Albeit the southwestern fatherland of Arizona is an arid dust bowl residential to desiccated tumbleweeds and a globetrotter’s “bucket list” destination of The Grand Canyon, a burgeoning twenty-something prose wordsmith is likewise domiciled within its sundry townships. Kaliane Faye, scribe to the time-honored literary craftsmanship of poetry, is, consequently, an artisan to her freshly published anthology, Moonrise. The extraterrestrial narrative is chronicled as, “On this two year journey to the moon, I found myself and came back down to earth with glitter in my hair, stardust in my shoes, a strength in my soul and a story worth telling.”
Sundered into a triad of an astronomical escapade, bookworms gallivant through “Crescent”, “Incomplete”, and “Full”, each segment harboring a respective thematic statement, yet collaboratively subscribing to the paramount motif of Moonrise: healing. The perilously cascading voyage down the ravine to tenderness and endearment to and within an individual’s self. The aforementioned is, fundamentally, Faye’s objective, which she divulged upon interviewing: “My goal with writing this collection was to hopefully inspire and empower. The right words can help people a lot, I believe. […] I hope I can make them feeling something, in some way, and I hope I’ve made their reading experience worthwhile [sic].”
Although, concurrently, Moonrise is self-serving; an overpass teeming with the conviction of closure for the anecdotalist, as construed by the distinguished preface:
“My oldest friend,
I picked up a pen
wrote it all down
and made my peace.
I am not angry anymore
I have forgiven but
I have not forgotten.”
Furthermore, Faye possesses an alternative stimulus for the terminal response, which she characterized as, “—being taken seriously as an author.” Through 152 leafs of paperback parchment, she elicits an acutely personal, yet profoundly relatable and empathetic tale—therefore, victoriously prosperous within this aspiration.
Alongside poignant compositions addressing the exposition, climax, and resolution of a psychologically, physically, and sexually abusive interpersonal relationship, Faye incorporates selections akin to the Girls Like Me trilogy—principally, Girls Like Me (Part II)—Spaced Out, One in Six, Injustice System, Daughters, Moon, and For Herself, to enumerate a few, which are pervaded with connotations of pertinent sociopolitical subject matters to the twenty-first century. Correspondingly, Bittersweet is rendered as an LGBTQ+ hymn, and a reflection of the storyteller themselves.
However, comprehensibly, the pursuit was not an unwrinkled, unblemished, clean-shaven thoroughfare to publication. Upon questioning with regards to the undertaking of orchestrating Moonrise, Faye imparted, “The process was a long one. I spent almost two years writing Moonrise because I wanted it to be as perfect as possible. I wrote whenever I had the time, and was always looking for inspiration [sic].”
To admix to the potpourri of artistically commanding and domineering literature, Faye comprises a treasury of paragraph verses, encompassing the twosome of Coffee & Cigarettes, Abandoned, Leaving Him, A True Artist, The Street Kids, Twenty-Something, Kisses, and The Breakup, each of which are preferences of mine, Alexandria Piette, respectively.
The medley of inscriptions are tempestuous explorations of juvenescence, diagnosing toxicity within a partnership, whether platonic, romantic, or familial, the self-condemnation that habitually ensues, and the aftermath of acceptance whilst piloting upon a boulevard to recovery from the weathered trials and tribulations. Faye is unvarnished in limelighting that it is interminable and harrowing, and yet, when Full—“You are strong enough to carry the weight of the night until the sun rises in the morning.”
Moreover, enshrouded within Moonrise, there prevails indulgence for the Disney connoisseur, with odes to quintessential cinema and text, inclusive of Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and Sleeping Beauty.
Perhaps the cardinal element of sensational achievement throughout Moonrise is that Faye is, in fact, self-published. When inquired with what her recommendations are to her camaraderie of sprouting novelists, Faye counseled, “My advice to anyone who wants to write or self-publish would be to take your time and be patient with yourself. The self-publishing process can be difficult, especially because sometimes you’re the only one helping you. I would tell them to try not to get too frustrated with writing or publishing, and to try to enjoy it as much as possible [sic].”
As for titles upon the horizon and toppling down the pike, Faye unveiled that she has, “—ideas pieced together for a second poetry collection, as well as a rough draft for a Young Adult #OwnVoices novel with a disabled lead!”
In addition, if you or a companion are enchantingly riveted and covet a print of Moonrise, visit Amazon for purchasing!
In conclusion, Kaliane Faye’s Amazon bibliography and biography may be followed here. With respect to mainstream social media platforms, Faye’s username is @moonrisekaliane throughout Twitter and Instagram.
Yet another ceremonious and wholehearted congratulations to a cherished kindred spirit and venerated virtuoso of mine. It was an unadulterated privilege to glimpse into the windowpane shutters of your embodiment through the winsomely captivating, expressive conduit of Moonrise.
