she’s doing, nor why it works when it’s good, nor why it doesn’t when it’s bad.

​

I think writing is a very difficult craft that also requires you to survive the editing process. In a foreign language, it gets exhausting. You only do it from rage or from love. And whether it's one or the other, or both, the feeling is always ferocious. It keeps you up at night.

​

I started writing when I was six and only in late 2021, I began publishing stories in English and Italian – my mother tongue. In 2022, I was selected as a finalist for the InediTO Prize in Italy and in 2023, I published 98 words for the New York Times, proving that a document produced in an office can have an impact on someone, as long as a writer gets their eyes on it.

​

Today, I find myself at odds with time, and since technology and AI are not helping us work less or pursue more creative lives, I cannot write and read as much as I'd like to.

​

Sometimes I get some rest though, and therefore I write in Italian.

​

Every morning, when I get out of bed, the first thing I tell myself as I put my feet on the floor is that if I quit writing in English tomorrow, maybe I’d sleep more.