Local Author Interview

by Amanda Ruff

Interview by Danielle Largesse

Merrell Cunningham Local Author

Meet Merrell, the first young adult author to be featured on our blog. Merrell has a love of poetry and recently published her first book, Shattered Reflections: Chronicles of Love, Heartache, and Chronic Illness.

How long have you lived in the Northwest? What initially attracted you to this place? Has living in this area influenced your writing?

My family and I moved here in 2017 when I was 11 years old. I love the area. I would say that the most influential thing about living here was the people I grew up around. The people in my life, whether good or bad, influenced my experience growing up therefore influenced my writings.

Can you tell us a little bit about your book?

Back in 2019/2020, I started experimenting with poetry as a form of expression. Then in 2021, I started at North Idaho Community College. In my English 101 class, I realized that poetry, to me, is really relatable, highly expressional and the freedom of no rules really fit what I am doing with my work. My teacher of that class really helped push me into submitting some of my poems into a competition which then got published in journals.

In 2023, I had to come up with a senior project and I thought “What am I supposed to do?”. I then decided to make my work into a book titled  Shattered Reflections: Chronicles of Love, Heartache, and Chronic Illness. At the time I only had 45 poems and my goal was to have at least 100 poems to make the book. By December of 2023, I had accumulated a grand total of 75 and I decided that was it. I had not met my goal of 100 but the 75 poems accomplished what I wanted to say about that time of my life. I ended up extremely happy with what I finished.

What do you want readers to take away from your book?

I want people to take away the fact that they are not alone in their struggles. We all get in head over heels with life and I hope my writings help any way they can so people don’t give up.

What are your hobbies outside of writing?

Outside of my poetry, I love singing, the theater scene, whether it be on stage and/or behind the scenes as a makeup artist. Otherwise, my at home activities include tv (love pretty much everything) and making beaded bracelets.

What’s next for you? How can readers find you?

I have a few new poems that I will place in my next collection which will focus on my next stage of life. If anyone would like to reach out or follow me, I’m on Instagram at merrell_cunningham_poet. If you would like to purchase a book please let me know!

Any last parting thoughts?

All I have left to say is don’t bottle up your feelings, let them breathe. God loves you!

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