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Curiosity Drives My Poetry
I Made A Place For You is a collection of poetry that explores spirituality, religion, perseverance, and humility and strives for a higher order statement. What inspires you to write poetry?
I’m inspired by questions that linger, moments of awe, and life’s seemingly endless idiosyncrasies. Curiosity drives my poetry, and I find my notebook to be a safe space for never needing to table a wayward thought.
It’s the process of threading the needle between words to weave together even the most distant ideas that brings me solace when writing. I continue to crave the unique thrill of teasing out the essence of an experience or memory, which I have only ever found in poetry.
My favorite poem from this collection is ‘We Locked Eyes’. Do you have a poem that stands out to you from this collection?
Ironically, “We Locked Eyes” is also my favorite poem in the collection! I wrote that poem in the evening, and tears stained my notebook pages as I finished that night. I actually spent years avoiding mirrors and being dissatisfied with myself, so this poem was my catharsis. The first stanza of “We Locked Eyes” is what made me decide to write the rest of I Made A Place For You.
I felt like a “burial ground of missteps” with nothing but “dormant desires.” I cherish this opportunity to share pieces of myself with people who are looking for ways to heal inside. I say, “When life gives you lemons, make progress,” because being stagnant is an all-too-familiar feeling that I left in the past.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in your poetry?
Personal healing, my off-and-on relationship with religion, and nature’s mysteries are the most prevalent themes in my writing. The title “I Made A Place For You” originated with the idea that I carved out a safe space for myself to irrigate my spirituality and explore topics that aren’t great brunch table talk. Who talks about “purgatory” over waffles and mimosas?
I love to write, and I never force myself to work on poetry. If I see a breathtaking art piece or wake up in a fit of inspiration, I may jot down a line or two; however, there’s usually a special feeling in my gut when I sit down intent on writing a full piece.
The art in the book is fantastic. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator Francesco Orazzini?
Francesco and I work well together because we both respect the artistic process. From the outset, we gave each other space to iterate on ideas, share criticism, and lean on our expertise. Francesco started each illustration with a pencil outline before finishing in watercolor. I knew the first time he sent me a sketch that he was a true artist. Most illustrators would have sent a digital mockup, but I saw Francesco’s dedication to this book in his hand-drawn sketches.
I love how the symmetry between the poems and illustrations adds a deeper visual element to the pages. My eyes feel the tug-of-war between word and image, and both are deceptively persuasive. It’s truly the book I’ve always wanted to read, and Francesco’s visionary creativity brought my poetry to life. We are already discussing ways to make our next book even more compelling.
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This poetry collection explores a number of themes, ranging from spirituality and religion to perseverance and humility. The poems in Damian White’s debut book dwell less in the realm of imagistic and narrative impulses and more so strive for “higher order statement.”
In I Made A Place For You, we experience the turmoil unearthed from daring to make a place for our inmost curiosities.
I Made A Place For You
I Made A Place For You by Damian White is a book of eloquent poetry that includes more than twenty short poems, with illustrations by Francesco Orazzini. Many of the poems have a religious theme, focusing on God, heaven, or the devil, including God’s Typewriter, Sacred Math, Devil Bait, A Sinner’s Plea, and Playing God. Other themes include death, deception and hiding your true self, and faith and fate. This is the author’s first published book of poetry and many of the poems were inspired by his personal experiences with homelessness.
I enjoyed reading this book of poetry and the author left me wanting more. The author’s words invoke vivid and interesting imagery, and I liked the variation of structure and style between the different poems. It’s always interesting to me to have a glimpse into the world from someone else’s unique perspective.
I enjoyed the drawings that were included in this book. They were interesting images and I liked the use of bright colors. The various aspects of the illustration requires more than a quick glance to notice all the nuances. Each poem is accompanied by an illustration which adds an extra creative layer to this book of poetry, setting it apart from others of its kind. Although I have read a number of poetry books, I have never read a book of poems with pictures in it, and I was surprised to find how much I liked the inclusion of illustrations in this book. I liked comparing what the author had written to the illustrator’s visual representations.
Many of the poems in this book were quite short, only a few lines, and none of the poems were longer than one page. I would have liked the book to have included more poems, or for some of the poems in the book to be longer in length, but this is only because I enjoyed them so much. Because half of the pages of the book contained pictures, I was able to read it very quickly.
This is an emotionally-resonant, observant, and thought-provoking collection of poetry. I heartily enjoyed I Made A Place For You for its potent, authentic and lyrical poetry that expertly utilized beautiful imagery to add additional layers to an already fascinating collection.
Pages: 58 | ISBN : 1639885706
LITERARY TITAN 