Kathie Giorgio: “The photo on the cover was taken by my husband. And Olivia and I are in the pages. This book is an entire love affair of a family who believed in the impossible.”
Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? Well, I’m going to look at this as my writing the entire book, since the whole book was an emotional experience. My daughter Olivia, now almost 22 years old, was diagnosed as autistic when she was three. She still wasn’t talking at that point, and we were told that she would likely never talk, and that she would likely never appear to recognize us either. My husband and I are writers; the idea of a child without words was devastating. But even as we were told this, we didn’t really believe it. Olivia already interacted with us in her own way. She looked directly at us. She made vocalizations that sounded like conversation. So we decided to follow Olivia’s lead.
April is Autism Awareness Month, and it’s also National Poetry Month. When Olivia was just starting high school, I decided that I would devote the month of April to writing a poem a day about her and about autism. And I wanted it to be the truth. There were sad poems to write, and funny poems, and poems that were just bursting with pride. I deliberately chose the haiku because I didn’t want any of the poems to be effusive – just stripped down to pure Olivia. And that’s what I got.
Click on the below link to read about Autism Awareness Month
https://www.autism-society.org/archive/get-involved/national-autism-awareness-month/
Click on the below link to read about National Poetry Month
https://nationaltoday.com/national-poetry-month/
https://poets.org/national-poetry-month
Click on the below link to purchase OLIVIA IN FIVE SEVEN FIVE from Finishing Line Press
Where were you when you started to actually write the poetry collection? And please describe the place in great detail. I was here, in my office. My office is the place in my home that is the most purely me. My desk is a British teacher’s table from the 1800s. I write at it, but I also teach, and so it’s a tribute to those two passions. There is brilliant artwork on the walls, colorful and bright. There are my books, my own books. And I’ve just added this poetry book to the mix. There is usually a cat or two and my dog around as well.
What do you want readers to take from this poetry collection? I want them to know that autism is not a life sentence. And I want them to know that they need to look at their children as individuals, and they need to make their school systems look at their children as individuals. Autism is a spectrum, which means like snowflakes, no two children are alike. We need to talk directly to the kids, to find out what they need. We need to watch them, mimic them, learn how they learn. Olivia has embraced her autism. She is such an amazing young woman. From not speaking, to being a Dean’s List student in college in her senior year, and a member of a national honor society.
Which part of the poetry collection was the most emotional of you to write and why? Honestly, the hardest part of the book to write was the introduction. I read it recently, to a gathering of my students, and to my surprise, I choked up. The (one sentence from the) introduction really does show the journey, and how difficult and wonderful it’s been. Olivia stood by my side at that reading, and so right next to me was the destination.
“This little chapbook holds a mother’s love and grief, a child’s challenges, and triumph.
When I decided to offer this collection up for publication to Finishing Line Press, I asked Olivia if she would add a poem to the end, a sort of Olivia point of view on autism. She did. And it is one of my favorite poems in the book.
WATCHING IN AWE
Her shirt says, “I can.”
It says, “And I will.” On back,
“Watch me.” Oh, I do.
Click on “Home” to visit Kathie Giorgio’s website.
Most of the BACKSTORY OF THE POEM links can be found at the very end of the below feature:
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/02/will-justice-drakes-intercession-is-251.html