Latest update October 3rd, 2024 12:59 AM
Jun 02, 2024 News
Kaieteur News – This past Friday, May 31, 2024, marked the release date of Loving Him or Maybe Too Much, a poignant, intimate poetic anthology by budding Buxtonian poet, Akilah Noble. This book is sure to cast a net about the hearts and minds of poetry lovers young and old. The book focuses on one of life’s most interesting, complicated, and passion-invoking features: the desire to love and be loved.
Noble masterfully illustrates for her reader the various manifestations of yearning evoked by the prospect of romance, in a series of writings that is sure to contain one piece or another that will be all too relatable for most, if not all, readers. For teens and young adults beginning to explore the complexities of love while managing those that life itself presents, this book is a commentary on love, self-discovery and the journey you are about to embark on. For poetry and literature enthusiasts, it immerses you in the artistic masterpiece that this work is, and creates for the mature reader a deeper understanding of romantic artistry and the human experience through the perspective of another. Finally, for those who seek poetry it challenges this type of reader to think critically and creatively.
These poems are layered with meaning and substance, and are sure to scratch the itch.
The author, 26-year-old Akilah Noble, was born and raised in Buxton, with a strong academic foundation, attending Sacred Heart Primary School and later St. Gabriel’s Primary School. She later completed her secondary education at Diamond Secondary School, where her academic prowess was truly able to blossom. Noble went on to pursue a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology at the University of Guyana upon graduation, and subsequently a Master’s in Project Management, which she is currently pursuing in order to fulfill her passion for environmental and climate governance. Her multifaceted academic nature is already observable in these pursuits, but her passion for poetry has similar origins.
In an interview with The Waterfalls, she pointed out that her introduction to English Literature in early secondary school, recalling how it enraptured her and inspired her to write literature of her own.
Noble still remembers the exact date she wrote her first poem, eight years ago on September 14th, 2016 while she waited for her steel pan practice session to begin. In these early stages of her artistic development, she recalls uploading her pieces to online platforms like the ever-popular Wattpad, among others. Those platforms allowed her to share her work with a community of fellow writers and readers and greatly assisted her growth as a writer.
Noble revealed that this made her more comfortable sharing her art with the world more often, a development that her most loyal readers will be exceedingly grateful for.
In December 2023, Noble released her first published poetry book, titled Timestamp to Exhale, which is available in both print and e-book formats on Amazon. This was a huge development in her artistic and personal journey, as she states that she initially conceptualized the book based on her love for poetry and writing, however, the project quickly became an outlet for the young, gifted poet to express and cope with the heaviness of her emotions and the heartbreak that she was experiencing at the time. Displaying her boundless creativity, Noble included timestamps (00:00) at the end of every poem, adding a reflective theme to the book and inspiring its title, which implies that she was finally able to exhale and feel at peace after completing it, which is simply beautiful and brilliant.
This heavy illustration of the stages of heartbreak was an incredible publishing debut for the author; however, her latest piece exemplifies her constant growth as a writer and as a person, a fitting follow up to such an impressive debut. She dives quite deeply into the conditions and consequences of a specific relationship, the things she learned from it, and the ways in which it changed her.
The three-month journey of self-love and healing that the writing of this book was for the author is admirable, and the piece that she says she is most fond of, “Bathroom Poetry”, actually gives the reader a glimpse into what her creative process was like.
Noble says, ““Bathroom Poetry” is my favourite piece because it is a testament to an intimate space where my creativity thrives, where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, and where the mundane transforms into the profound. In the sanctuary of my bathroom, each poem idea was born. Some ideas, like seeds planted in fertile soil, have blossomed; while others remain as reminders of words I hold closest to my heart.”
Loving Him or Maybe Too Much is a courageous effort by Noble to share a piece of herself with the world, something that many of us regularly shy away from doing, due to our fear of experiencing vulnerability; in that regard, she throws caution completely to the wind, delving deeply into the complexities and hindrances of love in both romantic and internalized forms. This aligns with her intentions for the impact of the book; she hopes to connect with and inspire the reader by bridging the gap between matters of the heart and self-love, creating an understanding and sense of empathy within her reader through her words, in order to encourage them to embark on their own healing journeys and even find solace in the comfort of written words like she does. The project serves as another building block for the lasting legacy she hopes to build as a passionate storyteller who tells her stories on her own terms and in her own way.
Noble is certainly one to keep an eye on, as she consistently and continuously makes strides in her artistic and professional journeys. She has seized the opportunity to share her work with an even wider audience, as two of her poems will be published in the 13th edition of Otherwise Engaged Literature and Arts Journal, a US-based publication. In keeping with her multifaceted nature, she has even published several works outside of the genre of poetry, including several learning and preparation activity colouring books for children, as well as a mood tracking self-care journal for adults, and a motivational adult colouring book, Don’t Limit Yourself: Positive Affirmations Colouring book for Adults.
October 1st turn off your lights to bring about a change!
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