DILIM Press connected with Kris Pajarito.
Watch the interview on YouTube.
She started out in entertainment, pinning storyboards and running dailies for directors and producers at DreamWorks Animation while finishing her Visual Arts & Film degree at the University of California, San Diego. After two credited feature films (in story and editorial) and a concurrent M.A. in Humanities (she’s obsessed with history & culture), she decided to change her path from film editing to writing.
Learn more at: krispajaritowriter.com
DILIM: What are your earliest memories of writing or creating?
KP: I would write poetry for no one, really. I just kept it to myself to try and make sense of the world. I was probably 10? I really can’t recall. I’d say I realized I could get something more narrative down on paper in 4th grade, when my teacher would have me read my work aloud. Still, I didn’t really consider it until my late 20s. I actually come from an art/film background and thought I was going to be a film editor. Still, I’d say half my time writing my current work is like editing anyway, so I didn’t detour too badly, haha.
We all long for the same history to own.
Kris Pajarito
DILIM: Do you have a favorite place to feel productive?
KP: Since I’m a mom, anywhere I can get time to actually write! Which is mostly my tiny corner desk that I share with my husband in our tiny Brooklyn home. I’d tell you where I go when I actually step out but I don’t really want to blow it up and lose my spot.
DILIM: Which advice would you give to yourself from five years ago?
KP: Just self publish. Don’t worry about it so much.
DILIM: What would you want the reader to remember, long after they’ve left the page?
KP: We all long for the same history to own.
DILIM: What’s next for you in your creative process?
KP: I’m in the middle of releasing episode 3 of my web comic. It incorporates Filipino history and mythology but it’s mostly a coming-of-age story. It’s been fun exploring this prequel to a larger story that I wrote last year.
Connect with Kris Pajarito online: