Today we talk about Bae Tales, a book by Michaela Kedžuchová published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing this young author, Michaela Kedžuchová, to get to know her better, if she had a moment that led her to the writing of her book Bae Tales, as well as what particularly significant experiences of her life find expression here.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- What was the moment that led you to the writing of your book?
This book is actually a collection of my poetry that was written by me from around age of 15. For reference, my book got accepted by the publisher when I was 18, so that’s when this particular collection ends. I’m 19 now that the book is out. I never really thought about publishing my poetry, since to me, its purpose, was to get my feelings out and reflect on what I was feeling without needing anyone else to know about what I was going through. More often than not, I was even scared to get back to the pieces that I created because my emotions scared me. I am also used to really downplay what I am going through and never realise how bad it can be, until my friends tell me that it takes someone with real pain embedded in them to write poems like some of these. So I cannot really say that it was a conscious decision to write something of a book. All that can be found here are raw feelings with no filter collected and spilled on paper.
- What is the message you want to send out with your book?
I noticed that as much as I want to tell something to the world, people focus on what is relatable to them in every art, so being misunderstood is maybe the price you have to pay in order to be an artist. As much as I can be talking about fat-phobia in this world, people who don’t have to deal with this issue, will let me know that they feel similar and that they do relate to the poem addressing this specific issue. It gets lost in translation. It’s a blessing and a curse, it’s great to be a voice for people and let people know that a lot of us are sharing similar feelings, have problems that we are dealing with, but getting my point across is hard. If I was to send out a message with my book it would be that in the end, I am fat and sexual. I am caring and sensual. I am moody and angry. I am opinionated and stubborn. And I do deserve to be loved even though I am all of the above and so does every woman on this planet, being inconvenient should be considered brave in the society we live in.
- What particularly significant experiences in your life find expression in your story?
This book is a collection of poems, not in particular order. They are only divided according to the feelings they evoke in me when reading them. I don’t feel like reducing my whole being into a few specific experiences because this whole process had and still has just one reason, and it is to find myself. I could talk about mentally abusive partners and people taking advantage of my kindness but none of these are significant enough to shape me on their own. Each and every experience I had, made me more resilient and more aware of the world around me and the intentions with which people decide to approach me. There is a lot of new knowledge I acquired about the society we live in mentioned in some of the poems and it just shows how personal the whole work is. The timing is different for each and every one of us but I couldn’t be happier. Some of the things I realised are still unknown to a lot of people and that’s absolutely fine! Working on your own time and living on it as well is very important, no one should be rushing you but yourself.
- How was it like to see your first book published?
It was my mum’s idea to publish the poetry in the form of a book when I told her that I have over 100 poems here and there. It was really unexpected to get picked by the publisher and see that my feelings are worth something after all and can (hopefully) be my money maker. Overall I have a hard time being proud of myself and my accomplishments so yes, I was and am very happy but telling about it to people I know is hard for me since I don’t want to be bragging about it. And on the other hand, some family members and people who you wish were by your side are not, but I had to realise that it’s okay. You are here to build something for yourself and generations to come after you and you will build it with help of your family but a lot of times by yourself and that’s perfectly fine because it is for you and not for people surrounding you. It is yours and yours only, so why would you care what others think even if you expected them to be on your side and cheer for you? The ones that love you will always be there and see side of you that others don’t and that’s perfectly fine!
- Are you planning to write more books?
I already have around 80 poems written but if someone will ever see them is questionable since I have no idea how the first piece will do in the world. But I would love to release more of my art. With adulthood approaching everything around me is new and I have no idea what to expect from a lot of things so I have no idea what my upcoming work will be about. I don’t really work on “writing books”. I feel like my work must be triggered by something and that something is mostly people around me, my realisations and epiphanies that happen out of the blue most of the time. So I cannot say I’m planning on doing so, but I would like to continue in the future.
Europe Books thanks the author Michaela Kedžuchová once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside her on the editorial path that led to the publication of her book Bae Tales. We wish her the best of luck for her future works.
To you, my dear reader, I hope this book makes you reflect on the importance of feeling free to be who you are, to feel loved and appreciated in your ideas and in the way you present them. Accept yourself for who you are and that you are always the best you can be, you owe it to yourself!
So, my dear reader, I just have to wish you to enjoy your reading!!!
Your editor!