Jeremy Mifsud's Blog, page 4
March 7, 2019
Book Round-Up: February 2019
During February, I read 4 books, which is a much lower number than January’s. However, I wanted to share two of these books (which were both just published this year) because they deserve your attention.
“If My Body Could Speak” became one of my favourite poetry collections. I haven’t gotten around to posting the review yet, but, WOW, what a book! Speaking on personal experiences of anorexia, misogyny, sexual assault and coming out, Blythe Baird packs a lot of emotion in her words.
“The Rosie Result” is a work of fiction, the third in the Don Tillman series. This book provided a very authentic and realistic experience of an autistic family, and it felt great to read something that was both fun and relatable. We often see autistic people portrayed through the lens of neurotypicals, and luckily, we are starting to get stories that explore different narratives.
Help me read books I love by donating on Ko-Fi or PayPal.me. My current goal is to get Jericho Brown’s The Tradition and Logan February’s Mannequin in the Nude.
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March 6, 2019
Blossom
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Jeremy Mifsud (@poetrybyjeremy) on Mar 6, 2019 at 4:10am PST
In a couple of days, my collection, “Welcome to the Sombre Days“, will have its anniversary. To celebrate this milestone, the book will be available for FREE on Kindle for two days: Friday 8th and Saturday 9th March, 2019.
You can help me out by adding the book on your to-read list on “Goodreads” and download it during the free days to boost its ranking.
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March 5, 2019
Publication Round-Up: February 2019
During February, I was meant to have over 10 poems published. However, a couple of literary magazines have delayed the release of their issue, thus, I’ll be published in them at a later date. The poems that I had published during February are all reprints from “Welcome to the Sombre Days“
“Archetypes” — Eunoia Review “Blossom” — Prismatica “Ghost” — Prismatica “Wolves” — Prismatica “Leaf Storm” — Prismatica
I’ve also continued to upload the audio for poetry every Friday on Anchor, where I read poems.
I want to thank all those supporting me in my journey, whether it’s in giving me feedback, helping me submit or simply encouraging me and letting me know that they liked my poems. Every small word is appreciated.
If you are looking at ways to support me, you could purchase a copy of Welcome to the Sombre Days, donate on Ko-Fi or PayPal.me, or simply message me kind words.
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March 4, 2019
Poetry Book Review: “Bleed Like Me: Poems for the Broken”
Bleed Like Me: Poems for the BrokenI received an advanced
review copy in exchange for an honest review.
I rarely accept requests
and do not finish reading, but this was an exception. Unsurprisingly, several
other reviewers failed to finish it, and within good reason.
With an incredible cover,
the book promises a dark, gothic collection of poetry. The imagery lives up to
this expectation. However, the descriptions were quite repetitive. The lines
were quite verbose, and I doubt they were given a proper round of edits. I hate
to be this person, but although they have poetic potential, these only seem to
be drafts of poems — they require more attention to the craft.
This adds to the problem
of a poetry eBook that is entirely centred — big cringe! Now, it’s not always a
negative thing and sometimes the helps portraying the message, but it’s not the
case with this book. Especially with digital reading, where font sizes can be
adjusted, the presentation will vary, and any intended shape will be lost. This
also ruins any rhythm that would have been present within the poems, if there
was one to begin with.
All in all, I don’t think this is a worthy buy for anyone. There are hundreds of books out there and our money is limited, so we must spend it on books that will be of value to us. As much as I hate shutting down someone else’s work and even if the poet has some good ideas, the overall product isn’t totally there.
Sources and Links:
Book: Bleed Like Me: Poems for the Broken
Book Cover: Goodreads
Support by donating on Ko-Fi or PayPal.me
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March 1, 2019
Spoken Word #06: Thinking of You
Audio: Thinking of You
Listen to the reading of the poem “Thinking of You.”
Carve a slit
Excerpt from “Thinking of You”
between my pecs,
rip my chest apart
and watch my heart
drop onto your feet.
If you like the content I provide, you could support me by purchasing a copy of my book, Welcome to the Sombre Days, or donate through Ko-Fi or PayPal.me.
Poetry Reading #06: Thinking of You
Audio: Thinking of You
Listen to the reading of the poem “Thinking of You.”
Carve a slit
Excerpt from “Thinking of You”
between my pecs,
rip my chest apart
and watch my heart
drop onto your feet.
If you like the content I provide, you could support me by purchasing a copy of my book, Welcome to the Sombre Days, or donate through Ko-Fi or PayPal.me.
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February 27, 2019
Draft, Edit, Submit #02: & On The Seventh Day, We Rest
Most of us writers have other commitments: family, occupation, education, etc. Because of this, we often end up using our ‘free time’ to work on our creative projects. Between drafting, editing and finding appropriate markets for each piece (or planning a goal, e.g. preparing a manuscript), we end up always having something to do. Unfortunately, we may keep on doing our utmost while forgetting to take a break.
Resting is essential. I’m not referring to the incubation period in which you let a poem or a story rest before you take a look at it. Yes, that’s important. But we also must rest and take care of ourselves as writers individuals. It’s not unheard of that writers experience frequent burnouts, so we should be aware and attempt to avoid exhausting ourselves.
I have been unwell for the past two weeks, and I was ‘forced’ to rest. Having an excuse to postpone working on university assignments, I felt tempted to use the time to edit some WIPs. When trying to do so, I met severe brain fog and headaches, and it ended up being counter-productive, so I banned myself from writing related activities for a couple of days.
The results? I recovered very quickly from my first illness (the second was an allergic reaction, so it wasn’t due to poor well-being) — I think that should always be the priority. Moreover, when I was feeling well, I was quite rejuvenated and came into the edit sessions with vibrant energy and a clear head.
The difference is that when I usually prescribe myself rest, I end up feeling guilty for losing time and not being as productive as I could be. I realise that this is a harmful attitude as writing can end up being exhaustive, and we need to take care of our minds — the source of creativity. Perhaps we should be making it a goal to take sufficient rest, to spend time enjoying leisure activities and feeling good about it. I’ve come across several writers who end up feeling guilty over taking rest — especially when we’re set to arbitrary goals about manuscripts and also feel the compulsory need to be active in online communities. In hindsight, we all know we could tone down our goals, so let’s make sure we have plenty of rest for our bodies and minds to thrive.
Support me by checking out my collection, Welcome to the Sombre Days.
I accept donations through Ko-Fi and PayPal.me.
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February 22, 2019
Poetry Reading #05: Looking for Beauty
Looking for Beauty
Listen to the reading of the poem “Looking for Beauty”, first published in Constellate:
“I look around town
and get lost in concrete”
If you like the content I provide, you could support me by purchasing a copy of my book, Welcome to the Sombre Days, or donate through Ko-Fi or PayPal.me.
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February 18, 2019
Book Review: The Silver Linings Playbook
The Silver Linings PlaybookMatthew Quick
I am a huge fan of the film, and having watched it numerous times, I felt it was time I read the novel that it is based upon. To my surprise, there were quite a number of differences throughout, and not just the ending. The characters not only have much more depth, but they’re presented differently and more authentic to the experience they’re put in.
The premise of the story
is that Pat, who is put into a mental facility for an indeterminate amount, is
taken out to live with his parents. He’s doing his best to win back his estranged
wife, Nikki, who he hasn’t seen since the incident that he doesn’t remember. He
works out most of the day to get back into shape and spends a lot of time
reading English literature — specifically the books Nikki teaches to her students.
At the same time, he does his best to win back his father’s approval and gain
back a relationship with his brother Jake.
I love this book because
Pat’s point-of-view is written well; we are able to understand his reasoning as
much as he does, and much better than those around him. The main difference
between the film and the book, without giving much spoilers, is that the film is
much more based on romance, as to what I remember, where this is more personal
and about Pat’s recovery. It always has been — but the book shows is much more.
Society may have a
generalised view on mental health, and I think this book portrays it so
realistically. A lot of the suffering may come from not from mental illness
itself, but rather how others, especially close family and friends, treat others
differently. One of my favourite aspects is not that Pat is mentally ill and
everyone else is stable; but really, everyone has their flaws and issues. It
becomes evident in Pat’s friendship with Tiffany, in which they bond in unusual
activities (running all day without talking) and how they’re both treated similarly
by their family. Pat’s household doesn’t come short on this aspect — his
father avoids speaking with him and has had experience of angry outburst; his mother
is constantly crying and upset. These elements are what makes living with
mental health so real; they don’t necessarily need labels or stereotypical
symptoms, but they interweave themselves in the intricacies of daily life and
social relationships.
The story follows a similar outline to the film and is quite pleasant to follow. Reading the book, I was expecting to know the story, and I was still enjoying it on a new level. However, I discovered so many differences, especially with how the last quarter of the book progresses, that it’s almost a novel experience; I had no idea what would happen. This elevated my experience and I recommend this book to be read. There’s not much lost if you’ve previously watched the film. I’m sure I’ll keep on remembering this novel as one of my favourite stories that I’ve ever read or watched.
Sources and Links:
Book: The Silver Linings Playbook
Book Cover: Goodreads
You could give your support by donating to my Ko-Fi or PayPal.me
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February 14, 2019
Poetry Reading #04: Butterfly Wings
Listen to the reading of the poem “Butterfly Wings”, first published in Nightingale & Sparrow.
If you like the content I provide, you could support me by purchasing a copy of my book, Welcome to the Sombre Days, or donate through Ko-Fi or PayPal.me.
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