An Interview with Poet Emma-Jane Barlow

Following the successful launch of her third published poetry book, Sins & Sunflowers: Second Edition, we were thrilled to speak with poet and author Emma-Jane Barlow about her poetry inspiration, writing process, advice for up-and-coming poets, and how poetry has helped her express her emotions and speak up to help others with autism.

Exposing her vulnerability as she pens the tempestuous journey of loss and love, Emma-Jane explores the vicissitude of overcoming her first heartbreak, dating, and falling in love with someone new. Through the symbolism of a sunflower with canary wings, she writes about learning to love herself as she navigates new beginnings and finds her voice again. In this second and more visceral edition of Sins & Sunflowers, she digs even deeper into the trauma and tribulations of the healing journey and how believing in your own light can truly set a spirit free.

You can purchase Emma’s book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Lulu Bookstore and Pothi.

Congratulations on the second edition of Sins & Sunflowers! How was the launch?

 The book launch was such a lovely evening! I really ran with the theme of the book; I made little sunflower centrepieces for the tables and wore the colours in my hair to match the cover of the book. Everyone had a nice night and there was some fierce and fabulous female poetic talent on the stage before I got up to read some new poems from the second edition. I feel blessed for all the people that have supported me in the second release of this book.

What can we expect from the second edition and how is it either different to or an expansion on the first book?

The first edition of Sins & Sunflowers was released in May 2022, but I continued to write poems for the book, and I told myself that the poems would be perfect for the book I had just released. It wasn’t until I parted ways with my publisher in March 2023 that I realised I didn’t want this book to be out of print. It exposed some of the deepest parts of myself and it took a lot of strength to be so vulnerable as I inked the words of the first edition. So, I set out to get a second edition ready for publication. I designed a new cover myself, added twenty new poems and an author introduction to explain the story behind the second edition. I delve further into the different aspects of the healing journey that I didn’t tackle in the first edition of Sins & Sunflowers, and I believe strongly that it was meant to be, and this is the edition that was supposed to be out in the world for people to read.

What was different with the process of writing your second book compared to your first?

My first book Darkness & Light was released in 2020. It was a slow burner, and it took me several years and variations until it was ready to be published. I had a lot of self-doubt about my ability to self-publish successfully, which is why it took so long to release it. But it was the support of the poets in the online writing community on Instagram that gave me the confidence to publish. It did incredibly well and become a bestseller, top twenty of bestselling British poetry books in its release week. Sins & Sunflowers: Second Edition also achieved the same and I’m so proud of that! The major difference between my two books is the time it took to write them - Darkness & Light took many years, whereas the first edition of Sins & Sunflowers was completed in a matter of months, with the second edition collated in weeks.

What is your favourite poem from this book, if you can choose one, or the favourite poem you have ever written?

That’s a difficult question to answer because there are so many poems that are dear to my heart, but I think if I had to choose it would be a poem called Weeds. The origin of this poem preludes the initial inspiration of the book. It was a few months before my first heartbreak unravelled that I sat down one evening to write. I had this line swirling around in my head “you will find me in the weeds.” And the poem in its entirety was written at midnight, a long free verse stream of consciousness handwritten in my notebook. It wasn’t until months later, when I was broken and alone that I revisited the poem and saw that it was indeed a premonition, it uncovered my level of unhappiness that I was experiencing in my relationship and with myself. When I shared this poem, people instantly connected to its vulnerability. It’s one of my favourite ones to perform from the book as well. I did a follow up poem called Weeds (reprise) that showed my growth in love and happiness, and it is the final poem in both editions. 

Tell us about your journey to becoming a poet. What drew you to writing poetry and what do you hope to express throughout your poetry? What inspires your poetry?

I always say that I didn’t choose poetry, it chose me. And that’s the truth. I started writing poetry at seven years old. It was something I just started to do without guidance. I was labelled gifted as a child. Words were my thing and everyone around me knew it, so I went on to study writing at university because I wanted to improve my craft. Once I learned how to write, I started creating poems. I was obsessed with rhyme from an early age and my love of writing and literature has only blossomed throughout my life. I’m autistic and I struggle to express my emotions in the typical way, but poetry has given me a vital tool to explore my emotions, document my life experiences and use my voice to speak up to help others who have faced similar battles to myself. I don’t think my life would be quite the same without poetry. I am inspired by the world and everything in it, even though I write a lot of personal poetry, I like to draw inspiration from nature and often use it in my work.

Do you have any advice for new poets making their way into the industry or poets who want to publish their own poetry collections?

I think my biggest advice would be to read and listen to as much poetry as you possibly can. Whether it’s reading poems from a variety of writers online, reading classic and modern poetry books or seeing live poetry performances, expose yourself to lots of different styles and types of poetry. To not only be inspired but to help you find your own voice as a writer as well. Publishing your own poetry collection is a lot of work, I’ve done it twice now and my advice would be to research everything you can before you begin and take your time with it, there is no rush!

What is your writing process?

I have an unconventional writing process. I rarely sit down intentionally to write unless I am writing a poem specifically for submission or a prompt. I write on the go and an idea can strike anytime or anywhere. In the past, I’d carry a notebook everywhere I go, but now it’s much quicker and easier to write it in my notes app on my phone. I have thousands of poems on my phone, quite a few unfinished ones too. I write down title ideas, first lines or ideas for different poetry collections down too. I don’t know what I would do without my notes app! I still write in notebooks when I want to write something a bit longer because I love the feeling of writing with pen and paper.

Were there any challenges in writing this book?

When I was writing the first edition of this book, there were many challenges. I battled with myself on which poems to include and asked myself the question of if they were too personal or too vulnerable to share. But I decided to publish them because I believe that the truest stories are the ones that resonate with people the most and I wanted something positive to come from my pain, something worthy to come out of such negative experiences. We can all relate to love and loss, these are universal themes in storytelling, but I wanted to make my poems as visceral and honest as possible so that my readers could see their stories in my words. When I was compiling the second edition, my challenge was to pick the poems that I felt finished the arc of the story the most and I knew I had to explore healing from relationship trauma and losing and finding a new identity more to complete the book I wanted the world to read. 

What is the experience like self-publishing, what is it like promoting and marketing the book?

Self-publishing a book is a lot of work. I’ve learned more about the process with Sins & Sunflowers: Second Edition since I published Darkness & Light in 2020. The best advice I can give for anyone wanting to self-publish is to think and plan ahead. Have a solid marketing plan on how you are going to advertise your book leading up to its release and afterwards. The aim is to get everyone excited about your book, posting about it on various platforms and sharing excerpts, advanced reviews and a cover reveal, all of this will give you a solid readership before you release your book. Afterwards, it’s all about reminding the people that follow you that you have a book, it’s all about the long game! Don’t expect to sell a hundred copies in your first week. It doesn’t hurt to try and sell books in-person either, I always take a handful of signed books with me to my poetry open mic events, and I sold five at a gig I did recently. Self-publishing is a great choice for writers who want to be in the driver’s seat of the full creative process.

Can you tell us more about the title? What is its significance?

I had several titles before I settled on Sins & Sunflowers. But nothing seemed quite right. I wanted something with an ampersand because my first book was called Darkness & Light. I wanted to show the light and shade of my heartbreak and love journey and the word sins felt a powerful way to represent the betrayal of my past and the sunflowers was the best way to describe the light that I knew would be in my future. I wrote a poem called Weeds and there is a line in it that reads “I close my eyes and wish with all my might that I could be a sunflower with canary wings and float above it all.” And that inspired the title Sins & Sunflowers.

Who are some of your favourite poets and writers?

I’ve always been deeply influenced by the poets I grew up reading, William Wordsworth. E.E Cummings, Walt Whitman and Carol Ann Duffy. I am the poet I am today because of writers like Emily Dickinson, Emily Bronte, Maya Angelou and Nikita Gill. Their work continues to inspire me and push me to improve my craft as a writer and I am always reading new modern poets to influence my work.

Are you working on any new poetry? Are there more books in the future?

I’m always writing poetry continuously and I have several ideas for new poetry collections for the future. But right now, I am focusing on promoting my new book, writing poems for individual submissions to magazines and putting a plan together for a novel I’ve wanted to write for a while. Life is busy for me right now, so I’m trying to find small pockets of time to slowly work on writing projects. I’m not in any rush to release a new book. I’m incredibly proud of my published books and I want to take some time before I release another one. I also want to live more of my life to find the right inspiration for the next story I want to tell in a poetry collection.

What are your tips for writers, should they be writing every day?

I definitely believe in consistency when it comes to writing. But life doesn’t always allow enough time and energy to write poetry, so I write when I can. Sometimes I write every day and there can be a week or more before I write anything at all. But I’m never afraid that my muse will disappear because it always returns, I’ve learned to let go of the need to try and control it. I write when I am inspired and there’s so much in this world to be inspired by that it can often feel overwhelming to know what to write about. My biggest advice is to get into a regular writing practice but don’t be so hard on yourself if something happening in your life prevents you from writing, just tell yourself you will return to the page when you are ready and you will.  

Do you ever get writer's block and how do you overcome it?

I’ve had writer’s block and it can be frustrating. I’ve been writing poems since the age of seven, so there have been stages in my life, some shorter phases and longer ones where I have failed to put pen to paper. I have learned over the years to ask myself one question when discovering my reason for writer’s block, is this a creative block or a life block? A creative block is not feeling inspired and struggling to come up with a topic or idea, but a life block is when there is so much going on in my personal life that I am struggling to find the space in my mind to write something. I approach both differently. Writer’s block is the easier one to overcome, I just do a word association exercise, a writing prompt or take a line from one of my favourite songs, set a timer and write whatever comes to mind without expectation. But a life block is harder to overcome, for that one, I just practise the art of patience and tell myself that I will write when I am ready, once I have less on my plate, the words start to flow.

What is your experience with open mic nights and performing your poetry live?

I started doing open mics in 2021. I still remember my first ever time reciting poetry on a stage at a poetry performance outdoors in a park, I was violently shaking and incredibly nervous and I remember thinking when I stepped off the stage that I never wanted to do it again. But after a few more times up on the stage reciting poetry live, I got a buzz from it, and I haven’t stopped. I love the connection with the audience, the electricity I feel when the room goes silent and I have them in the palm of my hand with my words, there’s no feeling like it. I will continue to try different nights in multiple poetry scenes to meet like-minded poets, share new work and sell my books.

What achievement as a poet are you most proud of?

I have had some wonderful achievements in my career as an author and a poet so far and I’m sure there are many others in my future. One highlight for me is performing at Bask this year, at a night called Express Yourself ran by Presenter and Author David Scott. I was on the list of poets supporting the great Mike Garry (who stopped mid-conversation during his set to point to me in the audience and call me great, it was definitely a pinch-me moment), the room was packed with 120 people and I got up on stage and read some poetry, including a new one I had written about being autistic and how autism is not a trend. I didn’t know how well it would be received but I was blown away by the amount of audience members that came to me after my set to tell me how much they resonated with it. It’s still my favourite night in my poetry career. I also have some other achievements including being featured on BBC Upload on BBC Radio Manchester with David Scott three times and being quoted in Salford Now Newspaper.

I still have big dreams to achieve, so watch this space. I’m only just getting started!

Thank you so much to Emma for taking the time out of her busy schedule to provide these incredible insights to us.

Her words will resonate with so many experiencing love, loss and mental health issues, and we applaud her for using her voice to inspire others and give words to those navigating life with autism.

Follow Emma on social media at @emmajanepoetry and shop her book for more poetry inspiration.

Written by Emma-Jane Barlow
Writer

Emma-Jane Barlow (known as EJ) is a bestselling northern poet, author, content creator, songwriter, singer and creative. She has been writing poetry since the age of seven and finds comfort in writing about her life experiences. From living life through an autistic lens to the highs and lows of love, loss and everything in between, EJ's words are vulnerable, honest and rich with emotion. ​

She has performed her poetry live at several events including the C Arts Festival, Mic at the Mill, Natter, Salford Arts Theatre and Switchblade. She has also been featured in multiple anthologies including Chapters of Venus and Ink Gladiator Press. She has been quoted in Salford Now newspaper and featured live three times on BBC Radio Manchester with David Scott. 

EJ shares her artistic journey on her Instagram page @emmajanepoetry and is also the founder of the successful collaborative poetry project First Line Poets @firstlinepoets. ​In 2020, she self-published her debut book Darkness & Light, which became multiple bestsellers on Amazon, including the top 20 bestselling books for British poetry. She released her highly-anticipated second collection of poetry, Sins & Sunflowers in 2022 and was the editor of The First Line Poets Anthology. She has just released Sins & Sunflowers: Second Edition and she is exploring other creative projects to find new ways to express her love of storytelling.