Sadie Keegan will be opening the Beer and Poetry Open Mic in Sioux Falls at the Full Circle Book Co-op.

The open mic is this Saturday, January 5th from 8:00 pm till 11:00 pm, Sadie will also be releasing her first poetry book.

I asked Sadie about the new book, her writing, and seeing the book through it's publication.

When did you first fall in love with writing?

middle school. I’ve  always had an inclination for English and writing. It wasn’t until high school that I started writing poems and journaling though. I had a teacher in high school that required weekly journal entries, I think that’s where it all started.

What’s the name of the book and what’s the meaning behind the name? 

“Manna” it’s basically the Eucharist or “body of Christ” although i don’t practice Catholicism any more. I met a man when I was living in Iowa City, Iowa and he described manna metaphorically as  any form of spiritual nourishment that you need to grow as an individual.

Is there a theme to the poetry in your book or a type of reader you know will connect with the poems?

a lot of my poems are about self realization, growth and intimacy. There’s not a targeted reader, I feel like a lot of people can relate to what I write.

When and why did you start writing this book?

I started writing the poems towards September of 2017. I had just gotten out of a very tough relationship, suffered loss, and pain. That was what gave me the jolt to really get back into poetry, I also had been introduced to Sion Lidster with the blot collective and his independent publishing biz, so I decided to reach out to him and give him my idea on my book!

What was the hardest part about finishing this book?

I had like 50 poems to choose from that I had written in a very short amount of time and figuring out what ones went together to really get the ebb and flow of the book. Thankfully Sion was really good at doing that. Shout out to him!

If you could have lunch with three authors living or dead who would you eat with and what restaurant would you bring them to?

Tupac. (I know he’s not an author but one of my favorite poets and lyricist)

Maya Angelou.

Ntazoke Shange.

I’d take them to Full Circle Book Co-op here in Sioux Falls. I want somewhere we could talk and enjoy each other’s company.

Do you have any advice for anyone who has a book inside of them they would like to write?

Just do it, I know a lot of people write books with the intentions  of targeting a certain audience or they focus on whether or not the people are going to like it. Forget everyone but yourself when writing a book, it makes you all the more confident. Your words will reach who it should.

Do you see yourself publishing more books in the future and will they also be poetry books?

Yes! Am currently working on book number 2!

Where can people pick up your book? 

You can contact me personally or stop by Full Circle Book Co-op!

Sadie Keegan
Photo by Jason Kurtz
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