All shall bloom in the creative industry
BY GABRIELLE ANG
Athena Tan is bent on making the creative realm a more friendly place for young people, she tells GABRIELLE ANG.
Who is Athena Tan? Watch to find out more! Video by Gabrielle Ang.
Teen writer Athena Tan believes that, in order for creatives to make their mark on the world, they must connect and collaborate with the people around them.
Athena, 19, serves as the founder of creative collective Carpe Bloom. She commits herself to connecting young people to other like-minded individuals, as well as to bigger ideas such as world issues.
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With a rotating line-up of young artists, journalists and photographers who are mostly amateurs, Athena ensures that a large variety of talents would be involved in every project, and works towards achieving inclusivity and diverse schools of thought in the team’s work environment.
“You’ve got to be constantly inspired by the people around you. If I had an overarching goal it would be to connect and collaborate with people around me,” Athena says.
One of these collaborations happened in 2018, where she planned a birthday party for junior college schoolmate, Pranav Ghosh, 19, to his surprise.
“At that time, we had known each other only for a month, but Athena had contacted my close friends whom she didn’t even know to hold a surprise birthday party for me,” he says.
“That’s how good she is at talking to and connecting with anyone and everyone. I have no doubt that she’s able to break boundaries amongst her collaborators.”
Formerly a whiz kid from San Jose, California, Athena claimed to have read a hundred books every two weeks as a child, won writing competitions and had a picture book entitled The Beautiful Garden published in Barnes And Noble at the age of 6.
Athena Tan in February 2020. Photo by Gabrielle Ang.
Athena with a childhood friend back in San Jose, California. Photo courtesy of Athena Tan.
Migrating with her family to Singapore at 12 sounded the death knell for Athena’s childhood writing career, as her focus shifted to assimilating into Singaporean society, where she describes feeling “lost and betrayed as an ‘emo’ little child trying to fit in” and as an “outsider with an angmo accent” as she had adopted the spoken mannerisms of a Californian.
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Eventually, Athena found an avenue to pursue creative writing again, when she joined a writing camp at 15 and learnt more about various literary art forms on top of journalism.
This would also be the beginning of her quest for inclusivity in the creative industry. Athena tried to submit her works to local literary magazines, only to be turned away. She suspects that the reason for her rejection was likely because she came from a neighbourhood school, whereas accepted applicants often came from more prestigious institutions, or were more seasoned and experienced writers.
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Believing that the literary scene required fresh faces and a more diverse, inclusive community, Athena established the first edition of Carpe Bloom, a literary magazine on WordPress called Paper Guts, whose manifesto stood against the exclusive, niche snobbishness of the creative realm.
Operating under the moniker “Paper Guts”, Athena would contact freelance writers on Wattpad, a site that allows amateur writers to publish their work for free, such as poetry, prose or even fan-fiction. Paper Guts provided a platform for these amateur writers to showcase their work, allowing them to reach a new audience.
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However, Athena found that Paper Guts lacked a multimedia aspect to help it move forward. Combining her love for creative writing with multimedia journalism, Paper Guts was transformed into Carpe Bloom in 2017. Carpe would also interview people who were “going against the grain”, such as local singer-songwriter and LGBTQ+ activist Leon Markus.
Athena Tan (centre) with Angel Lee (left) and Shiori Ong (right), writers for Carpe Bloom.
Photo by Gabrielle Ang.
As a non-profit collective, Carpe is run solely by youths who volunteer to collaborate and out of Athena’s own pocket. Paying for a domain and finding ways to cover stories was not easy, but Athena had funded the project by working part-time as a tutor and retail associate.
With her crew of young creatives learning to hone their craft, Athena encourages youngsters to embrace the process of learning as their main priority.
Athena says: “There’s this sense that they’re learning how to do something well. You’re not going to get a piece that’s completely unpolished, but rather something that reflects your learning journey.”
“I knew I wanted to improve my writing skills,” says Angel Lee, 19, a writer for Carpe Bloom.
“I started writing the captions for Carpe’s Instagram posts, which allowed me to practise my writing skills! Eventually, I was confident enough to pen articles and the rest is history,” she adds.
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Imbued with a burning passion for world issues, Athena utilises Carpe Bloom as a platform to showcase different perspectives, even going as far as contacting fellow artists, writers and musicians worldwide to collaborate on art that speaks up against issues such as racism, homophobia and transphobia.
“She cares beyond the people she knows personally, and has the heart and courage to speak out about these issues consistently. Her private convictions translate to her public platforms too!” says Tabitha Chiam, 23, Athena’s cousin who is currently studying in a university.
“Some issues we've talked about would include the Black Lives Matter movement [in America], and the recent general elections back home in Singapore. In this, I can see her genuine heart for people.”
But why should you read Carpe Bloom, and why should you give its editor a chance?
“If you want a place that stands for young people by allowing young people to interfere and disrupt the process in which this story is told and shared, then you should come to Carpe Bloom,” Athena says.
Athena adds: “We never start with the idea that someone is a label, but that they are human first. We’re here to make our content accessible. We want a community that knows that they can make a difference in their lives and learn something.”