IN a bid to promote self-empowerment among women and girls, award-winning poet Tarik Braithwaite is set to release a new poetry book, “The Art of Blooming.”

Braithwaite in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle said that the book which will be available on March 8, in celebration of International Women’s Day, will feature a series of free-form and haiku poems, all aimed at empowering individuals to be the best versions of themselves.

The young man, who is an attorney by profession, further stated that he wanted to dedicate the book to women across the world who continue to fight with societal ideologies and other challenges of life.

“So, I did this book specifically to contribute towards International Women’s Day and it’s an empowerment book and it’s going to focus on empowering women to stand up against all odds.”
The book, he said, focuses on discussing the struggles women face in society through the world of poetry and prose.

The central idea of the book is to highlight the good and the bad of going through a positive transformation or metamorphosis in life.

“I thought about that moment of transitioning, I wanted to do a project or dedicate a project to uplifting women,” he said, adding: “The title of the book which is basically the rising and fall before you can reach to a place of transition — you can simply think of it as a caterpillar going through the stages of metamorphosis and reaching to the point of transforming into a butterfly.”

The book targets persons who may just need a bit of motivation to get through each day and anyone now learning to live in his/ her truth by overcoming life’s many challenges.

Additionally, the book will also feature two other Guyanese poets/authors, Donella Nicholson and Shamire Frank. This, he said, is a “bonus feature” to promote other Guyanese writers across the globe.
Braithwaite, who has been writing since a lad, has always had a knack for penning his thoughts on paper and perfecting his craft.

Last year, the book was nominated for the TCK publishing readers’ choice award and it was successful in securing second place in the award under the best general fictions category.

TCK Publishing is an independent book publisher that publishes mass-market fiction and non-fiction. The company hosts a yearly competition whereby readers are given the choice to select a body of work which they believe is outstanding.

To purchase a copy of the book persons can visit Amazon and search, “The Art of Blooming” Tarik Braithwaite or the Book Hub, locally.