Memoir, book of poems document Lafayette family’s journey

A Newberg publisher’s recent release of a book of poems and a complementary novel by a Lafayette author details in prose her family’s journey both physically and spiritually.

Bethany Lee’s “Close to the Surface," released in late May by the Fernwood Press, documents Lee, her husband and her two children’s journey by sailboat from Washington to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. “The Coracle and the Copper Bell: Poems to Carry Skin and Soul” is a book of poems based on the journey as well.

“However, ‘Close to the Surface’ is much more than simple documentation,” said Emma Radebaugh, a marketing representative at Fernwood Press. “The journey represents a leap of faith and willingness to turn life upside down. Lee describes ‘the intention to live wide awake,’ and that’s exactly what she and family do. Through complicated logistics, dangerous weather and uncertainty at every turn, they commit to the journey and all it entails.”

A release from the press adds that Lee, inspired by her journey at sea in crafting "The Coracle," “writes these poems as vessels for inner exploration, using beautiful imagery that moves with the music of waves and dance and flight.”

“Writing a poem often feels like transcribing a piece of music,” Lee said. “I believe it’s part of my job as a poet to find ways to express my experiences, to listen to my subconscious and notate the songs of my soul on the page. If it seems right, I share that work with others."

Lee said that adding a memoir to her book of poems proved to be an unfamiliar, and sometimes uncomfortable, experience.

“Some days it felt overwhelming to imagine I could begin to do justice to all of our experiences,” she said. “I worried that it wouldn’t ever feel finished, that I would want to keep fussing with every sentence. I wondered if I would do all the work of writing it and then no one would ever read it.”

Ultimately, however, Lee sought in writing the novel to simply encourage readers to be as present in their own lives as possible.

“When I started writing ‘Close to the Surface,’ I would have felt uncomfortable with the idea of hoping it inspired readers,” she said. “I didn’t want people to read our story and feel distanced from or disappointed by their own lives. It took me a long time to remember the etymology of the word ‘inspire,’ which comes from a root word meaning ‘to breathe’ or ‘to inhale.’ I thought of the ways that all sorts of beauty — art, nature, relationships, stories — help us take a deep breath and lean into our own lives more fully.

The books are available for purchase via Fernwood Press at tinyurl.com/sm6f3p2r and the Barclay Press Bookstore at tinyurl.com/ys4mb246 .