Featured Writer: Mallory Tater
On creating space to write and writing advice.
Welcome to Women Writing! It’s my great pleasure to feature author Mallory Tater in today’s issue of Women Writing.
About the author…
Mallory Tater is the author of four books: This Will Be Good: Poems (Book*Hug Press, 2018), The Birth Yard: A Novel (HarperCollins, 2020), Lockers are for Bearcats Only: Poems (Forthcoming, Palimpsest 2026) & Soft Tissue: A Novel (forthcoming, ECW, 2027). She was the publisher of Rahila’s Ghost Press, a now-retired chapbook press. Mallory currently lives in Vancouver, where she teaches at the University of British Columbia’s School of Creative Writing.
On a writing routine …
I had a baby in June so my writing routine looks like typing quietly on the couch while she naps. This is usually late morning or early afternoon. Certainly not every day. Writing when I’m not necessarily inspired but when time allots is new for me. I am now being beckoned to be easier on myself in the way of what I generate and how much. Writing has become a bit scrappier, enacted in the day’s ‘in betweens’ and very intentional.
On writing spaces …
I was always a coffee shop writer. I loved Forecast Coffee in my old neighbourhood of Mount Pleasant. The din of people chatting, milk wands steaming and music blaring really work for me. I now write on the sofa, my baby snoozing, the living room window open to allow for rain-sound or sunshine to break through and the local news on mute in the background. It’s a very wholesome atmosphere—I half-expect robins to show up in the window and sing.
On writing communities …
I have a very close-knit group of writer friends who live near me. We read each other’s work and exchange thoughts and support. We physically write side by side in silence at coffeeshops or in pubs. Or we get together with the intention of writing and sometimes don’t end up starting. Sometimes not writing and just having a conversation is just as important as writing. Knowing my friends are sinking their teeth into their practice and their projects helps me want to do the same. Sharing the act of process and being creative side by side is so much more gratifying than writing in a vacuum.
The best piece of writing advice I have ever received is a really beautiful sentiment my partner told me: writing is a selfish act with the most compassionate results.
On challenges …
I wrote many of the poems in this book when I was grieving my friend who died. Some days, staying in bed took precedence over writing. Going for a swim on other days. The pub. Work and back. It wasn’t then that I didn’t have time, it was that my body and mind were often too sad to use that time for writing. This book hollowed itself out and came to life over the course of small sittings.
On the best writing advice …
The best piece of writing advice I have ever received is a really beautiful sentiment my partner told me: writing is a selfish act with the most compassionate results.
On the worst writing advice …
I was once told to quit a novel because the cultural moment had changed and the story wouldn’t land anymore. It was a lesson in how precarious it is for writers and publishers to chase—or fear—the market too much. It hurt my feelings a bit but I trusted my gut and kept on with my manuscript anyway. The book soon found its place.
On advice from personal experiences …
Write characters or speakers who contain multitudes, are unabashedly themselves— messy, warped, fatigued, aching etc. We don’t have to present sanitized, infallible versions of our voices or experiences to the world in order to fulfil a male-gaze driven perception of who we are and what we represent. Write the dark. Write the light. Write the grey.
On rekindling creativity …
I discovered swimming in 2019, after the death of my friend. Immersed in the water, I found calm, control, and a ritual of renewal—an escape from screens, work, and grief. The rhythm of laps, the quiet beneath the surface, and the small exchanges with strangers all became meditative acts that reconnected me to my body and imagination. Many of my poems begin as thoughts that surface mid-swim.
On a recent publication …
My most recent publication is my poetry book Lockers are for Bearcats Only. I am now working on revisions for my forthcoming novel Soft Tissue.
Mallory’s online spaces …
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Happy writing!
Wonderful interview!