We asked Damion a few questions…

WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT I WOULD BE SURPRISED TO FIND IN YOUR SPACE?
No comfortable chair!

DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAL WORKSPACE IN THREE WORDS…
It all depends

DO YOU WORK AND LIVE IN THE SAME SPACE, IF SO HOW DOES THAT AFFECT YOUR WORK?
I sometimes do and sometimes don’t. When I’m at home, I get to use all my good dictionaries (for translation) or files (for writing) and listen to the music I want, but it’s more distracting. When working outside I have to be more focused, because it depends on what I’ve brought with me for the day.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?
Great but expensive.

WHAT CAN YOU SEE OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOWS?
I like having windows in my workspace but, strangely, never look out them. At home I zone out with the art on the walls.

FAVOURITE SONG/BAND WHILE WORKING?
Something I have an emotional connection to on that day, whether Bowie (RIP) or albums from my youth or Japanese noise — that’s more important to me than loud/soft, words/no words.

WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN AND FROM WHOM?
I don’t know if it’s advice, but my friend Dubravka Ugresic, the Croatian writer, always says that before you deserve to be read you have to serve other writers, whether as a translator, professor, publisher, reviewer. You have to earn your place in the community of letters. That fortifies me.

WHEN YOU DAY DREAM IN YOUR SPACE AND JUST LOSE YOURSELF IN THOUGHT, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING OR WORRYING ABOUT?
Thinking about: Other books I could be writing. Worrying about: Everything else.

Most artwork by Danielle Peterson Searls