In Conversation with Christina Yin

Christina’s passions include creative non-fiction, environmental conservation and reading Harry Potter! She was able to combine all her passions together for her thesis and produced a great work of art regarding the conservation of the Orang-utan. As for Harry Potter, she ended up reading the full series to destress after submitting her thesis.

Even if you have never heard of the Orang-utans before or are fairly new to this topic, I promise you the beautifully captivating words and stories she wrote will touch you very deeply. You may even feel attached to this remarkable creature before knowing it.

Christina has passed her PhD viva voce examination recently. Her thesis title is as follows, “Creative Nonfiction: True Stories of People involved in Fifty Years of Conservation of the Orang-utan in Sarawak, Malaysia”

This interview was conducted by Sara Mostafa, poetry editor of Particle. It took place after the passing of her viva and it mainly revolves around her wonderful thesis.

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SM

Can you tell me more about your work and your publications?

CY

I do a bit of fiction and creative non-fiction writing.

To be honest I have always loved writing and I always tried fiction writing ever since I was very young. I did some creative writing classes in university when I was an undergraduate. However, when I started working, I was a journalist for a while. I put aside the creative writing and I wasn’t writing creative non-fiction; I was writing journalism.

Back then I had no about creative non-fiction. Then I got married and had children and didn’t have any time for that. If you look at the list of my publications, you will notice huge gaps. I only started really writing again after my children went away to study.

So, my publications are mostly recent, there is a mix of fiction and creative non-fiction.

SM

I genuinely enjoyed the passages you read during your talk from ‘I love to hear the nature speak’. Although I haven't heard about the Orang-utans until the day of the talk, I felt like I had to do my part in protecting them, too.

Why did you choose to write about the Orang-utans? What drew you to them?

CY

I went to Sarawak for work when I was working with TV3 and WWF as a communications person. The Orang-utan is iconic. Together with the horn bel, they’re very symbolic in Sarawak.

I met people who were doing conservation work and the Orang-utan theme was very strong. Having lived there since then, I learned a lot about them. And I was editing a book which included a lot of folklore which included a lot of information Orang-utans and that helped me learn more about them.

So, when I came to think about my PhD or a possibility of one. There was the pressure to do an academic thesis as opposed to something which I really love which is creative nonfiction. Writing creatively and conservation are my two passions and I wanted to have both in my thesis. It was great that I was able to blend my two passions for my thesis. The organ-utans was a very natural choice to focus on instead of conservation in general because that would’ve been such a huge project. To prevent myself from getting overwhelmed with the information, I only focused on the Orang-utans.

SM

Can you tell me more about the writing process that you undertook to produce your creative nonfiction work? For example, how long did it take you to collect everyone's story? Was it difficult to remain objective?

CY

It took me about a year to interview the 19 research participants. I interviewed some more than once.

The creative process varied. Some story ideas popped into my head as the interview proceeded, others came about when I read over my notes. I recorded the interviews, but also took notes in case the recordings failed. After the interview, I would read my notes, add to them when I hadn't had time to jot down my thoughts, highlighting points that I knew I wanted to include in stories or wanted to be the pivotal scene in a story or essay.

I'd then have to transcribe the interview. As mentioned in my presentation, this grew increasingly difficult as it was very time-consuming, so I got some help through students and my children.

I would read and reread the transcripts and sometimes, listen to parts of the interviews again, focusing on the parts I wanted to write about. I really enjoyed writing those stories and essays, starting one way, maybe changing the direction, discovering as I wrote, new stories or new ways to write. Sometimes, if I got stuck, I would go away and work on something else. When I came back, I either continued the piece or tried a different way to find the story or form that could work.

In creative nonfiction, we have the authorial voice, and this voice is usually not objective. It presents the story or essay from a chosen viewpoint. Sometimes, it's very much in the background; other times, it is more evident, even involved. But if you mean was it difficult for me not to become emotional about what I learned, e.g. the plight of the Orang-utans, then yes, it was hard. I did have moments of anger and great sorrow. These fed into my work; it's natural. That's probably why there are so many pieces of eco-criticism in the creative artefact. But I try to avoid "preaching" about conservation, and I try to include some positive action.

SM

Why did you choose creative non-fiction approach instead of a fiction story or even a journal article? Do you feel that creative non-fiction is an approach that could reach people better?

CY

If I had done it as a fiction, I would have to say that it was fiction even though it’s based on facts. All the people that I interviewed were really happy to be named and share stories about their work. They were very proud of their work and that someone was paying them any attention. So, I feel that if I wrote it as a fiction, I would be discrediting them, I would’ve not been respecting what they’re done. They deserve to be acknowledged for their work and efforts. A lot of this kind of work is usually focused on the white person coming from the west and then appropriates the knowledge and then translates it to scientific text and gets all the glory.

I really wanted to focus on the ordinary people that do this workday in and day out, no glamour. It’s just their genuine efforts.

Creative non-fiction was the way because I wanted to explore the genre.

Although people may criticize me for trying to imagine what Orang-utans try to think or feel, but I think that it would touch people. We should try to imagine what these animals are thinking or feeling when they’re captured.

It’s very bizarre that humans want to own wild animals. It’s very strange to me that people want to own exotic pets. It’s strange that they wouldn’t image what is the animal experiencing now torn away from its natural habitat in this alien world.

Some people may not like it that I’m projecting my thoughts onto the Orang-utans. But I really do want to reach out to people and raise awareness about exotic pets and that kind of industry of wildlife trade smuggling and all that. Or they see the animals in wet market and don’t think twice, it’s just an animal.

But just because they can’t speak doesn’t mean that they don’t feel, or they aren’t suffering.

SM

What's the response that you want people to have regarding this book? What would you like people to do?

CY

One of the immediate things they could do is find out about the adopt Orang-utan program where people can donate and that goes towards the caring and captive Orang-utans. But I think I just wanted to bring about a general awareness of the plight of our wildlife.

There are so many human activities that interfere with their living and it’s a very complicated topic. Many people ask the question ‘why do you care so much about wildlife when there are so many humans that are suffering’ or ‘why don’t you care about the humans in the rural areas’.

But like Joshua had said in the bit that I read from ‘Ambushed by the Orang-utan’ the Orang-utans saved lands of those rural villages. There were companies that were going to come in and convert it. But the state wanted to protect those villages because the Orang-utans lived there. The Orang-utans saved the rural villages and the people that live there, and I think that’s great.

Our lives are intertwined, the whole thing about the balance of the eco-system is real. It’s just we as people don’t think about it as much though, especially if we live in the urban area. So, I hope that this book offers them an insight into the lives that they’re not fully mindful of.

SM

Do you feel like you could repeat this same process but regarding another topic or environmental cause?

CY

Absolutely.

As I mentioned there are loads of interviews left to tell but equally there are lots of other stories out there that I have heard from individuals about pangolins and sun bears.

I wouldn’t want to repeat exactly the process, though. I would want to try and come up with different ways to tell the story. I wouldn’t want it to be a repetitive process. I don’t want to bore the reader or myself.

I think I’m just going to enjoy and think about what’s next for now.

SM

What's been the biggest challenge for you, as a writer?

CY

I don’t want to bore the reader. Sometimes I was worried that I was. Especially with the crafted interview where I take bits of the actual voice of the person I interviewed. I can hear the voice of the person, but the reader cannot. So, I was trying to pick the parts which will help the reader to hear that voices of despair or happiness of the person I’m interviewing.

So, I guess the challenge was making it as interesting and captivating as it was for me when I was listening to it.

I think this challenge brings the best out of me.

SM

Do you have any advice for emerging writers?

CY

Don’t give up. I think that’s the main thing.

Just start writing.

You don’t have to think that when you start writing that its going to be perfect, it won’t be. It’s just going to be one of many drafts. Don’t expect to write your incredible creative work in one go. Don’t give up when things become difficult. The wonder of it all isn’t just the writing, it’s the crafting process.

When I was starting out, I wasn’t aware of that. I wasn’t aware that the crafting process is what’s writing all about.

SM

Who's on your reading list these days?

CY

When I finally submitted my thesis and went through the Viva, the first thing I picked up was Harry Potter. I love JK Rowling, she is just amazing. I was so happy to just finally read Harry Potter after being immersed in my thesis for so long.

I also love Anna Quindlen, she started out as a journalist and then she started writing fiction. She is marvellous, I always look forward to her work.

Christina Yin's work has been published in our Issue 14 and another is soon to be featured in our upcoming Issue 15 Time Zones.