CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLIGHT:
Interview with Melissa French

Rappahannock Review Nonfiction Editors: We loved the imagery of the water cycle throughout and how you connected it to being a mother. Can you talk about why you connected them?

Melissa French: In Thai, “Mae” means mother and “Nam” means water, together they mean river. I feel like there is a whole literary tradition of connecting water to what is feminine—stemming from viewing water as the source of life and creation in comparison to the female body. I have always been preoccupied with that connection and my family’s personal ties with rivers. This piece was really about weaving these strings together and seeing where they met.

RR: “Mae Nam” is packed with vivid imagery. How did you decide which details to include in such a short work?

MF: My first drafts were definitely much longer than this final piece. There is so much to say regarding my relationship with water, motherhood, and Thai culture that I tried my best to choose what felt particularly poignant to me during this time in my life. I often find myself able to remember small details rather than whole scenes within memories so I tried to reflect that on the page.

RR: When did you find out about the term “mae nam”? Can you give us some insight on the term’s importance to you?

MF: I grew up speaking Thai with my mother so I have always known the word, especially considering my family’s past living on the river. It wasn’t until I was in high school that I became fascinated with breaking down the meaning of these compound words found in Thai, including “mae nam.” I found it similar to Kennings in Old English and the semantic origins provoked a desire to explore its meaning (one of the best feelings for writers in my opinion).

RR: It is clear that your grandmother is an important figure to you. Can you talk about a favorite memory or something she did that inspired you?

MF: When I was younger, both my mother and grandmother made it their mission to make sure I had a connection with my culture. I think a lot of what I associate with my grandmother is what I also associate with Thailand—from the scent of tiger balm to the stories she told me about living on a boat in the Chao Phraya. I’m forever grateful for her role in raising me to be proud of my heritage.

RR: Did you take inspiration from any other written works with this piece?

MF: Not any specific works, but poetry has such a strong hand in my voice that I feel it inevitably bleeds into my fiction and nonfiction pieces. Jhumpa Lahiri is a writer I look up to and am constantly being inspired by so I could only hope that some of her style comes across in my work.