MY INSPIRATION: Christopher Paul Cook

North Shields poet Christopher Paul Cook is a prolific creator who’s currently working alongside local publisher All Write Up North to present a series of poetry books based around a variety of themes under the series title: A Random Recall. Each book contains 15 individual and unrelated poems based around each OF… theme, and covering topics including love, fear, surprise, regret, sadness and hope. They will be coming out each month both as e books on Kindle and paperback.

Here, he tells us more about his inspirations behind his work.

“I have always been, ever since a young age, passionate about the arts, in particular fine. As when getting older interest’s for those of culture and expression have emerged and grown also. I love if not in fact live and breath for the media staples of film, television, poster and online advertisements and a major appreciation for photography. Especially how it can be incorporated towards all mentioned previous.

“All of which are integral in one’s own involvement in graphic design.

“But it is through the experiences personally faced in the more recent years of my life that has enriched all these elements when combined. From the hobby of films through to the battles with mental health.

“And that there is the inspirational overarch of this book series. It is during my time as a hospital inpatient, trying to be a person again after almost a decade of not living but merely existing as a walking toxic illness. The vile tyrant of Anorexia Nervosa, that dismantled the existence of I and all those I love that watched and pleaded.

“I plead to everyone effected by an eating disorder, or any addiction, to talk about it and their inner feelings. To never bottle it up and let it catastrophise. 

“To talk is recognition of the problem and a desire to change, hopefully for the better. And it was whilst learning this for my self and relearning how to eat, drink and sleep, that I started to outlet and vent the turmoil built up through poetry.

“Sitting in a side bedroom or lounge or meal area to the sensual feeling of recent heartache and pain plus reminiscing happier memories of times past, heard stories from others lifetime’s and the imaging of fictional stories, being put into words and phrases.

“So to this series of books published through All Write Up North, run by Dean Jolly and close to where I am from and still live. Along the coastline near Newcastle Upon Tyne. 

“There will be six released overall under the umbrella title ‘A Random Recall’. A reference to the tonal setup of as if someone coming across an abandoned box in the basement filled with letters and journals. All items contained are individual with no relation when opened and read, but all are linked by an underlying theme of the same emotion, i.e. love, surprise, sadness etc.

“Each month one will be available to purchase, each revealing fifteen of these individual poems. They will be OF LOVE, OF FEAR, OF SURPRISE, OF REGRET, OF SADNESS and OF HOPE.

The purposes of representing such is so one if not all can relate to the reader.

“The first part OF LOVE was released in February and the next part OF FEAR will be made available at the end of March.”