Darlington native shares book of poetry at library event
By Melissa Rollins, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
Carlo L’Chelle Dawson believes that everyone has a story to tell. On Saturday, Feb. 25, Dawson shared hers during an event at the Darlington Library.
Dawson, who is a writing coach, recently released her first book, Semblance of a Footprint, and was at the library to speak about the book and also to talk with those in attendance about the process of writing and publishing a book.
Carlo L’Chelle Dawson speaks at an event at the Darlington Library.
“What you heard when you came in was a cd that I wrote,” Dawson said. “It is called The Book of My Revelation” because I wrote about everything I was feeling throughout my life, being picked on, relationships, my relationship with God, all the way through finding myself and finding my true voice and who I am.”
Throughout the event at the library, Dawson read several of her poems and discussed the emotions and motivations behind them.
Though she has been writing most of her life, and even teaching it for more than a decade, Dawson said that it took a tragedy in her life to push her to publish a book.
“I thought about the fact that I have been teaching it but when was I going to do it,” Dawson said. “I released my cd about five years ago and then, that’s where this book comes in, I suffered the loss of a child and I actually lost the taste to write. There were years where I wrote intimately in my journal. I knew I wanted to publish it but I just didn’t feel like I could do it. It was a struggle.”
Dawson said that the book encompasses many different writing styles.
“I write all kinds of genres, I write music, I do poetry, and I write because if I didn’t write I feel like I couldn’t live,” Dawson said. “Writing has been a prayer and it has been healing. When I first started writing these poems I decided to challenge myself. I love to write creatively, so I actually wrote in different styles; the first one is written like a manuscript.”
Writing helped Dawson go through the stages of grief after her loss.
“I suffered a stillborn, the loss of a child, and I had to go through that journey and it was not always pretty,” Dawson said.
“The first poem I did is called ‘Circles’ and this poem takes you through that journey. When I lived it, it felt like it wasn’t real; it felt like a movie. That is why ‘Circles’ is written as a manuscript, as if it was a movie, with the camera angles and the stage directions.”
Though the loss still affects her, Dawson said that she wants to share her story because she knows that there are others who have suffered a loss as well.
“I won’t ever say that I know what someone is feeling,” Dawson said. “We all feel things differently. But I will say that I understand because I have been there.”
Dawson encouraged those in attendance to find and share their own stories because there is probably someone else who needs to know they are not alone in what they are going through.
Find out more about Carlo L’Chelle Dawson and her book by visiting www.carlolchelledawson.com
