Twice a month, The Rumpus brings your favorite writers directly to your IRL mailbox via our Letters in the Mail program.
December 1 LITM: Christy Tending
Christy Tending (she/they) the author of High Priestess of the Apocalypse (ELJ Editions) and Sobriety Through the Major Arcana (kith books). Their work has been published in Longreads, The Rumpus, and Electric Literature, and received a notable mention in Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023. They live in Oakland, California, with their family. You can learn more about their work at www.christytending.com or follow Christy on Twitter @christytending.
***
The Rumpus: What book(s) made you a reader? Do you have any recent favorites you’d like to share?
Christy Tending: The books that stand out to me, that made me a reader as a child, are Hatchet by Gary Paulson, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, and Mythology by Edith Hamilton. I read those in elementary school and remember being lit up by the possibilities of being a reader. It was no longer for the mechanics of learning to read, but understanding that writers build entire worlds.
In high school, I found Toni Morrison, and was blown away by her deftness with narrative and character, and how vital telling stories was to our collective survival. There are too many other books to name that I read around that time, but I couldn’t wrap my brain around what I was witnessing the first time I read Sula.
Rumpus: How did you know you wanted to be a writer?
Tending: I think I’ve always known that writing would be a part of my life. I remember sitting in my grandmother’s basement at some point growing up—I was maybe six or seven—and she asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. I said that I wanted to write books. I didn’t know how or what that would look like or what kind of books.
I majored in creative writing in college, even though everyone told me I was throwing my life away. But I loved the opportunity to get really close to my writing, to give it love and attention—through sometimes really intense revision—and to spend my time thinking about the stories that lived inside me that needed to see the sun.
But there’s always been something inside me that knew that I didn’t want to be a writer just to write for myself, but to contribute to the literary world in some meaningful way. I love the idea of adding something to the world that wasn’t there before.
Rumpus: What’s a piece of good advice or insight you received in a letter or note?
Tending: The summer after college, I lived at a logging blockade in Canada, and my sister would send me care packages: snacks and copies of the magazine where she was interning and letters. I was supposed to be “roughing it” and yet she took such incredible care to send things to let me know that I wasn’t alone. That we could stay so involved in one another’s lives through that medium was very sweet.
But the most hilarious one was when I received a box with a new T-shirt and a simple note inside: “You probably smell really bad right now. Change your shirt.” Putting that shirt on was the most satisfying thing I’d felt in weeks. Sometimes you need a little tough love. And sometimes, something as simple as a fresh shirt can make you feel like a brand new person.
Rumpus: Tell us about your most recent book? How do you hope it resonates with readers?
Tending: High Priestess of the Apocalypse is a memoir, told in small fractal pieces (often with experimental forms) that really grapples with the grief and beauty of living through what feels like the end of the world. It asks how we want to show up for this current moment.
I wrote the book somewhat by accident: because, artistically, it’s what I needed to write for myself. But what’s been so beautiful is the way that other activists have connected with the book. The ways that they’ve been moved or seen themselves reflected in it. So often, books about activism tend to be either really sensationalistic or very clinical. This book is about the humanity of those of us who care enough about the world to risk something for it.
If I could only choose one thing for people to take away from it, it would be for people to feel a little bit less alone in their depth of feeling at this particular moment in time.
Rumpus: Is there a favorite Rumpus piece you’d like to recommend?
Tending: “Going Home” by Grace Loh Prasad and “Loving Renee Back” by Cavar both made indelible impressions on me. And I always go to Voices on Addiction first when I come to the site, as it’s been both a home for my writing and a part of my personal recovery practice.
***
Author photograph by Sarah Deragon
