\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I just wanted to share my emotions,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Marke, who lives in East Arlington, Jacksonville, Florida.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Then he began to write fiction, based largely on his experiences growing up in a war-torn country. Every time he wrote, the pain went away. When he took long breaks from writing, the pain returned.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I suppose it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like meditating,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I guess I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m meant to<\/strong> write. It seems to heal me somehow.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
He discusses how writing improves his health in a chapter in his latest book, Harvest of Hate – Stories and Essays: Fuel for the Soul. The chapter was also posted by a few news-and-views online magazines under the title \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Travail of an Immigrant Writer.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an excerpt:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Eventually, I developed my own pain management technique and therapy. A soothing voice within once spoke to me. For a while, I only exercised disdain to its call. It was compelling, peaceful and truly transforming. Eventually, I obeyed it and began to write poetry and inspirational stories. This experience was a rare therapeutic journey that relieved my pain.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Now Marke tells others about his secret therapy. He suggests to friends and readers that they could try expressing themselves in writing as well. Everyone, he says, has a song inside, which he says is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the voice of the soul.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Can a bird exist without a song?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he asks in Harvest of Hate.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just not good for people to keep strong emotions bottled up inside,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Expressing these smoldering emotions lightens the load. And you might be surprised how interesting and powerful what you have to say really is.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Harvest of Hate (Publish America) is a collection of Stories and Essays delivering a bare-knuckled look at greed, conflicts, the child soldiers of Africa, girl victims of an enduring slave trade, the global effects of terrorism on humanity and even the cultural ugliness exposed by Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n
Marke grew up speaking Krio, a sort of African Creole passed down through the generations. He says he listened to the BBC everyday to learn \u00e2\u20ac\u0153proper\u00e2\u20ac\u009d English. Marke is also the author of two collections of poetry: Teardrops Keep Falling, published in 2003 by Minuteman Press, and Silver Rain and Blizzard, which was published last year by Publish America.<\/p>\n
Marke, who was a school teacher for 10 years in Africa, has also published numerous articles and stories \u00c2\u00a0nationally and internationally over the past decade. He came to the United States in 1990 with $20 in his pocket and says much of his writing is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153therapy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to help soothe his own soul, scarred by growing up on a continent of perpetually warring nations.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Somehow when you let your buried emotions surface, sort them out and share them with others in the form of a poem or story, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very healing,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s amazing that the peace I now enjoy can be shared with others.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s working on a memoir. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve written a lot of it in my head,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Now I just have to put it on paper.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Just the thought, he said, makes him feel good.<\/p>\n
review by John Carter, USA<\/p>\n
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