By Munira Alimire
Arts and Entertainment Editor
Munira.Alimire1651@mb.rctc.edu
Ari Bailey
“I’ve been writing mostly fiction since I was quite young,” said creative writer and RCTC student Ari Bailey. “Currently, I write urban fantasy, but I love any fiction that’s toeing the line between being realistic and unrealistic. I like to write short pieces, and I hope to one day finish writing a novel.”
Bailey, a member of the Creative Writing Club, presented a short story during their reading event, “Pieces of Our Lives.” She explained that she creates art because she has a need to share stories. She wants to make her readers to feel the way she does when she reads Stephen King, Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett.
She also wants to create stronger female characters, as she’s tired of a world where she cannot see people like herself represented in writing. As Bailey identifies as a bisexual gender-fluid female atheist, she wants to represent the community she comes from, so she writes stories that are relatable to people who don’t fit into the status quo.
“Most of my characters are underdogs of one form or another,” she said. “I want people who don’t have institutional power to know they can be happy, and they can change the world.”
Bailey would love to make a career out of her writing, which would make her 10-year-old self very proud. She knows that in Rochester, it’s easier to make a living by being in a medical or business field, but that doesn’t deter her. She plans to continue writing for the rest of her life.