Jean published Quarantined Thoughts on June 15th, 2021. After reading the collection, the cover is fitting. My goodness. The consistent whirlwind our minds went through, concepts we may have been afraid to say out loud, and the plethora of losses…are all placed on this poetic spread of a collection. Many of us are still attempting to wrap around minds around what happened in 2020-2021. Quarantined Thoughts is a feast we may indulge in but not in haste. A consistent theme of a beast that I’m still chewing on and after reading the interview, Jean left me at the table, ya’ll!
One of my favorite pieces, Colorblind, has layers. Read slow. There is a resonating bellow in there. As public executions and past current events marquees in your mind as you read that poem, you’ll see, Jean’s pen oozes frustration with simply calling a thing, a thing simultaneously.
Off the Deep End, is a wonderful collection in the querying stage. My, my, my. The order sequence is solid. Each poetic chapter builds on the last. The same reflection, vulnerability, and sharpness in Quarantined Thoughts are found in Off the Deep End. If you know what it’s like to endure a season where you feel like you are sinking, Jean’s poem Water:
My favorite stanza in this poem was:
There’s this feeling in the pit of my stomach,
it drags me down, it drags me down so deeply
I feel like I’m walking on sinking sand
or maybe it’s solid land, and I’ve
simply forgotten how to stand and yet
I can’t sit comfortably; else I find myself
in constant turmoil”
Ya’ll…the way we poets bleed in black N white knowing damn well it will uplift and make others KNOW they aren’t alone…. However, there are also poems of hope, hanging on and courageously facing the darker emotions our parents taught us to raise an eyebrow at.
I know I usually mention just one collection, but I love Off the Deep End too much to not mention it. When it’s out, I will let ya’ll know and update this post. #TeamOffTheDeepEnd
1. Why did you title your second collection, Off the Deep End?
a. The title Off The Deep End came to me pretty quickly once I committed to writing my second poetry collection. I knew that the theme would revolve around this feeling that kept coming back up in my writing, where I felt I was drowning in my own thoughts. Continuing on with that natural metaphor that had surfaced in my writing, I thought to the concept of “going off the deep end” in a literal and figurative sense. That phrase stuck in my head and Off The Deep End felt like a perfect title to continue to build on that analogy.
2. Why did you write it? What is the message you want to convey?
a. There were multiple factors that led to me writing a second collection. When I published Quarantined Thoughts, I realized there was an audience for my writing that I never knew existed. Friends of mine who never showed much interest with poetry were telling me they were moved by my writing, and they wanted more. I also favor larger bodies of work as opposed to individual poems, as I feel they give me the opportunity to flesh out a story and let people run freely through my mind.
I hope that through the telling of my experiences with the metaphorical “drowning” and subsequent re-surfacing, I can inspire at least one person to keep pushing through their struggles to the other side. I want to normalize the concept of getting lost in your thoughts, in the sense that people know they are not alone in that experience. But I also want to help people realize that we all have the tools to make it through.
3. The water theme in Off the Deep End collection is potent. Is water an important symbol in your life? Are you a water sign? Do you dig swimming?
a. I am in love with water! I spend (probably) unhealthy amounts of time in the pool whenever I am away on tropical vacations. I don’t enjoy the beach as much, but I’ve always been fascinated by the vastness of the ocean and the possibilities of what lies undiscovered beneath the surface. I think humans have a lot in common with the ocean in that sense. I am indeed a water sign, a Cancer to be exact. I have adored swimming since my Godmother taught me, but I had a very turbulent time with it before then.
4. Let’s switch to your first collection, Quarantined Thoughts. Can you discuss the story behind the cover? Did you give the cover designer complete trust, or did you have an idea of how you wanted your cover to look?
a. I entrusted the cover design of Quarantined Thoughts to a friend and fantastic artist, Bianca Monteiro. I provided them with a description of what I had in mind, an image of me with my brain coming out of the top, and they then took that idea and created what is now one of my favorite images of all time. I have always had an appreciation for their work with lines and attention to detail, and I was astounded by the accuracy of the picture. The brain coming out of my head is meant to signify my thoughts finally coming out into the open (leaving quarantine), which was what I felt publishing my first book was like.
5. Let’s be real. Quarantine. The beginnings of the pandemic. Shit was rough. Still is for some of us. When reading Quarantine Thoughts, I sensed this irrepressible anger, rage, and grief that I'm sure many of us have felt in our own way. Did you feel apprehensive sharing this with the world or, did you believe freedom was found in this? If neither, how did you feel about sharing your raw, untainted emotions poetically?
a. Prior to even considering publishing my work, I had made a habit of sharing my poetry with one of my closest friends. She and I would hang out or talk on the phone periodically, and we would always share our honest thoughts and poetry with each other. That process, combined with my experience performing some of my poetry at school, gave me some comfort in putting my words out there. However, there’s a difference between knowing exactly who your audience is when you’re reading/performing, and then having a book that just anybody can pick up and read. It was daunting, but I think the encouragement I got from my friends and my family allowed me to move forward without hesitation. I was worried that I would come to find out that many people didn’t care for my work, but thankfully I did not let that slow me down, and I accepted that the outcome of that was beyond my control.
6. My favorite pieces from Quarantined Thoughts were Colorblind (because that shit irks me), Epilogue (loved the end rhyme sequence), Hemorrhage (hot damn do we all have our own stories to tell on that) and Why Do I Write? (I mean…come on! Of course, I'd like this one). What top three pieces are you most proud of in your first collection?
a. I love that you enjoyed Hemorrhage, as that’s a piece I didn’t pay much attention to myself until a while after I had already published Quarantined Thoughts. Obviously, I have a personal connection with every piece in the book as I read them all so many times over, but I think some pieces end up getting lost in the noise. That been said, I can confidently say the following 3 are the ones I’m most proud of:
i. Unbroken – I think mostly because of the short film I put together for this piece. Getting accepted into multiple film festivals and having the ability to transfer my words into an entirely different medium compounded the meaning of this poem for me.
ii. Long-Form Ramble, Part I – This was a poem that I wrote at a time when I was experiencing intense writer’s block. I felt like everything I wrote was under some microscope I couldn’t see, and I picked up my pen and committed to just writing thoughts as they came to mind. I had no beginning, middle or ending planned, and it all still worked out. And something about the Cinderella analogy makes me happy every time I read it.
iii. The Light That Did Not Shine – This was one of my more honest pieces. I was coming to the realization that there was not much anyone could do about my mother’s illness, and I allowed my sorrow to write that one. I think it does a great job of reflecting our relationship, and it drives me to think of an alternate future where the light did shine.
7. Now, you can leave me in the dark with this one…. Who or what is the beast in your collection?
a. I was not expecting this question to come up! To answer an unwritten question, I definitely did have a specific beast in mind when I wrote those pieces, though I don’t think it’s the right time for me to reveal that. I have a lot of appreciation for those pieces in that they were able to carry my intention that the beast could be anything/anyone.
8. I know Off the Deep End is still on a journey, but do you have any cover book ideas or themes for it?
a. I’ve had quite a tough time narrowing down what I want to aim for with the cover for Off The Depp End! I know that it absolutely has to be water themed, but that leaves so many possibilities. Some kind of reflection, a person underwater, just a head submerged, no person at all. So many options, but I am beyond excited to see what my future self and team land on.
9. Any upcoming shows or events, Jean?
a. There is nothing scheduled at the moment, though I am continuing to perform at open mics when my schedule allows for it. Some of my favorites are the Nuyorican Poets Café, and the Inspired Word, I try to make an appearance at least once a month. I am working actively with my team to plan some things for 2023, and the best way to be notified of when dates are set in stone is to keep up with my social media!
10. How significant is writing poetry for you? How significant is reading poetry for you?
a. Both are very important to me, though writing far more than reading, writing poetry has become an extension of myself, and a way through which I live and process life. I don’t even want to imagine a world in which I’m no longer able to express myself to my journal, or experiment with words to create stories and paint emotion. Reading poetry is something I do more leisurely, or for inspiration. A good book of poems can entirely flip my mood and drive my creation for weeks to come, so it’s important for me to keep a constant stream of input. But the output of poetry has become a necessity.
Order your copy of Quarantined Thoughts Today!
Within this book, you will find pages scarred with battles and trials. The remnants of a journal that became a battlefield between race, mental health, doubt, and a raging pandemic. Pages that were doused with emotion then razed by subsequent droughts. You will be taken into the mind of an author who wasn't sure if the world was crumbling around him, or if he was the one falling apart. This is the result of a heart, mind and soul that could no longer stay in quarantine - dance into the abyss that lies behind closed doors and closed eyes.Quarantined Thoughts is a collection of poems written by Jean-Sebastien Surena during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. Each poem is dated and split by seasons to show how the passage of time played a role in his developing story.