hika.

Takrouri is a senior English with a concentration in creative writing and an Arabic minor. She is a Kenyon Review Associate and Book Review Intern. Her non-fiction prose piece “Dead of Autumn” will be published in the HIKA 2026-2027 Fall preview.

Where do you find the inspiration for “Dead of Autumn?”

So it was actually a prompt that inspired the piece because over the summer I did a CNF workshop with Kenyan Review—it was the adult online summer writers workshop. So one of our instructors gave us a prompt where we had to come up with a mineral, a bird, which is where the cardinal came from—I took the mineral out—and a flower. We had to make an essay out of these three things, and I think because they’re unrelated, it was kind of challenging us to make connections between these unrelated images and kind of find a through line. So what I wrote about is how all of these things can sort of symbolize something. They can serve as a metaphor for something and you can read into them, which is where the whole theme of finding patterns and symbolism and unrelated things came from. The cardinal really stood out to me because it brought me back to when I was talking to my grandma on the porch, after my grandpa died. It was around the time when we were starting to kind of get into angel numbers or trying to find signs of his presence. I think it was part of the grieving process for her. The cardinal kind of became this thing where some people say that it comes back like after somebody’s died and it’s a loved one visiting and that kind of brought her some comfort. So I think it brought me back to that time of my life and that’s how the essay sort of came about.

What would you consider the central theme or idea behind your story?

I think the heart of the essay, it’s probably finding signs and patterns to kind of bring people comfort when the outside world or circumstances seem chaotic or uncertain. Sometimes people turn to spirituality like we did throughout the piece. Or just finding signs of comfort, like crystals and things like that. It’s not that those things don’t mean anything, but there are perhaps times in our life where we’re more open to receiving these things and more open to finding meaning in them.

How would you describe your writing style?

I think it’s very nostalgic and kind of sentimental, especially because I write from memory. Very evocative; I try to evoke feelings through the images that I choose. Yeah, I would say sentimental, nostalgic, and evocative are good words to describe it.

Do you write any other genres of writing? Or have you tried to work in any other genres?

I’m primarily a fiction writer. This was when I was kind of doing a whole year of CNF, so I really do enjoy CNF as well because I do a lot of personal narrative writing and life writing. A lot of my fiction is also kind of about characters exploring their past and their memories. A lot of their memories are present in those pieces as well, so that sentimental tone kind of extends to my fiction writing. So I write novels and essays.

Have you found any differences in how you write personal narrative pieces versus completely fiction pieces?

Yeah, I think it’s easier for me to write the personal narrative very quickly because I already have the material laid out, it’s about me and I’m pulling from my memories and my experiences, so the process of finding the material doesn’t take as long. It becomes more about how am I going to structure these memories? How am I going to make the sections make sense or have some sort of logic so that people will also want to read about them? With fiction, it’s more difficult because I have to make these characters feel real. It takes a lot of time for me to kind of achieve that. Like, when I write flash fiction pieces, I feel like sometimes to me it feels a little shallow because I’m just creating this character, this situation, out of a prompt or very quickly. I like to take a long time to sit with my fiction and draft it over and over again, and have a lot of time to develop the characters to make them feel real. So I would say the process takes much longer.

Could you talk a little bit more about your writing process from getting the idea all the way to revision?

So, I get the idea and then I don’t really outline or plan a lot beforehand. I just kind of write it all out. Then it really helps me to put the piece away, but for this particular piece, I could not do that because we had to write them the night before and then we were expected to share them. It was a very quick turnaround. So what I did with this piece and with my other works is that I get outside feedback, and that can really help me to see how things are landing because a lot of it makes sense to me but there might be gaps in what other people understand or take from the work. And it really helps me to kind of write a second draft and then go over it again…I would just say it’s a lot of me writing it all out, letting it sit or getting feedback, and then revising accordingly.

Do you have any authors or artists that you think influence your work?

I would say Stephen King really influences my fiction writing. For my nonfiction, I’m really inspired by my professor. I had Ira for CNF. I read his memoir before I went to Kenyon, which is part of why I wanted to take his class. I really liked how he writes memoir and how he approaches CNF writing, so he was probably my biggest inspiration for my essays. But for my fiction writing, I would say Stephen King, and also Where the Crawdads Sing. I really liked that book as well—it kind of inspired that literary tone that I have or the imagery.

How did you start writing?

So I’ve always been writing, for as long as I can remember. Since I was a kid, I would make little picture books and stuff, so I think I’ve always wanted to write. I think I started taking it seriously during the pandemic because I finally had a lot of time to kind of dedicate to my creative writing. I wrote an entire novel during that time and that was the first year where I decided that this is something that I actually want to take seriously and continue doing and study in college.

Since coming to college, how do you think you’ve changed as a writer?

I think I’ve definitely changed in terms of the genres that I’m interested in because I came in primarily writing fiction. I was like, I just want to write this novel and everything else is kind of a distraction, but it was actually very beneficial for me to take CNF courses as well and even hear from some poetry writers. I think it made me a more well-rounded writer and it helped me to bring in more imagery in my writing. And it helped me bring in some poetic devices as well. Even if I’m not a poetry writer, it helps to bring in these things from different genres into my work.

How do you think working on the editing and publication side of writing though The Kenyon Review has influenced your approach to your own writing?

It definitely helps to see what editors look for. Before I was working behind the scenes, I just had to assume what people might be looking for in my work or how an editor would approach it. It’s really beneficial for me to be on both the editorial side of things and also the writing side, especially as I start to think about submitting my work to literary journals. It helps me to understand how the process works, how the slush pile works, how to prepare a piece, how to write the cover letter… It just helps to be a part of both worlds.

In your opinion, what kind of person does it take to be a writer?

I think the person has to be very observant. I think it really helps that I observe more than I talk, so I’m really taking in a lot of my surroundings. I think it helps me to have more material to write about or kind of understand people and how they communicate with each other, which is a big theme of my work. So I would say observant and reflective. Being able to look back on your life and make meaning out of your experiences is a good quality.

Also, to really continue writing. Be motivated or willing to work hard, especially when there are times where maybe the writing is not coming along or you have rejections. It kind of takes a thick skin. So just able to take feedback and persevere are also good qualities.

Do you have any writing aspirations going forward?

Yes, I want to publish my novel. I’m working on it now for my senior capstone, but that is something that I would want to pitch to agents someday. I also would like to publish more of my essays in magazines.

What do you hope readers will take away from “Dead of Autumn?”

The grieving process. I think it’s very open about how some people grieve and how some people kind of look for signs and patterns, like angel numbers, in a way that I hope doesn’t make it seem shameful. So maybe if somebody went through something similar or they grieved a loved one who passed away, they might resonate with some parts of the grieving process that I kind of talk about in my work. Especially if they’ve lost a grandparent too.