Scarlett answers your questions about Zoreh - available to pre-order now, released 24 March 2018 06 Mar 2018
Zoreh is now available to pre-order! Head over to the Shop section to reserve your copy. It will be officially released on 24th March 2018.
To celebrate the run up to the release of Zoreh I accepted some questions from you and did a live Q and A. I've reproduced some of your question with my answers here.
Q: Many of you asked why did I call the book Zoreh?
It seemed like the most natural choice. Previously I had a longer name in mind, but Zoreh won. Zoreh is my middle name, and it means Venus, the book has some astrological, spiritual elements and it just felt right. My publishing company is also called Zoreh Publishing.
Q: Tina asked: which poem brought the most emotion when writing?
Elegy.
Q: I was asked by @sonic_dreamer: If you had magical powers and were able to depict your new poetry collection as a triptych in the style of three painters, which painters would you paint the poems in?
What a great question! I would choose Pablo Picasso, specifically Guernica. Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Persephone. And one off Austin Osman Spare's self portraits.
Q: Clare asked: what is my favourite spot to write?
Any where warm. Preferably a sunny afternoon in the country side. Really i can write anywhere. I wrote a lot of my first collection Rocking Underground on the train, moving about London.
Q: Bobby and Savano asked: how long has this collection taken to complete?
Well consciously I've been working on this collection since August 2016. I wrote Fifth Circle of Hell on the 5th August 2016, I wrote Armistice DayNovember 2016. Sagittarius Rising the first poem in the collection I wrote on the 8th January 2015. I found it again and thought it appropriate to start this book with. Elegy I had been working on last year intermittently, but the majority of it was written in February 2018. This collection has been incubated for a while, but I'm so ready to share it now with you.
Click to pre-order your copy of Zoreh now
Q: Beth asked: how would you characterise the poems in this third collection compared to your first two?
I feel that they are a natural progression from each other, and i feel they are connected to a certain extent. For me each collection is a time capsule.
Q: E.M Lyng asked: How do you perceive the concept of God or a Higher Power throughout your work? Rod and Cayla also asked about the plural manifestations of spirituality and mysticism in my work.
My idea of God runs through my work, I suppose in this collection looking at the contents page it's particularly prominent, although that was not a conscious choice.
Q: Olivia asked: What is your main inspiration for writing poetry?
Love, being in love. Also the times we live in, I'm not untouched by what has been going on the past eighteen months, and the colours of recent events has added shade to this collection.
Q: Jeanie asked: What influence does film or photography have on your poetry?
Well in this collection there is a poem called Repulsion (All The Flesh) and last year I watched the Polanski film Repulsion for the first time. Earlier that day I had been talking to a beautiful French woman who reminded me of Catherine Deneuve (who plays the lead part in the film Repulsion). So these two things along with people I've seen and memories of the past coloured that poem. In general, we are all products of our environment. When I see a film that moves me or shocks me, or an intense photograph that speaks to me, I just marvel that people have captured such things, that that kind of excellence exists and is possible. It makes me want to work harder.
Q: Zoe asked: How does it feel to write words that touch people?
That's more of a compliment than a question! Thank you. There are pieces of writing, and records that have been my friends and constant companions, they've magnified the most beautiful points in life and helped me through darker periods. I believe art should be of service, so if my poetry has been of service and touched you then, thats wonderful.