Avra Margariti is a twenty-year-old social work undergrad from Greece. She enjoys storytelling in all its forms and writes about diverse identities and experiences. Her short fiction is forthcoming in Wolfpack Press.
- Congratulations on winning our contest! What inspired you to write this story?
Thanks so much! One time I had a dream about jellyfish, and soon I couldn’t get them out of my head. Did they live in the ocean or were they kept as pets? What about the people around them? Soon, the story stopped revolving around the jellyfish and became more about the humans, as well as the parallels between the two.
- How did you break into the publishing world?
I believe my very first story was published here, in The Writing District. A few years back, I participated in a high school writing competition in Greece, but I was told my themes were too ‘adult.’
- Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer to see where an idea takes you?
I take some early notes on my phone, usually when I’m supposed to be sleeping, but I rarely create a complete outline. Most of the time, I have a pretty clear idea of the characters and their emotional arc. The plot comes later. I like letting the story take me where it needs to go.
- What are you working on at the moment?
I’m currently revising my magical realism Young Adult novel called “You Are Not in Fairyland Anymore.” It is a story about guilt and redemption in the aftermath of a war between fairies and humans.
