Profile of Kyrra

Profile of Kyrra
By Olivia Tarplin

Don't ever cross Kyrra Lewandowski. You may end up being the antagonist of a very popular novel. "It's a great method for revenge," she says, about creative writing. "If you piss me off, I'll just make you the shit character."

Kyrra sits leisurely, in her leopard print flats and yellow trench coat, and tells me about her passion for writing. "The nice thing about being an author is you can go anywhere." When she was young her first career goal was to be a cashier, "because they get to scan things." Midway through high school she settled on writing because it came so easily to her. "It was kind of a cop out; it's the only thing I'm good at."

She is being modest; Kyrra is also undoubtedly good at adapting. She recently moved from the small rural town of Bridgeville, Delaware, to New York City, now living in Brooklyn. "Bridgeville is always stuck in time. Nothing changes, people don't change," she says, describing her hometown. "I don't want to belittle that, but I wanted to do something bigger." The big city, contrasting her quiet home, is nothing like what she expected.

She has adapted to the new environment, just as she has adapted to an anxiety disorder in the past. Diagnosed at 13, it caused her to switch schools, take the SATs alone, and doubt everything she did. However she's proud to say she has dealt with it amazingly and says being in the big city does not fuel her anxiety in the least. "It's actually good to lose myself in New York City. It keeps me distracted."

Kyrra's ejection from her town also included ejection from her close knit family, who all lived nearby in a small sphere of familiarity. She recalls her childhood with her little sister and her parents, describing her mom as a "a very spiritual new age hippie." She and Kyrra would do laundry together, put the underwear on their heads, and dance around her house.

It was during one of these care-free episodes that her doorbell rang and she opened it, still draped in undergarments, facing her new neighbors. The fact that her new neighbor Lizzie didn't blink at Kyrra's ensemble was a predictor of their 15 year friendship. She and Lizzie have matching knot tattoos on their hands which pay tribute to their bond, which they can only describe as a wistful wish that one of them was a man.