When I was fifteen I was called a troubled child. I welcomed the moniker, wore it like a badge of honour. I also wrote poetry. Recently a friend reminded me that, around that same time, I wrote her a poem and told her to hold on to it. One day I was going to become a prolific poet but first I had to live a life wild enough to warrant it .
Five years ago I smoothed back down my ruffled feathers, and began to write.
My life experiences have humbled me, fed my empathy and gifted me a thirst for connection. Since then I’ve been published in erbacce, Takahe Hua/ Manu, The Typescript, Tarot Poetry New Zealand, Fieldstone Review, Etherea Magazine, New Myths, Bacopa and Windward Review and many others. I’ve had both fiction and poetry published in numerous anthologies. My chapbook ‘The Oracle Of Birds’ was recently published by Written Tales. I won the Loud Coffee Press Annual Haiku and Rune Bear Quarterly Drabble contests 2022. I made the coveted long list for the erbacce poetry prize in both 2022 and 2023 and I was awarded second place for her nonfiction story : ‘The Rag Doll Rider’ by Havik in 2023.
Listing my publication credits it could appear that the process was as easy as write, edit , publish and repeat. All writers know this is not the case. You have to become hardened to rejection and wrestle periodically with imposter syndrome.
Reframing rejection is essential. Rejection provides an opportunity to look again at work and be brutally honest. Could it be better? or is it simply the case that the work would better aligned with another publication.
Progress is essentially harnessing the energy of stubbornness. Dusting yourself down and cultivating enough of a sense of resilience that you will endure the minefield of writing and publication that stumps so many.
I will be using this substack to connect to other readers and writers and curate my work.
I cant wait to read more!
Us 'troubled children' have a very honest view of life and reality by the time we've battled our way to adulthood ; )
good stuff !