Today we talk about After You. A Collection Of Words, a book by Shruthi Srivatsan pulished with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author, Shruthi Srivatsan, to get to know her better, where she found the inspiration to write her book After You. A Collection Of Words, as well as how her passion for Writing started.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Where did you find the inspiration to write your Collection of Words?
Inspiration for this book came from a couple of things. First it was a way in which I was able to express a lot of emotions – I lost my mum to an illness in 2011. This was my first real interaction with immense loss and intense sorrow. During and post-Covid, more losses enveloped my life and at both times I found writing down how I feel was soothing and comforting. It was also a time when reading offered huge solace for me – words became more profound, more relatable. Reading other poetry in similar genres made me felt heard, and I felt immensely drawn to penning down my own poems because of authors I saw on the web – Mira Hadlow, Kristina Mahr, Alfa Holden, Tyler Knott Gregson are some of the writers who inspired me. When I started working on these poems, the world (and people close to me as well) was in emotional turmoil – a plethora of stories of strength, perseverance, and bravery through tragedy surrounded me. Personal loss and seeing others go through their own grief was largely the source of my poetry – It was inevitable that I was inspired to try and write about these emotions.
- What is the message you want to send out with your writing?
I often feel we are a world that is obsessed with positivity and positive emotions. While it works for some, I feel that it creates a huge burden on others – particularly when grieving for people who are close to one’s heart. When grieving you are at your most vulnerable… you are a medley of emotions, often low on confidence and self-esteem, and every time someone tells you to be positive, happy, stronger, or to move on, your inability to do so feels like failure. I do believe that we all find a way to live with our grief, but I think it’s important to be allowed to feel (and experience) the crushing sense of loss (even helplessness) without feeling like it is wrong and sans looking for an instant bright side. I would like people to find some comfort and companionship with the words I’ve penned – to not feel alone in their loneliness and sadness. To be able to read a verse and say – yes, that’s it exactly, that’s how I feel and it’s okay. For those who don’t relate in the same way – I hope they find a deeper understanding into a different perspective.
- How did your passion for writing start?
It started off with a passion for reading. My sister is a bookworm, and would constantly be reading, and since I would always do what my sister did, I also read… I was also surrounded by friends who were avid readers. I remember going for dinner parties and every child would be reading. Then came compositions in school, and later, literature classes with the most inspiring teachers (A shout-out to Mrs. Capur for being the best literature teacher!). My sister also used to write amazing short stories and verses – which obviously (hahaha) meant that I would emulate her. There was one story that she had articulated so profoundly it moved me to tears – and when something can do that, you are inevitably drawn to find a way to be a part of it. And so, I wrote more.I simply loved writing, creating stories and weaving worlds of magic and possibility. And slowly, it became my most powerful form of expression. Be it fictional or non-fiction, I thrive in expressing myself with the written word – the nuances of language, the simple sentences that can create beautiful paintings – It is such an adventure, and exciting way to communicate!
- How did it feel to see your book published?
Surreal. It was a dream come true. When I got the email expressing interest in my manuscript, I had to read it twice over to make sure It was real! “As foolish as to look for a rainbow at night” is a phrase that comes to mind when I think about how I felt when I sent out my manuscript. I was hoping and dreaming of a response without truly believing I would receive any positive feedback. It was such a rewarding experience to go through the process of having my book published by an official publisher. Honestly, I feel lucky and humbled to have been able to publish this book a team that has been constantly helpful and knowledgeable. It has been months of growing and learning. For me, publishing this book feels historic – it is a remarkable moment to realise that somewhere out there, words that I have written have been shared with the world.
- Are you planning to write more books? Can you tell us more about it?
Apart from poetry, I have a number of books that I have self-published. The genres are all different. My IT Diaries: The woes and joys of a life in IT is a short (and I hope, funny) book on my experiences in the IT world. On Higher Ground: Memories of a bike ride through Ladakh is a travel story based on my first ever biking trip to Ladakh. Flames of Hope is a collection of short stories set during Covid times. I certainly hope to write more books. I am currently working on a second poetry collection similar to, After You: A collection of words. With this book, I hope to continue reaching out to people who have interacted with grief and still have days and times when life still feels hard. I also have a few plots jotted down for another collection of short stories – but the plots are so convoluted currently that each story might end up being a novel on its own. One thing is for sure, I believe I will keep writing and hoping that like so many amazing authors out there, my words too will have the ability to create magic!
Europe Books thanks the author, Shruthi Srivatsan, 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 After You A Collection Of Words. We wish her the best of luck for her future works.
To you, my readers, may this book provide you with comfort and thoughtful thoughts. That it allows you to understand the importance of feeling every type of emotion, both the beautiful and positive ones but also those that cause you pain and sadness without being afraid of them or feeling wrong. Every emotion comes for a reason, just live it through and capture the meaning it wants to offer!
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your editor!