This month on the book page of the Catholic Post, I tried something a little different. Instead of “Meet a Reader,” in which I interview a local reader, I featured two local writers, and why they love to write. On the blog, there are not space considerations, so I’m able to feature the longer answers and my mini-reviews.
Today I’m featuring Matt Pope, author of a slim but beautifully inspiring poetry-novel called Emily’s Verse. The book is a little hard to describe–it might sound strange, a novel in the form of poems–but Emily’s Verse is easy to read and quite moving, with a pro-life message that is well-done and powerful.
Enjoy!
Today I’m featuring Matt Pope, author of a slim but beautifully inspiring poetry-novel called Emily’s Verse. The book is a little hard to describe–it might sound strange, a novel in the form of poems–but Emily’s Verse is easy to read and quite moving, with a pro-life message that is well-done and powerful.
Enjoy!
Who: Matt Pope
How You Know Me: I work as a copy machine repair technician, and write in my spare time. My wife Mandy, a teacher at Holy Cross school in Champaign, and I have two small children, and our family attends St. Patrick’s parish in Urbana.
Why I love writing; I love writing because it gives me the opportunity to introduce potential readers to the pantheon of characters that are running around in my head. As writers we see the world around us in a slightly different vein, we see potential characters and story lines. This is the way of a writer and part of the reason why I love to write. The other reason I love to write is because it is who I am as a person. I have always been scribbling things down in notebooks for as long as I can remember. No with the advent of the smart phone, my little notebook has been replaced, but the outcome is still the same.
My current book; My current book is Emily’s Verse, a book in poem form about the full, rich, long lifethat “could have been” of an aborted baby.
This book had been bouncing around in my head for the better part of 2 years. I really put off writing, EV because I was working on other projects. My hopes for this book would be that as young women read this book as possible. I would be proud if this book saved the life of one baby, but I think that it has the potential to save many babies.
What I am Writing next: Since I have a 2 and a 4 year old at home, my next project is a book of poetry for little kids. Little rhythmical poems that make kids laugh, and introduce them to God at the same time.
I work at the Gladney Center for Adoption in Fort Worth, Texas. I see the beautiful results of growing families through adoption when a young lady is faced with an unplanned pregnancy. This book of poems can be a powerful tool when given to a young woman who is choosing to be intimate with a young man, in the hopes of helping her make difficult decisions if faced with pregnancy. For those who are pastors, ministers, clergy, counselors and teachers this is a must for your office or classroom library.