Thảo Đinh: A Multi-Talented Artist
Thảo Đinh is a poet currently residing in San Antonio, who was raised in Hà Nội, Việt Nam. Having graduated just last year with Honors in International Relations with a minor in Creative Writing, she currently works as an East Asian Studies Program Coordinator at Trinity University.
Windward Review is delighted to use her photograph, "Taking the Leap", as the cover art for Volume 22: Revolution.
We are proud to showcase her original photo here. For the final cover, editors decided to use a digitally retouched version created by a student in Dr. Catherine Schumann's Spring 2024 document design and publishing class.
In addition to being our cover artist, editors from Dr. Robin Carstensen's Spring 2024 literary publishing class also accepted two creative writing pieces. Through a blind review process, each work was professionally evaluated and was considered independently worthy of publication.
Editors are truly excited to share a creative non-fiction piece, "Race (The Universe)" and an Emphatic poem, "Ruby Rhapsody", in the upcoming volume.
Emphatic Poetry: Getting out of One's Writerly Comfort Zone
For this Spotlight, we wanted to learn more about the process of writing Emphatic poetry.
Thảo Đinh's poem, "Ruby Rhapsody", focuses on the feelings drawn from her relationship; this started in her Poetry classes in her final semester, where she would focus intense, complex emotions and romantic feelings into her works. For her, personal experiences are the crux of her poetry, even though her imagination is just as powerful! It is important to her to infuse her reality into her words, hoping that others will understand her by feeling similarly:
“I firmly believe that what comes from the heart will touch the heart - meaning if my poem is written to the beat of my chest, then I’m sure readers will feel it too.”
"Ruby Rhapsody", an Emphatic poem, goes against her urges to allow for her feelings to form her poetry and it has touched the hearts of anyone reading it. She hopes to continue writing so she can eventually release a collection of poetry.
Finally, she wants young writers to know that believing in yourself is integral for all aspiring writers:
“Have faith in yourself and try submitting your work. Who knows if that one submission will bring you a whole new experience?”
Here is a preview of "Ruby Rhapsody".
Ruby Rhapsody
A tale of joy in the reddest hue
Our loneliness turned into winter blue,
In shards of fragments, a story unfolds,
Serendipity happened as foretold.
When two unlikely lives met,
A shimmering song was set,
A dance of colors, a radiant dream,
With my hands in yours, our eyes gleamed.
I pirouetted and made a bow,
In a sacred space, we sealed our vows.
