Shayla Sakkakhanaune
Nov 2, 2025
LHF Editor In Chief Kalvin M. Madsen interviewed by Shayla Sakkakhanaune
When the clock strikes five on a Tuesday evening, Kalvin “Kal” Madsen is most likely leaving a law firm to retreat to his home. Once he has returned home, the writer, poet, and founder of Low Hanging Fruit is most likely decompressing from his workday by spending time outside. He may light a cigarette, watching how the orange, purple, and pink hues of the setting Southern California sun bleed into each other. If thoughts of what he read at the law firm that day do not creep into his mind, then images of a summer sky and the memories he made during that time may trickle in instead.
On a particular Tuesday evening in October– when the neighbors are playing music from their backyard speakers or the children across the street are lighting firecrackers to bask in what remains of the sun like it’s summertime– Kal Madsen is answering the phone to speak about his journey as a storyteller, the creation of a literary and visual arts magazine, and the preservation of his late father’s legacy through poetry awards.
Inspired by narrative video games such as Fallout and Far Cry, and shows like Twilight Zone, Madsen began his journey as a writer at 14 years old. He first wrote about a world where a boy and his grandfather find an ancient portal on an island, and he detailed the adventure that followed them stepping into the portal. Madsen wrote this body of work in his childhood bedroom, which he says was “a cool garage” with dirt bikes, a couch, a bed, a fish tank, and a television.
“It was a weird environment,” he says, “But, I was writing this book in that environment anyways. That’s kind of where it began: this weird place in Malibu, and my grandma was helping me.”
His grandmother, who he and his family affectionately refer to as Bey, was one of the first people to support Madsen as a writer. She provided edits for this manuscript, writing notes within the document in red text for Madsen to respond to. “There's no way that the story is actually, you know, publishable,” he says, “I think that my grandma was trying to instill confidence in me as a writer… she was trying to edit this and work on it with me, like, just to not close that door, you know?”
For Madsen, having Bey believe in him as a writer is what eventually motivated him to establish Low Hanging Fruit: “So much of the magazine is, well, I feel like so many people– when they start writing and making art and everything– they don't realize that they can carve their own path.” With Bey’s support in particular, Madsen was able to believe in himself as a writer because, as he says, she “treated me like it was a possibility… she treated me like an adult with this thing, you know. It's cool.”
One of the goals of Low Hanging Fruit is to serve as an accessible, supportive community; the magazine aims to showcase the works of creatives who may not be able to easily share their works with a larger audience. With the establishment of the Michael Madsen Poetry Awards, Madsen hopes to continue highlighting creatives while also honoring his father, Michael Madsen, who passed away in July of this year.
Michael Madsen is best known as an actor who has appeared in iconic films like “Kill Bill” and “Reservoir Dogs,” but Kalvin wants to expand on his father’s legacy by immortalizing his poetry in conjunction with his filmography. “You know, I can almost put him in a ring [with] Sylvia Plath or something,” Kal proudly says. “With the way that he has, like, this kind of depressive tone and this kind of vengeful, kind of confident [style]... He was writing about exactly what he was doing… It’s cool because he was super honest, and that's what's cool about Sylvia Plath.”
The Michael Madsen Poetry Awards, which will be presented by Low Hanging Fruit, are expected to begin accepting submissions in the beginning of 2026. Madsen says that they will be looking for poetry that fits within the realm of Michael Madsen’s style, as Kalvin believes that his father's legacy will be carried on through the promotion of “people who write confessional street poetry” similar to how he did. “It doesn't have to be [about] actors or something like that,” Madsen explains. “It just has to be like in that realm of, you know, talking about your life, talking about real things going on in a sort of poetic way.”
Kalvin Madsen began paving his own path as a storyteller with the help of his grandmother, and he continues to develop the path they started through his own self-confidence and the support of Low Hanging Fruit. Some of his poetry can be read on Low Hanging Fruit’s website (ie. “Raging 20s”), and his first book, Hello Receiver, can also be purchased on the magazine’s website. His prose can be found on various other sites (ie. “Bad Impact” on Line of Advance).
As writers and artists continue to submit their works to Low Hanging Fruit, Madsen hopes to help other creatives pave their own paths as well.
More info at