Seaside Road MagazineNana TomovaIn her debut book, writer and photographer Nana Tomova compiles a selection of her poetry about nature, the joys of simplicity and following one's heart. Readers of Seaside Road Magazine are invited to the book launch at DC1 Cafe & Gallery, Seaside Road on September 1st at 6pm.What has inspired Nana to publish this beautiful anthology?Nana, we first spoke to you in December when you had your Flamenco photography exhibition at Devonshire Collective on Seaside Road. How did the exhibition go? It went really well, thank you. I had a lot of interest in the body of work and it was great to exhibit photographs of the lead dancer of such an amazing show. It has been my favourite exhibition so far. What led you to decide to publish your first collection of poetry? What have been some of the major inspirations for this collection? I’ve been writing poetry for a number of years, however it was after a conversation with my sister that I decided to compile them together and write some more in order to make them into a book. I hadn’t really shared my poetry with anyone before. We were having an inspirational conversation about art and writing, and spoken word (she’s a spoken word artist) and I read a couple that I had on my phone. She encouraged me that they were worthy of putting out into the world. And I’m very glad I listened. This was in January of this year, so it has all happened quickly. Because of this, my sister is one of the people I have dedicated my book to. If it wasn’t for that conversation the book probably wouldn’t be here today. The main inspiration for my poetry is nature. Especially if I’ve had some time alone in nature – it doesn’t have to be long – just an hour or two will suffice. I find nature very beautiful, inspirational and healing. There is a richness out there that I haven’t been able to access or find elsewhere. I’ve learned so much from her, and have found so much wisdom from being out in the land in the “more than human world” in the words of David Abram. Why do you think poetry is such a powerful tool of communication? I think poetry is full of depth and meaning. I have my own inspirations when I write a poem, but once that is out there it is no longer my meaning. I’ve shared it with others so that they find what they need from it. It is my gift. What I like about poetry is that there is no right or wrong, no black or white, and it is such a relief for me. I remember when I was young at school trying to interpret different poems, and I had to decipher them in the correct way. And it is only now that I realise that there is no correct way to read a poem, to understand a poem. It is what you make of it. That’s what the beauty of poetry is. And it can be so powerful. Sometimes a single line of poetry moves me more than a whole novel can. Here's an excerpt from Your Mother the Moon, tell us more about the poem: You are the darkest parts, and you are the lightest partsThe wind carries your scent around the worldAnd gathers you to me when the moon decidesWaves of feelingDepths of knowingI try to catch you, but you slip from my fingersLike the salty water of an ocean’s throw."Your Mother the Moon” is my favourite poem out of the whole book. I wrote it one morning whilst I was doing some automatic writing (also known as the Morning Pages) and it just flowed out of my pen and onto the paper in its entirety. I don’t know how it happened or where it came from in that moment. The moment reminds me of the inspirational TED talk “Your Elusive Creative Genius” by the author Elizabeth Gilbert where she talks about humans being vessels of creativity - that creativity comes in the form of a divine spirit, a genius, a daemon from a distant unknowable source, for distant, unknowable reasons. For me that’s what it felt like – that this poem came from somewhere, although I don’t know where and I had to make sure I catch it. The poem itself is about something that we know, or that change we feel is coming but we are too frightened to look at due to its immensity. We are drawn in and we know from the depths of our being that we need to follow it. This occurs at different times in life. The moon like life itself is cyclical. In what ways does the process of writing your poetry compare and contrast with how you create your photography? Even before I started writing this collection of poems, I have compared photography to poetry, in that it is interpreted differently by each person depending on how they see the world due to their own histories. Little did I know at the time when I said that, that I would be writing a poetry book. When I take photographs of nature, for example a mountainous landscape, I have a big respect for the nature around me when I take that photograph. It is like I am writing a poem about the landscape and to the landscape through that photograph. Here's an excerpt from The Mountain Opposite Me, tell us some more about it: You look at me with your face of stoneWrinkled crevices overfilling with wisdom;What you hold I do not knowYet I know the power you hold over me.I walk your surface giving thanks for being able to touch your wounds.I breathe in deeply the pines you have birthed.I wrote this poem whilst abroad. The place where I stayed was at the base of a mountain and I spent many hours looking at the mountain and wishing I was up there. When I could finally go, I felt I was home. Because the mountain was bare, I could really see the rock that she was made out of, and that really moved me. I was surrounded by all sorts of creatures. When you meet an animal and you both look at each other’s eyes without breathing for a few seconds, which seems like an eternity at the time, there are a few things more moving than that. The poem is a love poem to the mountain, as an acknowledgement and a thank you for the experience. What kind of responses do you think your poetry might evoke as people read them? I don’t know and I don’t wish to guess. Yet I hope that people find meaning in some of my poetry. I hope that it speaks to someone and they go outside and look at nature in a different way. I think sadly we have all lost our way with the natural world, and I hope that we can start repairing this. I also hope that it gives at least one person courage to follow what they truly want in life, even though at some point they may have forgotten. When and where is the book launch? The book launch is on 1st September 2018 6-8pm in DC1 in Eastbourne. I will be doing a poetry reading, book signing and there will be live music from a beautiful duet called Bolily. More information can be found here: https://devonshirecollective.co.uk/event/nana-tomovais-a-poetry-book-launch/ How can we order a copy? You can order a copy through Amazon or through my website www.nanatomova.com/books. If you order through my website, you will get a signed book, a small photography print and a bespoke hand-written poem. Seaside Road MagazineThe Magazine of Seaside Road, Eastbourne |