Nov. 12 marks National Journalism Day, which is also known as National Day of Writing, and an English critic and writer by the name of Clive Barnes once said, “I am convinced that anyone can be a great writer.” With that, millions of books are written and hundreds of thousands are published daily. Whatever genre you like to read, I’m sure there’s a great book out there by an unknown author just waiting to be read. As a reader and a writer, I love discovering new books and new authors. Here are some of my favorites you probably have not heard of.
Savannah Brown
Savannah Brown is an author that got her start on YouTube when she went viral for doing spoken word poetry. Brown, originally from Ohio self-published her first book, a poetry collection, titled “Graffiti (and other poems),” which was a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards at the age of 19 when she moved to London. Brown then went on to write a novel titled “The Truth About Keeping Secrets,” and on Oct. 8, she released her latest poetry collection, titled “Sweetdark,” which “explores the transience of existence, the pursuit of vulnerability, pleasure, chaos and the dichotomy of a life wholly experienced, full of so much darkness and so much sweetness, sometimes in the same breath,” according to Brown. Since I discovered her, Brown has been an inspiration to me to become the writer I know I can be. If you’re interested in poetry that questions the reasons we are here and what our purpose is, I recommend reading these collections.
Alix E. Harrow
The first time I heard of Alix E. Harrow, a Hugo Award-winning American science fiction and fantasy writer, was in an email from Barnes and Noble that was promoting her novel “The Ten Thousand Doors of January.” With a beautiful cover (though I know you shouldn’t judge books by their cover) and an interesting description, I knew I had to pick this book up. Once I started reading, I really could not put it down. The novel tells the story of a young girl named January who, because of the color of her skin, is seen as an oddity and is under the watchful eye of her caretaker Cornelius Locke who collects artifacts and oddities. In this magical world, January travels through mysterious doors in search of her family. This year, Harrow released a new novel, titled “The Once and Future Witches,” which tells the tale of three sisters who fight to break the restrictions placed upon them by turning to witchcraft. If you like stories of magic, sprinkled with historical fiction, Alix E. Harrow is an author to check out.
Alex Grey
You may know Alex Grey as a visual artist who does performance art, process art, installation art, sculpture, visionary art, and painting on spirituality and the human body, but he is also an author. While most of his books only include images of his artworks, Grey’s “The Mission of Art,” talks about the spiritual power of art and the spiritual power of the artist. The book “Art Psalms” then combines poems, mystic rants and pictures that guide the reader in fusing visionary creativity and spirituality. If you’re on a journey of self-discovery and are a fan of detailed psychedelic art, Alex Grey is an author that could help you on your journey.
Bonus: You
As Barnes said, anyone has the potential to be a great writer. All they need to do is pick up a paper and pencil — or just open a document on a computer — and get to writing. Perhaps, the greatest story out there just hasn’t been written yet. Perhaps, it is you that is supposed to write it. All writers had to start somewhere, inspired by something in their day-to-day life. Look around you. What inspires you? Maybe you should write about it.
