Corina Sferdenschi Interview Published on: 23, Jan 2025

I vaguely recall watching a love story on tv and I was so touched by it that my first poem, albeit childish in nature, came out so easily. It was a love poem.

I think the metaphors and imagery I currently use in the new poems I am writing are far more mature than they were even 5 years ago. I went from being a bit immature and naive in my expression and expectation of life and love, to being very complex and multifaceted.

The catalyst was the pandemic. Without realizing it, I had compiled a couple of notebooks of various poems written at different stages of my life since my teenage years, for fun. During the pandemic I had a very difficult time in my personal life, so I decided to start writing a poetry book about the stages that I went through at that time, as well as the lessons that I have learned throughout that experience.

It was much easier to comb through earlier works and select or modify specific poems. Shards of Self is a bit like a self-help book and, although I am very proud of it, I do find some of the poems to be a bit immature and simplistic in their expression. Writing new material these days is far more daunting because it is more complex. I am no longer writing as a defense mechanism for coping with disappointments and heartbreak, but rather a more logically constructed project from beginning to end. I am currently slowly putting together a brand new book of poems so we will see which direction it will take.

It takes a lot of courage to put those emotions out for the world to read about and to see. Most writers and artists use vulnerability to create timeless pieces by tapping into their inner feelings and allowing the audience to also reunite with those hidden or denied emotions. By looking at art or reading poetry/stories, it allows people to step into their innermost forgotten intimacy.

The pandemic was the reason this book and concept was born in the first place. I was in a very bad place in my life, in a terrible relationship, unhappy on many levels and I realized I was broken into many shards or pieces so I wrote about the process of putting myself back together. Being at home gave me more time to work on it and due to the highly volatile and emotional time we all experienced, the poems came together very easily.

I chose artwork that aligns with the idea behind each chapter of my poetry book. This also taps into the concept I created last year which is about using conglomerate forms of interpretation in art and their respective effects on what the audience perceives or feels in a given moment as they go through that artistic experience (whether that is looking at a painting or reading something).

Most of the artists who inspired me to write in this manner are Asian, so I think in a way I tend to mirror the asian way of thinking and living, to a limited extent of course.

I think painting can influence my poetry, although I have separated the two as of late. I think my other forms of expression can be seen as a creative escape more than a direct influence.

The most rewarding part was hearing people relate to my experiences and how my books helped them in some capacity to overcome a problem or simply as an escape from reality.

I look at quality over quantity so I choose poems that can resonate on multiple levels with the audience and those that carry more complex messages.

Traveling opens our eyes to the world around us and gives us the opportunity to discover different ways of life. In a way it puts things in perspective and I always felt inspired to create more after a meaningful trip. However, I haven’t had any meaningful trips lately so I look forward to the future when I can use traveling as a means of artistic inspiration.

My biggest growth is happening now as I am turning 40 this year. When I read what I write these days, I notice a big transformation in my understanding of myself and how to extrapolate the complexity of my thoughts through a poem or through art.

My next book will be more complex in my approach to writing poetry. I plan to create something that will be pleasant to read yet thought-provoking at the same time. I will stick to just poetry for my book, no art but maybe something purely artistic will also be in the works. For now this is all I can say!

I think the website is a great avenue to create more awareness, especially for newcomers like myself. I can’t say that more people have found my books yet or bought them because it is very hard to step into his industry when you are not known but I hope this interview will give readers a bit more insight into my books and art.