Jen

“I’ve spent the first 18 years of my life in Christchurch and it will always be where my heart feels calm.

I was only 11 when the earthquakes hit, so I was quite little. Just trying to figure the world out, when during lunchtime at school, the door slammed and I got locked in a classroom all by myself. The only world I knew, was literally crumbling around me.

Ever since then, I began to question whether I wanted to be alive, in such a broken world. A 12-year-old, that imagined her funeral late at night instead of sleeping, a 15-year-old taking risks in world where there was nothing to lose… But recently, when someone I loved committed suicide, I realised it’s not our world that is broken, it’s us.

Ultimately writing got me through it all, when I was 7 I began to write songs. Through all the difficult times in my life, I’ve used writing to process. From song writing, to journaling my style finally developed, as I did, into poetry.

‘If Only Roses Were Red’ is my first published book, I started working on it as my 18th year began, in this broken city. I knew I had so much inside of me, and I knew I had to write to get it all out. I was told that I should wait, but my dream was too strong and my impatience grew.

Now, being able to hold my own book in my own hands is something I’m unable to describe. I know every meaning behind each word, phrase, and page. But it’s written subtly, not using direct references so that people can connect to each piece, personally. The purpose of my writing is to make people feel understood, to know they’re not alone. 

There are a lot of things that happen to us in life, that try to dim our light, to take away from who we are, to break us. It’s really important to keep relighting the light, to keep finding yourself, and rebuilding what we’ve lost.

Now I realise how much I’ve grown. Leaving broken pieces in the past, between the pages of my first book.”

-Jen


Charity registration number: CC57701
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