Poet Fenia G. On Her Book SPOUT Ahead of Book Launch Tomorrow (Dec 2)

Poet and spoken word artist Fenia G. will be holding her poetry book launch for SPOUT: A Poetry Memoir tomorrow (Dec 2) at Golden Weasel at 4pm. A regular reader at Spittoon and spoken word events, if you’ve ever seen Fenia on stage, you’ll certainly remember her rhythmic and powerful performance.

SPOUT: A Poetry Memoir combines poetry with art and even live recordings of her performing the poems thanks to QR codes linked to SoundCloud, creating a completely immersive experience. Ahead of the book launch tomorrow we talked to Fenia to find out more about the book and what she has planned for the launch. 

How long have you been writing poetry, and how did you first get started?
Well, I learned like most kids in grade school. I wrote off and on like journaling, but didn’t pay close attention to poetry until recently. I wrote more consistently in 2021, here in Beijing, especially after the “pandemonium”. I needed a mode of expression that felt quick and communicative. It helped that there were places to perform, so I increasingly practiced my process. 

You mentioned your process, do you mean your spoken word, is there a difference between that and other types of poetry?
A part of my process is writing, performing, and re-writing, based on the mood I feel from the audience. It also helped me figure out if what I wanted to communicate was clear.  Sometimes that meant I’d rewrite words, other times it meant I’d perform it differently. The “spoken word” is another way to say performed poetry. The focus is on the delivery as much as the words delivered. There’s lots of rhythm and wordplay to create an experience and connection to the audience. 

The book is called SPOUT: A Poetry Memoir can you explain a bit about the name “SPOUT” and why you’ve chosen to call it a “Poetry Memoir”?
I originally wanted to call it “A Quarter Life Crises”, just to be funny. It felt like I was spilling everything out in almost an unfiltered messiness. Yeah, so SPOUT is just pouring out of all these feelings about my life, in a poetic format. There’s also this flow that I have to create when I perform pieces. Like water from a spout. “spout” also sounds a bit like spit it out, which I like. Overall, the pieces are pretty personal, even though I didn’t organize them to alienate. I think that’s what a standard memoir might do because a reader is required to go through the whole text. You can open the spout when you want it or need it. 

This is the “Extended Edition”, how does it differ from the first edition?
I added some other poems that I didn’t include in the first print. I really had to push myself to print the first version or I would have done nothing. It’s silly because it's like the first print doesn’t exist, but that’s special too because it's the first first. So, whoever got those first ones really does have the first editions. 

Without giving any spoilers, what can readers expect from your book?
It's both an unconventional poetry book and an unconventional memoir so I’d say spoilers are difficult to give away. I would hope it can be a contained experience and that a reader would feel connected to some of the pieces.  They might want to read some poems out loud themselves, share the fun ones, ruminate on the deep ones or listen to the moving ones.

I love the cover art and art throughout the book, which was also done by you partly using AI, can you talk about the idea behind them and how you created them?
They’re all inspired from this junk journal I started a year or two ago. It's almost like throwing materials onto a page, and accepting the mess, until you see something that makes sense. It’s very collage and mixed media and also very satisfying; the more time spent consuming the more intention I’m trying to create. It's been a good metaphor for my journey. Process wise, I’d say I did more direction and editing on the final images. AI’s image generation is still controversial, but really useful if you're willing to play around with your words (prompts) to create your vision. I had to be pretty intentional about what I wanted to convey, and what each of the pieces might represent to a viewer. So, I used Dall E 3 to help bridge the gap between my natural art style and something that would translate well in digital or print. I did the most editing and time on the cover, but all the images had many iterations beforehand.   

There are QR codes throughout the book. Can you explain a bit about these?
There’s one for each chapter of the book, and they take you to a corresponding SoundCloud where you can listen to the audio performances of most of the poems. It seemed more appropriate to have the audio available considering I perform the poems.  

You’re having the book release on Saturday, what do you have in store for the event?
The original intent of the poems is to be read and performed, so that’s the majority of the event. It's the fun part. There are some interactive pieces, some funny, some emotional. My book will be available for purchase there, and I will be signing and answering questions. I’ll also be sharing related projects, one of which is a creative writing workshop. 

If people are unable to make it to the book launch is there another way for them to buy the book?
Of course, if they are in China they can contact me directly by scanning the flier and I can mail a copy. If you see me performing at a poetry event I will likely have a few copies, so you can just ask. You can purchase a digital copy on Kindle, or a print copy on Amazon by typing in “SPOUT: A Poetry Memoir". Reviews on Amazon and Good Reads are very much appreciated. For more updates follow @Spout.poetry on Insta and request to join the SPOUT Poetry Group. 

Lastly, do you have any words of advice for other fellow aspiring poets in Beijing?
Write for yourself, ignore all the rules. Write what feels right, at least until you feel comfortable with your own voice and process. Then start experimenting and writing for others. Also, the expat community is small so take the opportunity to create what you desire. Not every community and space allows you to just try. So try. 

Fenia G.'s book launch for SPOUT: A Poetry Memoir will be happening tomorrow, Dec 2 at Golden Weasel from 4-6pm. Copies of the book are RMB 100 and can be purchased by scanning the QR code in the poster above or by searching for  “SPOUT: A Poetry Memoir" on Amazon.

READ: 63 Events and Happenings in the ‘Jing This Weekend (Dec 1-3)

Images: courtesy of Fenia G.