Photo courtesy of Kaiden Boykin
Kaiden Boykin will be working with the Homewood Star this spring as part of the Starnes Media Creator Collective.
Kaiden Boykin, a junior at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, will be working with The Homewood Star this year as part of the Starnes Media Creator Collective. In this interview, he shares what he loves about writing and storytelling.
Q: Tell us about yourself.
A: My name is Kaiden. I’m a junior at the Alabama School of Fine Arts.
Q: Why did you apply to be part of the Creator Collective?
A: I applied to be a part of the Creator Collective because I have always been someone who wants to write, who, you know, as I’ve grown through my experience working, going to school, I’ve learned that I really like telling people stories. I love learning more about people.
And I think that on, you know, on one hand this is an opportunity to get to know people on a deeper level and be able to tell those stories that I think deserve to be told because everyone, in my opinion, is an interesting person — it’s impossible to not be interesting.
And then, on another level, it is something that I want to, you know, pursue in college, potentially, is being a journalist, and getting, you know, my start so early on is, you know, beautiful.
Q: What activities are you involved with?
A: In school, I’m a member of the Black Student Union, and, within the Black Student Union, we just are, you know, a group of Black students and, occasionally, non-Black students that kind of talk about Black history, Black present — because, to me, that’s just as important. And we just kind of give a glimpse into the Black experience and are sort of a safety net — that may be a bad word, but sort of a guide for the Black students at my school, few and far between.
I cannot speak too much on this next organization because it’s not, like, set in stone, but there are, you know, plans for, you know, outside, recreational art that I’m working on. And I’m, you know, really excited for that.
Q: What do you hope to do after high school?
A: I think I could speak for everyone in my department, that we all want to pursue a field in, you know, creative writing or something creative along the lines of that, such as film.
I want to go to college to, you know, get an education, and, especially in a world like where we’re heading, I think education is very valuable, very important.
But, I would like to, you know, work in a field that allows me to write and still allow me time to pursue my own creative endeavors, be that journalism or editing — which is what I really want to do is be a fiction editor or nonfiction.
Q: What is your dream job?
A: I stated this in the last question, but I think my dream job, my real dream job, would be to be an editor, you know, really of any kind. But, most importantly, is, like you know, fiction editor. I want to edit novels and short stories.
But, you know, poetry collections, nonfiction, journalism, all those things, like, I feel like that’s very important and it’s a part of our curriculum at Alabama School of Fine Arts, where we are, you know, to critique and workshop our work. And I’ve found that I have a deep passion for critical analysis of work and helping people make their pieces stronger because I value creation and I want to see that, you know, at their strongest.
Q: What is a fun fact about you?
A: A fun fact about me is I really love guitar. I love to play guitar, and while I’m not particularly good at it I’m very dedicated to learning and to getting better. And every day I pick up my baby, I feel, like, so accomplished. I sit there and I’m like, “You know, Little Kaiden would be so proud of me.”
As well as, in my spare time trying to learn, you know, Spanish, and it’s been going “muy bien.”
