Interviewed by Sheena, external communications for The Literature Garden
S: Tell us a little bit about you. Where are you from, what was growing up like for you and what do you like to do in your free time?
K: I’m Kia Ayesha Sinan, a student, author, and the Founder/EIC of Luxury Literature Magazine (LLM). I’m originally from the Maldives, but I’ve had quite an international upbringing, spending different parts of my childhood living across Europe, Asia, and Australia. I was quite an independent child and remain a curious young adult too - I spend most of my time reading, writing, learning, or practicing a combination of the three. My family has always placed a lot of importance on education, so curiosity was very much encouraged in our house.
S: What is the origin story of Luxury Lit?
K: LLM officially started in 2023, and it was much smaller and much less defined at the start. I had always been very interested in literature and art, but was also becoming increasingly aware of how scarce true and unique opportunities were in my creative scope. It then began from there and bloomed into the myriad of little stuffs it is now.
S: Your roles impressively span co-chief editor, head of staff, interviewer and graphic designer—what was the journey like in getting to a place where you can manage all of that responsibility alongside your own personal life and commitments?
K: I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that I’m both very protective and very curious. I like having my toes in a little bit of everything and dabbling in different kinds of work myself, whether that’s editing, design, staff management or interviews. Interviewing especially feels like a natural extension of that curiosity because I just really like understanding how other people think and create. Over time, I’ve just learned how to balance that to be involved with knowing when to delegate. It’s an ongoing journey, so I’ll let you know!
S: Have you ever gotten burnt out with all of the work that you do? How do you manage burnout—do you have any small things that you do to help keep you grounded?
K: I used to get burnt out quite a lot, especially when I felt like I had to be switched on constantly, but it happens much less now. Generally I find following the daily practicalities of an offline life is the most helpful thing. Usually I’ll read, watch something, listen to an album I love, have some tea, or just do something unrelated to the magazine for a while.
S: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learnt since founding Luxury Lit?
K: Founding Luxury Lit forced me to become much more receptive to other people’s perspectives, particularly when they challenge a worldview of mine. I love creating an environment where people can surprise me, and have grown to encourage that greatly.
S: What, over the course of Luxury Lit’s journey, are you proudest of?
K: I’m proud that people care about us and take pride in working with or for us. LLM started as something I was building because I loved literature and art and wanted a space for that, so seeing people get excited about an issue, submit something they’ve worked hard on, join the team, or tell me they’ve found opportunities through us still feels surreal. The numbers are lovely, obviously, but I think the moments that stay with me are always the very human ones.
S: As I’m sure you’re aware, you run THE magazine that every youth-led online creative magazine looks up to. How did you build the community that you have?
K: That’s so kind of you to say! We’ve always tried to make Luxury Lit feel conversational, whether that’s through submissions, interviews, collaborations, resources, or simply the way we speak online. I also think consistency mattered. Celebrating contributors properly, sharing opportunities, responding with warmth … these are all elements of community and therefore growth.
S: What do you think is the importance of digital magazines in today’s society?
K: Accessibility is the first word that comes to mind, both for people creating work and those seeking it. It’s opened the door to younger creatives and international contributors alike. I also think digital magazines have a certain value because they an be more interdisciplinary - writing is seated besides illustration, music, film, photography, and more. At their best, they create cultural communities.
S: What is your relationship with social media, especially given its significant role in Luxury Lit’s platform?
K: Affectionate and suspicious. It’s of course been so integral to us, far beyond what I could have ever anticipated, and I love the spaces available in which one can dabble and create. Simultaneously, we cannot be eaten by performance and algorithms. It’s a doorway and not our entirety! Our work should never be secondary to how well a post performs.
S: What has been your favourite issue that you’ve published so far and why? Are there any issues from other magazines that you’ve really enjoyed?
K: I am so fond of Ink & Ivory, our fifth issue. It marked a significant period in my own life and was a point where our team really banded together to create a really pleasant collaborative experience. I’m attached to all of our issues for different reasons, though, because each one tends to capture a very specific period in the magazine’s growth. Outside of LLM, I’ve always loved older issues of The Paris Review, particularly because they feel so archival. A peek into the past, if you will.
S: Do you have a favourite up-and-coming digital magazine that you’ve been enjoying the content of lately?
K: So many! The Ivy Magazine, The Cassiopeia Review, Tree Ring Literary, The Serendipity Archives, Florescence Magazine, Wabi-Sabi Literary, L’Autre Magazine … the list goes on.
S: You’ve written two poetry anthologies and two contemporary novels; what themes do each explore?
K: The poetry anthologies were written in the throes of adolescence, so they look into more shallow themes of friendship, fresh crushes, and feelings of introspection and misunderstanding. The novels are darker. Ambition is a not-quite love story set in the art world, centred on the relationship between an artist and his muse. It explores obsession, artistic creation, power, and possession. Thin White Lies is more psychological and focuses on a fractured group of ambitious students after one of them dies. That book concerns itself with secrecy, guilt, betrayal, self-preservation and the spectrum of lies.
S: How do your works collectively reflect your journey as a writer, and how do they interlink with or counteract one another?
K: I think they reflect a gradual widening of scale. My poetry began very inwardly, with memory, girlhood, identity and the attempt to make sense of emotion while I was still living through it. The novels take many of those same preoccupations and externalize them through characters, relationships and more complicated situations. Ambition, which is the first book in a duology, was probably a tipping point. I meant to move to the second book immediately after finishing it, but the characters of Thin White Lies just hooked me so I decided to approach it as a challenge, to remove myself from one world and submerge myself into another. There are also more shallow links! In all my novels, previously published and currently drafted, there are little connective threads between the books: characters from one novel can occasionally cameo in another, for example.
S: What are your favourite creative works, in any medium, that have stuck with you and why?
K: Friedrich Moritz August Retzsch’s The Chess Players, which is often referred to as The Devils’ Checkmate. I love how beauty and unease coexist with the coloring, the facial expressions, the style … the narrative is overall just stunning. I could talk about it forever.
S: How does the media you consume inform the work you create?
K: I think it informs my work constantly, even when I’m not consciously borrowing from anything specific. I tend to consume media quite widely, so a novel might influence the rhythm of something I’m writing, or a painting might give me a colour palette or image that stays in my head for months. I’m typically drawn to layered work, and I think that naturally filters into both my writing and the way I approach LLM.
S: Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years time? Is Luxury Lit a part of that vision?
K: I see myself succeeding on a personal and professional level in terms of growth and education. I don’t know yet whether LLM will still be in my life at that point, but if it is, I hope we can grow in heart and community!
S: Do you have any advice to aspiring leaders and creatives with their own literary ambitions?
K: Be curious about everything. It’s so easy to lose your sense of wonder with everything so available to you, but resist that. It’ll help you more than you know.
