Anna Quercia-Thomas

“I want to make art gratuitously and unapologetically for myself and for people like me – that’s what inspires me and keeps me going.”

Heartlines explores what it means to write – from the heart and soul – and where that writing takes us. Every writer’s journey is different, so we invite you to take a moment to read, pause and reflect on what it means to shape stories for the page.

Anna Quercia-Thomas is a queer Hispanic American writer and academic currently based in Western Australia. She writes poetry and speculative fiction about found family, queer romance, and connection in dark times. Her work is featured in New Words Press, SWAMP Journal, and in the upcoming issue of Overland.

Centre for Stories: What do you do outside of writing?

Anna Quercia-Thomas: I recently finished a PhD at UWA in male friendship and emotional communities in early modern drama, so a lot of my time has been taken up with academia. I also
teach some creative writing and some other subjects. I have one foot in the
academia door and the other in the writing world. I do some theatre work when
projects crop up. Currently I am the dramaturg for an exciting project going up at the
Blue Room Theatre! I also spend a lot of time reading, drinking wine, and languishing
in hedonistic opulence to refuel my creativity.

CFS: Why do you write?

AQT: To escape. To tell stories. To let myself out of the world I live in and to unpack the
things I experience in a space that I can control entirely. Writing has been a space for
me to explore gender, sexuality, identity – all of these personal elements of myself,
and the fact that I’m able to displace them into something new and fun has been
such a powerful tool for me. I am really indebted to speculative fiction for allowing me
that space to grow and learn through the act of creating.

CFS: Who do you most want to read your work? What is your ideal audience and why?

AQT: My ideal audience is an agent who will fall in love with my work, sign me, and get me
a million-dollar book deal.

CFS: What inspires you to write?

AQT: What doesn’t inspire me? I think a lot of it is wanting to write the kinds of stories that I
love to read, just to put more of them out in the world. I want to make art gratuitously
and unapologetically for myself and for people like me – that’s what inspires me and
keeps me going.

CFS: What are you currently reading and why? Does this also serve as inspiration?

AQT: I am currently reading my way through everything Natasha Pulley has written. The
Kingdoms is my favourite so far. It’s a beautiful speculative work about time travel
and alternate history and trauma, all cased in the most aching queer love story. I’m
absolutely inspired by Pulley as a writer and by any art like this: things that pull me
apart at the seams and make me feel fundamentally understood at the same time.

CFS: When did you decide to pursue writing and what triggered that decision?

AQT: I’ve always written. Since I was a kid I’ve been telling and writing stories, but it was only
recently that I made the decision to pursue publishing and treat my writing with the
“seriousness” of a career. One thing that triggered this was coming to the end of my PhD. I
suddenly found myself with a lot more free time and the space to shape how I was going to
spend it, and as I allowed myself to explore, I found that all I wanted to do during that time
was write. Seeking out communities of writers has been instrumental in helping me make the
decision to pursue writing and providing me the support to continue to do so.

CFS: Can you describe your experience with the Centre for Stories program?

AQT: I participated in the Writing Change, Writing Inclusion trainee mentorship program where I
mentored an emerging writer, and was mentored by a more established writer. I had a great
experience helping my mentee plan out and work towards her goals and got good feedback
from my own mentor on how best to support someone to work towards a manuscript. I found
that working with someone else in this way really helped me to hone in on my own goals and
I was able to form more structures around how I approached my own writing practice too.

CFS: What were your writing goals for the program?

AQT: My own goals for the program were mostly focused on growing as a mentor and being able to develop the skills to connect with my mentee, recognize and communicate about their writing goals, and support them in creating and implementing a plan to put those goals into action.

CFS: Do you find that the program helped you achieve your goals?

AQT: The program absolutely helped me achieve those goals! I feel like my mentee and I formed a strong creative bond – and friendship! – and together helped her implement a structure for
drafting, submitting to journals, and work towards putting together a first manuscript.

CFS: What was your experience like being published? How did you work towards this
process?

AQT: My publishing experience is currently limited to literary journals and poetry anthologies,
and overall, I have had a great time in the publishing world. My method for finding these
opportunities so far has consisted of a cycle of writing, submitting widely, and seeing
what sticks. This lets me build connections and explore the publishing world while
staying true to the kind of work I want to produce.

I have had a particularly great time with my experience being published in Overland. The
editors are so lovely and really showed that they cared about my work, my vision, and
the story I wanted to tell, and have helped me craft the piece into something that I’m
proud of.

CFS: Based on your experiences in the writing industry, what advice would you give to writers who are starting out or are unsure where to start?

AQT: My main advice would be to write what you want to read. Tell stories for yourself first. You
have to be excited about the work you produce, that’s the most important thing. You always
have to start with what you love, because at the end of the day that is what will always be
there to motivate you.

I would also advise people to read widely – books, anthologies, journals. Get a sense of
what kind of work is being published where and see where the kind of thing you write would
fit in best. What is the standard? What genres fit where? What journals are interested in
what themes? Etc.

Also, of course, find community. Find people you connect with who will talk about writing with
you, get excited about their work and let them get excited about yours. Find your people!

CFS: What will you be working on next?

AQT: I am currently in the middle of drafting a novel, cowritten with my friend and colleague
Heather Blakey. It has elements of political thriller, found family, and queer intimacy in a
dystopian, speculative Parisian setting. Overall, the book is about finding connection in a
world that tries to pull people apart.

I am also hoping to begin the querying journey for my first novel, a queer historical romance
with supernatural elements.

Writing Change, Writing Inclusion is Centre for Stories’ signature writing program for 2021 to 2024. Generously funded by The Ian Potter Foundation, Australia Council for the Arts, My Place, and Centre for Stories Founders Circle, this writing program features mentoring, hot desk, and publication opportunities for emerging writers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and/or Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.

These stories have been licensed to the Centre for Stories by the Storyteller. For reproduction and distribution of these stories, please contact the Centre for Stories.

This interview was published in 2024.