On 22 July 2024, all my poetry volumes became available in paperback on Amazon, thus fulfilling one of my personal goals in 2024. This was a journey I began in December 2023, and today I am filled with gratitude for making it to the finishing line.
My first volume, Pain, was published in Kindle format on Amazon on 26 November 2022, making a dream come true. If this is the first time you are visting my blog, a warm welcome to you, and let me introduce myself!
A bit about me
I started writing poems in 1981 at the young age of 13, following a deep personal trauma. I needed an outlet for my raw and powerful emotions, to find relief, release, and ultimately, redemption.
The topics I wrote about were very personal, private, and at times, dark – unrequited love, desire, pain, betrayal, and my budding sexuality. Many of my poems also had a spiritual undertone. The maturity and depth of my poems written as a young girl belied my age. I now believe that they might have been memories from a previous life.
After a hiatus of almost 4 decades, I started writing again a few years ago. I launched this poetry blog in November 2021. Memories from another Lifetime is a series of my poems written as a young girl.
My mission is to make the voice of my younger self heard. I wish to touch as many people as possible with my poems. I invite you to join me on this journey.
Now available in paperback
All my books have been available in Kindle format, as I wanted to make my poetry easily available to everybody. In December 2023, I decided the time had come to publish them in paperback. Now that all my books are available in paperback, I look back and remember how challenging it was to get the first paperback out, overcoming fear and obstacles! You can find the links to my books below – just click on the images.
Warm reviews
Publishing poems as an unknown author is not an easy task, and poetry is known to be a difficult genre to market.
I am therefore very happy and grateful for the warm reviews I have received by genuine admirers of my poetry. This has kept my belief in my mission even in the face of discouragement, and I hope the reviews will enable my poetry to reach and move more people.
Book 1: Pain
“Articulating Pain with Dignity” – Ranga Rajah
Expressing pain in verses is done by many poets, but, articulating it in a dignified manner is where many falter. While reading those poems one gets the feeling that the language, vocabulary used for expressing the sufferings and pain, is coming from a place of maturity, someone wiser, and older than a 13-year-old. Because this poet was bestowed with the gift of maturity at a tender age, we, her readers, are getting a chance to enjoy and relate to her poems.
“Poetry at its very best” – Steve Brown
This is poetry at its very best, not just verse to read through and move on to the next one. Each poem is a story rich in emotion and deserves to be reflected on once read. Astonishing that a young lady in her teens could be so talented and deeply affected with feelings normally reserved for one much older.
Book 2: Love
“What is Love?” – Armando Rodriguez
Love a simple word, yet so complicated! The author does a tremendous job using carefully chosen words to describe its simplicity and complications. It’s hard to imagine that these poems were written as a teenager! Mature beyond her years, let your emotions be stimulated by the author’s words!
“A rare and gifted writer” – John
Just as Vanita’s other publication, entitled ‘Pain’, lays bare the journey through emotional pain to healing and indirectly offers assurance that ‘you are not alone’, this gentle yet hugely insightful collection piercingly portrays the heights of ecstasy and the vulnerability associated with true love. A real pleasure to read and reflect on. Vanita is a rare and gifted writer, and I would wholeheartedly recommend her work.
Book 3: Desire
“Expression of raw emotions” – Balroop Singh
Desire (Memories from another Lifetime) is a collection of personal poems that explore raw emotions of a girl, yearning to step into womanhood, waiting for a lover who takes her like “a devotee.” A unique metaphor of “dance” when she dances alone, conveys the depth of her passion and when she shares her innermost thoughts of “waiting for a man to dance with her.”
In the introduction to this book, Vanita wonders whether the intensity of her emotions that spilled out of her poems when she was just a teenager, could be memories and messages from her previous life!
Written in a simple and straight-forward way, each poem is jam-packed with emotion.
Book 4: Soul
“Wow” – Mary Schmidt
Wow. This book of poetry WILL touch your heart and inner soul. From love to the depths of sorrow, each stanza is a story on its own and a tome of feelings when brought together. I’ve read poetry often, and I’ve written poetry, but mine doesn’t come close to what is written in this book. The sorrow, the love, and the loneliness are written in a way that the reader can actually reach inside their own heart and perceive and feel the emotions. Five shiny gold stars and ten of them, if only I could give such.
“Soul Is Wonderful” – Armando Rodriguez
The words that flowed through the pages of Soul were powerful and moving! It’s hard to imagine that the author was just a teenager when she jotted down her thought-provoking words.
Thank you!
It is my sincere hope that you will read my books and enjoy the poems, dear Reader.
Please feel free to share this post and the links with friends and family who are lovers of poetry. You can buy the books on Amazon.com or an Amazon marketplace close to where you live, for faster shipping and lower shipping costs.
If you enjoy my poetry, please do leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads – this is more important for authors than most readers realise. Your review will help other readers find good books to read. Thanks in advance!
Much love and best wishes for a wonderful summer.
Vanita Shukla Hork, July 2024