A Brief Interview with Shereen Lani Younes

In addition to writing beautiful poetry, you're also an amazing filmmaker and artist. How have you decided over the years where to put your attention, which work to focus on?

Thank you! It's never really a conscious decision, it's more what I instinctually feel like doing in the moment. Sometimes it's something I imagine visually that I want to recreate in a film, sometimes it's a feeling I want to try to put into words with a poem. To me every medium is related to each other and they work together every time with every project, even if it seems like one is leading the charge. Poetry, film, art, all of it - they're works of feeling. And I have a lot of those. Making them spill out in a way that might connect with other people, and might make other people also feel something, is addicting to me. 

I was thoroughly disturbed by and completely enthralled with the short film My Wacky Life, which you wrote, directed and produced with Alix Bloom. How did you two settle on the tone of that film? It feels completely distinct in the best way. 

Both of us love dark comedy, so we set out wanting to make something that seemed goofy on its surface but had a dark underbelly. We came up with the initial idea because we randomly bonded about how much we love those wacky arm inflatable tube people. I've always been obsessed with them and I had never met someone else who shared that obsession. So the concept was goofy at baseline and grew from there. Alix is also one of the most creative people I've ever met or worked with, and I credit her with developing a lot of the aesthetic choices we landed on. It was genuinely so fun and I'm really proud of our work together. 

The weather is usually really nice around here, but with spring coming in April, do you have any favorite spring activities in the L.A. area?

I love going out to the Angeles National Forest. We're so lucky to be surrounded by nature and the spring time gives us the perfect opportunity to explore it. My absolute favorite hike is Switzer Falls in the forest. The trail is unbelievably scenic with stream crossings, a bit of climbing, and walking through historic ruins until you eventually end up at a beautiful hidden-away waterfall. Going into nature is my favorite thing to do and I believe it's the best thing anyone can do for themselves. Spring is especially perfect for that.