An ubiquitous figure on the football field in the fall, the basketball court in the winter and the baseball diamond in the spring, AHS senior Tristan Niskanen is hard to miss.  The six foot five, 210-pound athlete is more than likely the guy catching the game-winning touchdown at tight end, striking out the lead-off hitter at pitcher or dunking over the head of some Moffat County giant. Although his athleticism is widely recognized among students, teachers and even Aspen residents, Niskanen prides himself on much more than just his physical prowess. When he’s not playing sports, Niskanen always finds time to pursue his lifelong passion: literature.

Despite his impressive athletic accolades, which include earning a total of ten varsity letters, making the All League baseball team two years in a row, finishing All League for football for three consecutive years and even achieving All State in football for his senior season, Niskanen admits that even while participating in live games, his literary side is always present.

   “I’ll be out there on the court or field, whatever it may be, and I’ll have ideas just constantly sparking, Niskanen said. “Sometimes this can be a problem in sports because I sometimes think of other things, but it also helps me. It calms me down and even helps me focus.”

   So here is a sampling of some words of wisdom, reflections and insight offered up by T-Nisk, AHS’s own in-house philosopher, scholar, athlete and renaissance man.

On favorite books and current literary obsessions…

   My favorite book of all time is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I’ve read the novel over four times. I’ve even read it in the Old Seelbach Bar in Louisville, Kentucky, where Fitzgerald actually wrote the book. I first read the book in the fifth grade, and then again in seventh grade and in sophomore year.  There are common themes in Gatsby that I feel I can relate to my life. The writing is just brilliant.

   Right now I’m really getting into some Kurt Vonnegut.  I’d say he’s my favorite author. I just finished Welcome to the Monkey House, Bluebeard, Cat’s Cradle and Sirens of Titan.  I read those one after another. Recently I’ve been reading Breakfast of Champions and up next is either Timequake or Jailbird.  Every time I finish one of his books I’m like, ‘damn that’s so clever,’ then I’ll read another one and think that it is even more amazing than the last. I really appreciate Vonnegut’s  dark humor, and I feel that his ideas, in a way, are things that I think about on a regular basis.  I’ll be reading one of Vonnegut’s novels and I’ll think to myself ‘I’ve seen this before, I’ve thought that.’ It’s honestly hard to distinguish which work I’ve liked best. Vonnegut takes a simple story and brings it to life and gives it meaning.

On his favorite poets…

   I could be in a Sylvia Plath kind of mood or maybe Robert Frost, but my favorite poet of all time has to be Kendrick Lamar. There is some debate about whether or not a musical artist can be a poet or whether songs are, in fact, poetry. I see them as that.  Lamar is my favorite musician and poet. But currently I’m reading the essential Pablo Neruda, and a collection by the poet Rumi, which are both located on my bedside table.  Actually, there are about twenty books on my bedside table right now. I’m reading so many books at once.

On his literary idol, Kendrick Lamar…

   The first track I heard Kendrick rap on was The Game’s, “The City.” I didn’t recognize his voice so I flipped over the CD and looked him up. I found his album Section.80.  At that time, I didn’t really know who he was. Then, I remember illegally downloading that album onto a CD (it was a mixtape so I didn’t really feel bad about it) and played it nonstop. Eventually, I was lucky enough to go to a concert of his, where I bought a regular hard copy.  It was one of the only rap albums at that time that I could play front to back and just enjoy.  Since then, he cemented my opinion of him as the greatest with the album “good kid, m.A.A.d city” and carried that on with his latest album, “To Pimp a Butterfly.” I can relate to a lot of it.  Not necessarily the specifics of growing up in Compton, of course, but I feel I can relate to the energy and emotion he brings to his music.

On writing poetry…

   I think it goes back to 2004 when I used to make my own newspapers and write short fiction for fun. Naturally, my interest in reading just came with it.  Ever since I was six, I have been a voracious reader and a furious writer. To clarify, ‘furious writer’ means two things to me. First, I write with deep passion, almost as if I am angry when I’m writing, though it doesn’t always come out that way. And second, I am furious because I can’t always express what I want to say or what I’m thinking.

   My writing also started out as written raps. My mom is from Detroit. So, when I was young, I was influenced by Detroit rappers like Eminem. After I began writing these raps, I started to break them down and look more deeply into my own origins and the poetry behind them. Now, my poetry is almost completely free verse. I believe that sometimes the truth doesn’t rhyme. A lot of my writing remains in its first draft without any revision.

On writing short stories…

   In the past, my short stories have been more plot driven, your typical rising action, climax and general conclusion with minimal character development and maybe a symbol or two.  Lately, I’ve been writing material with much darker undertones, and I’m much more focused on character study. Usually I center my stories around a single character, and try to allow the reader to visualize that character in contrast to the world around him or her.

On where and when he writes…

   I write all my stuff in journals. I have about fifteen journals in total and a folder of loose leaf paper to jot down my ideas. My journals are a mix of short stories, poetry and even some drawings. It’s basically my brain talking to paper. I like to hand write my first drafts, then type them up if I feel the work is done. I like to write everywhere, but mostly I write in my room. I probably have about twenty finished short stories and three in the works, and an innumerable amount of ideas that have yet to be written.

On why he writes and advice for fellow aspiring writers…

   If I was on a desert island and no one else was there and I still had something to write with, I would still write, even if there was no one there to read it.

I’m about to use a cliche, even though I know you’re supposed to avoid cliches like the plague. But, as author Khaled Hosseini explains, cliches are often given a bad wrap, but they are also often true. So, here goes:  You have to  be yourself and not let anyone tell you what to do.  You have to maintain that punk rock spirit.