Interview with Writer Samiya Akram

Today I got to know the writer, Samiya Akram. She says ‘Poetry is something that I use to articulate my feelings into words. It comes naturally from my heart and whenever I finish a poem, I feel irrevocably calm. It is a respectable form of art and I feel that it is one of the most powerful forms of writing. Few words can invoke a range of emotions and that is something that I intend to do”.

Her first collection was self-published in  April 2023. It is called ‘Heart and Soul’ and is a collection of poetry on the themes of love and heart break. It is now available on all Amazon marketplaces. ‘Her second book ‘The sunflower’ will  come out this year in March..’ It is indeed very overwhelming.’

She says,‘‘the sunflower’ is kind of a story in the form of poetry. In the quiet corners of every heart, a story unfolds—a tale of love and heartbreak. In a world where names are mere labels, this certain girl found hers to be a whispered promise, Sunflower, from her believed soulmate. But as seasons shifted, the symbol of warmth transformed into a painful reminder. Within these verses, her soul's poetry reveals a radiant bloom, only to witness its withering in life's harsh storms”.

When not writing poetry , Samiya reads a lot, across all genres. ‘I’m always reading some other book. It is such an amazing form of escapism”.

“As I said before, I read a lot so sometimes I get some good poetry prompts from books itself. But something that inspires me the most is music. Two of the artists I admire most are- Taylor Swift and Lana Del Ray. Their songs and lyrics have given me a lot of inspiration. In fact, I’ve included some lyrics of Taylor in my books. ‘the sunflower’ has a whole playlist (Taylor’s Version). Besides this, I am also inspired by the people around me.”

She has one piece of advice for writers :“Write! I’ve seen people start an idea, wonderful ones I might add, but they don’t have enough motivation to drive them through”.

She says “I never started writing with the intention of publishing one day. Once I had ample amount of pieces that looked good to me, I decided to categorize them into themes and make a book. So the best advice is to write as much as you can. Write on days you feel good/bad/motivated and just do as you like. Don’t compare yourself to other authors out there, they were once at your stage and for them also, it took a lot of time, trust me”.

When I asked if she had favorite poem she had written. She couldn’t choose. It’s a writer’s least favorite question. “I don’t have favorites actually but there are some poems which are very close to my heart. Our story, Dear love, Silence, Lies of Politeness and You Wouldn’t Know are some of the earliest pieces I wrote and they may be called as my favorites”

Samiya has a busy year ahead of her. She is planning on releasing two new books: ‘the sunflower’ that is coming out in March and another project sheis  also working on. On top of all that she will be finishing school and looking to get into a good grad school.

Samiya has been writing short stories since she was seven but she didn’t start to dabble in poetry until 15. She published her first book at 17 and by March she’ll be eighteen with two books in her name.

“It’s hard to judge your own poems because they are all special to me in some way or the other. But whenever I hold a pen, I make it clear to myself that whatever I come up with, it should resonate with my readers. They should FEEL something. I’m currently working on figures of speech. It is very fascinating to me when a poet uses metaphors and personifications to give a message. I’d like to do the same. “

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