Guest Feature – Annick Yerem – Patricia M Osborne

I’m delighted to invite Annick Yerem, a fellow Hedgehog Poetry Press poet, over to Patricia’s Pen for the first time. Annick is not only a poet but also founder of a new poetry press. She is here to tell you more about her writing so without further ado, it’s over to Annick.

My Writing

Annick Yerem

Thank you so much for inviting me, Patricia!

Writing found me again at the end of 2019. The year before, I had started taking care of my parents, who had both become very ill. The plan was originally to write a book about the German care system, how to apply for things, very matter-of-fact. But after one session with Nancy Wigglesworth, a wonderful coach, there was suddenly a poem in my head, called Things I Cannot Tell My Children. It was also the first time I wrote in English, not in German. I ended up on Twitter early 2020, made videos of readings and met Tanya Shadrick and Ankh Spice, the best mentors I could have hoped for.

The writing of my book, St Eisenberg and The Sunshine Bus, wasn´t a conscious decision at first, but most of the poems I wrote were about my father and it helped me to brave the situation which was heartbreaking and tragic. So at some point, I decided to tell a part of his story with this book and when The Hedgehog Poetry Press agreed to publish it, things fell into place. My father died in 2020, the book was published in 2022. It is more or less his eulogy.

To start the whole writing process again, which in my case is not stringent, but very haphazard, has meant a lot more than the writing itself. As a chronically ill person, I had become quite isolated where I live and the writing and what came with, changed all that in the course of the last three years. To be part of a community, to create something out of what felt hopeless and sad, has meant the world to me.

It also gave me the courage not only to write my book, but to found Sídhe Press in order to promote and lift up other poets’ work. It is something that I have found do-able as I can go ahead at my own pace. I have been fortunate to work with fantastic co-editors and poets like Mo Schoenfeld, Larissa Reid and Sarah Connor, with many more like Sue Finch to come. In 2020, I decided to walk through every door that opened for me, to try out everything and not be worried about failure, however that may be defined.

This has meant that at times, I have overwhelmed myself a little, but most of the time, it has been life-enhancing and so enriching. People can be dismissive about social media and tell you it´s not real. But we are, of course, real people and we can make real connections there that become part of our fabric and of what we work with and what we write about.

Looking at my bookshelves now fills me with immense joy: all these amazing people I have met that have entered my formerly solitary existence, all these words that they have given to me and that I have hopefully given to them. It is quite something to be a part of that.

About Annick Yerem

Annick Yerem is a German/ Scottish poet based in Berlin. She has an adult son and a senior dog. Annick has been published in wonderful places like iamb, The Dirigible Ballon, River Mouth Review, Eat The Storms, Open Collab and Anti-Heroin Chic. Her book, St. Eisenberg and the Sunshine Bus, was published in 2022 with Hedgehog Press UK. She is a member of the Flaming Flower Society and the EIC of Sídhe Press. Annick is a renowned cake spy.

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