We recently connected with Bree Bailey and have shared our conversation below.
Bree, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been one of the most interesting investments you’ve made – and did you win or lose? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)
The best investment I ever made was to take a creative writing class as an adult in the pandemic when I felt a need to get serious about my writing practice and core routines. I wanted to learn from the best and also learn how far I needed to go to get my writing to a position where it would be consumable by the public. I was done writing to collect dust. I signed up for a weekly zoom workshop taught by Write Bloody Poet, Megan Falley, entitled Poems That Don’t Suck and quickly dove in to the mechanics of publication and readership. It was the best $150 I ever spent to kick off this wild road to publication!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Writing and music have always been a true source of release for me as a child into adulthood because of its accessibility and linkage to community. Growing up, I knew that if I was to make any impact at scale and with the natural gift I have, it would be through a writing medium. One Latin proverb that captured me at a young age was “Verba volant, scripta manent.’ Words fly away, writings remain. In an effort to preserve my families enduring sacrifices and stories, as well as hopefully providing a sense of optimism and at the very least, what NOT to do, I hope folks leap to my debut collection and all the work to follow.
A lot of my writing focuses on encounters I’ve witnessed firsthand or have heard about, with mixtures of prose and poetry and lyrics interwoven. In my debut collection, Wailing on Whisper Street, I do my best to channel guidance from literary heroes like Sandra Cisneros and Ada Limon, and provide a display of the fragility of womanhood and resilience in today’s America. Every divine feminine hero is holding it all together and so far from screaming her heart’s desires to an open accepting world. Whisper Street is a place where what family secrets held us, hopefully won’t harm us anymore. That’s the goal, at least.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I want to dispel the fear we have when we speak openly from our hearts, especially considering most of us are coming from worlds and battlefronts we face in silence. I want to provide a safe space for folks to come undone and forge their route to heal and my goal is to do that, for now, one poem, one workshop, one moment at a time.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
What a difficult question without answering in a very cliche way! The most rewarding aspect of being creative is that I am never done and I get so excited and conceptually stimulated by the excitement others bring toward the universal spaces we occupy together. As long as there is oxygen in my lungs and I have the means to produce what it is that is moving my heart and soul, the fact that everyday will be a chance at creating my next masterpiece either on my own because of inspiration or in collaboration is invaluable. Each morning, I do my best to wake up thankful for the currency of artistic expression. It saves lives like no dollar can.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.breebaileypoetry.com
- Instagram: breebaileypoetry
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabrinacbailey/
- Twitter: thebreebailey
Image Credits
Jilisa Bellachhab