As I shared with ArtsHub last month, I began using a pseudonym (Katie Keys) because of nepotism, not wanting London’s street press to realise the music reviews I was writing were often of my brother’s band. I kept it when I started posting a poem a day on social media (which I did for more than a decade), so my Twitter handle @TinyLittlePoems became a sort of secondary pseudonym too.
Using a pseudonym can help artists explore a new genre, build a different audience or give them the confidence they need to share their work. It wasn’t until I became Director of Writers Victoria that my creative practice and professional life came together. When someone unknowingly recommended I check out my own work, I realised my pseudo-name had become better known than my actual-name and set about merging the two back together (to @KateLarsenKeys).
To use, or not to use, a pseudonym clearly comes down to why, the article said, noting there are often practical reasons of safety when it comes to using a pseudonym in some countries.
While obviously wanting to avoid any association with the anonymous and unaccountable trolls that are perhaps the most common pseudonym users, alternative or pen names can also be useful tools in helping protect ourselves and our work.
I surveyed social media poets in Australia, China and Hong Kong while on an Asialink Arts residency at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. When asked how motivations and implications change where access to social media is monitored or controlled, poets in Hong Kong and China said they were more likely to write under a pseudonym and less likely to write about political topics for their personal safety, privacy and freedom.
‘I’m sure there is a degree of self-censorship in most poets and a fear of retribution if people write something less than favourable about political leaders,’ one respondent said. ‘I use a pen name as I speak about sensitive topics such as race, sexual assault and other personal matters that I would not be comfortable publishing as my own name,’ said another.
Read the full article on ArtsHub ($).
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LARSEN | KEYS 