Art Shouldn’t Be Comfortable
Art Shouldn’t Be Comfortable.
My writing is not supposed to be comfortable. It’s supposed to be uncomfortable. While I call myself a “horror” writer, I like to really think of myself as just a writer, having the freedom to experiment with form and style.
I have written young adult horror. I have written poetry where I respond to one of the greatest writers in history, Jorge Luis Borges, and I have written true crime poetry to explore a fraction of the tragic cases of missing and murdered women in the United States. Additionally, I am in the process of completing a middle grade fantasy novel. There is no limitation to what I can and will write.
Most recently, in Children of Chicago, I wrote a novel as thesis – arguing that Chicago is not only the perfect setting for a dark fairy tale, but my home, founded in tragedy at the Battle of Fort Dearborn, is indeed the perfect setting for a tragic fairy tale. For the city was founded in horror and horror, unfortunately, continues to exist here – as does light and love and art and joy. In this work I bring a mirror to the city, to my home where I live, and show it both the good and the bad.
In my writing I show you bad people who get away with murder. In my writing I show you the innocent who were whisked away, maimed and killed for no reason at all. Sometimes there is no explaining violence. It’s just that. It’s violence. And, the fact that sometimes there is no reasoning with why crime occurs is what makes it that much more terrifying.
I typically don’t gravitate to traditional narrative forms. I do not finish more than half the books I purchase, because I am trying to chase works that will help me question this existence in which we live. I prefer film and literature that is going to challenge my expectations and subvert what it is we expect from works.
Does this work for everyone? Certainly not. Certainly the casual reader who wants to curl up with a predictable three-act structure and a mug of tea is not going to necessarily want to read experimental literature, genre bending literature, or watch films that push boundaries.
But that is what I believe art should do. Art should sometimes make you disgusted. Art should sometimes make you mad. Art should not be safe. We should not dictate what art can and cannot say. The artists are those who will bring us to the edge of our comfort zone, and sometimes push us over the ledge.
In looking back at my Masters of Fine Arts in Writing at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, I am now realizing how thankful I am that I was challenged with what literature should be. When my professors would bring to me examples of commercial fiction, including commercial horror, they would ask me to defend it and I would. Yet, I was hesitant, and unsure of how to defend works like Sarah Kane’s 4:48 Psychosis or Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (both of which now are some of my favorite works).
So, what am I trying to say?
I’m trying to say that I do not live in a box, nor will I work in one. I will continue to challenge structure, genre, and form. I will continue to challenge who is good, and what is good in literature, and I will continue to challenge what are the expectations for a narrative. Will this please all readers of my work? Certainly not, but I hope that you will allow yourself the opportunity to explore.
Explore why it is that artwork makes you mad? Explore why it is that artwork is making you uncomfortable and tell yourselves, maybe that is the point of that particular piece of art.
-Cynthia “Cina” Pelayo
Cynthia “Cina” Pelayo is the author of LOTERIA, SANTA MUERTE, THE MISSING, and POEMS OF MY NIGHT, all of which have been nominated for International Latino Book Awards. POEMS OF MY NIGHT was also nominated for an Elgin Award. Her recent collection of poetry, INTO THE FOREST AND ALL THE WAY THROUGH explores true crime, that of the epidemic of missing and murdered women in the United States. Her modern day horror retelling of the Pied Piper fairy tale, CHILDREN OF CHICAGO was released by Agora Books in 2021. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, a Master of Science in Marketing, a Master of Fine Arts in Writing, and is a Doctoral Candidate in Business Psychology. Cina was raised in inner city Chicago, where she lives with her husband and children. Find her online at www.cinapelayo.com and on Twitter @cinapelayo.
