By Author,
Irene Sutherland
Verse has flowed from my subconscious mind since teenaged days of riding city trains and buses, bringing me an outlet and clarity. Any scrap piece of paper would do before cellphones existed.
Bee was created from my middle name, Bernadette, which I share with my mother. The story’s character is loosely based on my own life, beginning with birth in Canada. When the pandemic hit in 2020, I thought, Why not start publishing from the perspective of conception through infancy? I’ll develop a series to take children all the way into adulthood.
Free To Be Me whimsically captures my delight in nature and travel. As I emigrated to Maui in 1992, the Hawaiian flair now comes naturally. I have immersed myself in the language and arts of this isolated island chain for over 30 years, dancing hula since 1994, journeying worldwide to share its messages of love, history, and science. I have also served for several terms as Board of Directors’ Secretary for our umbrella organization, Ka ‘Imi Na’au ao O Hawai’i Nei Institute. Ka Imi website
Coming Soon, Book 2:
Free As A Boat On The Sea
This is an anthropomorphized version of a 59-day, round trip voyage from Lahaina, Maui to French Polynesia in 2020. I began illustrating and composing the verse as we were leaving Hawaii behind. The idea came to me when I realized that 4 of the passengers and crew were dogs in Chinese astrology, and 1 a rooster. And Bee from Book 1 is there following along from start to finish.
Drawing the detailed images of life on board a moving ship is rather challenging, so most of the lines and coloring were done after completing the remarkable passage from Marquesas back home, the very route that ancient peoples made in their double-hulled canoes. I used my diary entries to keep the story true to reality. Then I added a fantastical shapeshifting element that will challenge readers to imagine the characters changing form at will, as their moods inevitably do.