it all started in January 2021…
my young daughter’s collection of bedtime stories had begun feeling repetitive (yes, yes, the caterpillar is STILL very hungry), so I spent that night writing a new one that rhymed.
It was actually quite fun? So I wrote a couple more.
& before I knew it, one rhyming poem after another began showing up at the door of my mind, almost quicker than I was able to let them in & write them down…
By January ‘22, I’d accidentally written 200?! & I’ve not since stopped.
I hadn’t intended to write for an audience, nor did I set out to write a book, but poetry quickly became my favourite way to escape, explore, & heal from emotional wounds I’d accumulated in previous years.
At a time I couldn’t bring myself to pray, it felt spiritual & transcendent, & quite quickly I found myself with a collection of poems that begun to read like a story I thought I could share.
So, in Oct ‘23 I travelled alone & purposefully to Nova Scotia with my ‘accidental’ manuscript, which I submitted to a publisher at the same café table I’d escaped to in my imagination when writing one of those first poems.
Two If By Sea will forever hold a special place in my heart, given that said publisher contacted me 2 months later with an offer to publish The Summer & I Keep Secrets - my debut poetry collection.
I feel incredibly grateful to poetry for being the tool with which I’m now able to articulate, define, & confront my feelings. It’s allowed me to reconnect with my soul & it’s values, restoring an integrity with myself, & reviving the five senses by which I get to experience it all.
FAQs
Why poetry?
I write out of selfish necessity - it’s how I reflect on my experience of the world, & I find the boundaries of rhythmic, rhyming poetry encourage me to more succinctly articulate my thoughts & feelings into memorable verses that reveal & remind me of my values.
It’s a bit like journalling, except you’re motivated to “finish” something that resembles a sharable piece of art?!
What inspires the themes in your writing?
I’ve always obsessed over rhythms in nature…
But I also enjoy personifying everyday objects as if I were writing a children’s book - assigning them roles & feelings until they become metaphors worthy of being labelled ‘poetic’!
I find this practice adds so much depth & richness to my experience of seemingly simple, ordinary moments.
What’s the weirdest thing to have sparked a poem for you?
Being at a friend’s house & noticing their toilet paper roll hung the WRONG way round… IYKYK.
How did you get published?
I didn’t intend to write a book, but once I’d written a few hundred poems I organized them into a manuscript, which I began submitting to publishers accepting unsolicited manuscripts - typically in the quiet, dark moments once my daughter was in bed. I was rejected by a number of publishers before I was lucky enough to be offered a contract following a submission to Olympia in October, ‘23.
What’s your writing routine?
A lot of these poems were written in my young daughter’s mid-day nap times. Knowing I only had an hour’s breather from my (much-loved) role as a mother seemed to offer me a deadline that accelerated the speed & intensity with which I wrote.
But I also enjoy writing late at night when my logical brain is too sleepy to argue with my subconscious one, allowing a more deeply felt experience of whatever I’m attempting to give words to.
Why the title…?
The book is named after a favourite poem I’ve written, & felt suitably warm & intriguing…
How do you think poetry can contribute to society/culture?
To give language to an experience or feeling in some cases is to actually be able to experience or feel it at all, as well as enabling us to share it with others. Metaphor has an amazing ability to unite different people around a shared experience, whether that’s a sadness, or an appreciation of beauty, promoting empathy & a reassurance that we aren’t alone.
How do you think your poetry serves it’s readers?
I’ve struggled with feeling distracted & numbed by the noise of the digital realm, ignoring an inner pull to confront the pain & beauty of my own (extra)ordinary life.
But to write these poems was a uniquely mindful experience - a celebration of presence, awareness & consciousness - allowing me to reconnect with myself.
I hope that to read them gifts something similar <3 .
How would you describe your style of poetry?
I think it’s lyrical, rhythmic nature makes for a satisfying (almost child-like?) read - with unpretentious, memorable take-aways on values, hopes & questions.
I hope it’s as light as it is sincere. Witty, but wise. Playful, but profound in some way.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to start writing poetry?
I have a note on my phone to keep track of little moments or lines that inspire me, which I save until I can slow down & quieten my surroundings for long enough that I’m able to thoughtfully articulate them. Be intentional to carve out that time ( - for me, that’s often before bed, but I also take myself on solo trips to a cabin each year, like the good-little-tortured artist I am).
What do you do when you aren’t writing?
I’m a busy mom to a gorgeous little girl, & work full-time as an EA, writer & editor. In spare moments I love to walk along the lake, study philosophy, & feel energized by a variety of creative endeavours - floristry, writing music, designing cards, etc. I also enjoy eating well, strength training, & try to get enough sleep to sustain all that day-to-day life asks of me - some weeks with greater success than others!
What’s next?
I have a vision to combine my background in coaching, philosophy & love of nature by hosting retreats for those like me, needing a mindful, re-centring yearly ritual (…ideally in a cabin, by a lake?!)
Watch this space… <3 .
