Lee Van Roth

she/they/he

Primary Genres: journalism, fiction, novel

What do you like about writing -- or why do you yourself like to write? 

Humans naturally want to tell stories to each other, we see this throughout all societies and all time periods. Writing is just one medium in which to tell a story, but it’s my medium of choice because I feel like it’s the most effective and accessible way for me to communicate with others. Spoken word has power on its own, but I’ve always found that I’m much more succinct and clear in writing as opposed to verbal communication- although improving my writing skills has had the added benefit of improving my verbal communication skills as well.

What do you believe is important about writing?

Like most art forms, writing is such an accessible means of conveying the thoughts you want to share with others. Anyone can be a writer, and I truly feel that those who feel like they can’t write just haven’t found the specific medium of writing they resonate with just yet. I mentioned storytelling and the incredibly human desire to do so throughout all of human history, but I think branching off that there is a newer human desire to preserve stories as well, to write them down so they can live on for generations to come. It’s a really beautiful thing to me.