By day Amanda Gray works at a pharmacy in Casino.
When she is not at work, she writes poems. Late into the night.
Her first book of poetry will be launched tomorrow, Wednesday, June 22 at the Casino Library.
Cries of Happiness is a sad and dark collection of poems, Amanda said.
The 30 poems featured are about the struggles of life and her grandmother’s decline with dementia and her death.
“I’ve been writing since I was 12,” Amanda said.
“I wrote novels at first but then I did a writing course at Southern Cross University and did a unit on poetry.”
The 26 year old Casino woman’s book is published as a paperback and ebook through an indie publisher which is sold online.
Amanda chose the title Cries for Happiness for her poetry collection because it was “a play on words”.
“It is literal – crying for happiness, a yearning for happiness and crying because you don’t have happiness.”
The cover picture was chosen by Amanda from a selection sent by the publisher.
“The sadness of the front matched the darkness of the poetry,” she said.
The blindfold on the woman’s face on the front was important.
“It shows how sadness creeps up on you, like death,” Amanda said.
Amanda will present her book at the Casino Library on Wednesday, June 22 at 6.30pm.
She can’t quite believe she has published a book.
“It feels unreal,” she said.
The paperback cost s$9.10. The ebook can be bought here.
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