Local author navigates way into beautiful print

Years ago I suffered from a three-year bout of bibliophilia. I fell in love with books, many for purely superficial reasons.

Sometimes it was because of the quality of the paper or the font on the binding, but most often it was just because of the cover. (I know that's strange because of all those years being told never to judge books that way). The quality of the actual writing usually compared well to the cover too.

Thanks to Edmonton artist Izabela Ciechanowska, Navigating Chaos has such an enticement. The hand-drawn cover shows a woman with curves and curls standing against a forest and starry-sky backdrop, the flowers in her hands seemingly floating off into the ether.

It's a good thing St. Albert's Sandra Mooney-Ellerbeck is a writer. She has some great words to describe how much she loves that image and what it means to the success of the end product.

“Izabela's artwork is just fabulous! I think it's drawing people in,” the St. Albert author said. The Poet's Ink member is one of the three writers who contributed to the book, and she has an intrinsic knowledge of how much hard work it takes to put together even a thin chapbook like this. She said that led to her navigating chaos, like making a seven-course meal without a single recipe, but the origin of the book's theme was more universal.

“Each day of our lives we navigate chaos, whether it is within the chaos of a job, relationship, an ambition, physical illness or emotional turmoil,” she explained. “There are many roads to chaos on this planet and we continue to find ourselves travelling different ones at different times of our lives.”

As a writer, the day-to-day concerns often stray from the artistic.

“Getting published takes as much time as actually writing. Say you go on a six-month writing [project], it will take you six months to a year to get some of that published. And you're not going to get it all published. As a writer you're always seeking those markets. The other key is to seek the markets that your work is going to fit in.”

She added that sometimes you also have to take matters into your own hands. The other contributors, Ron Kurt and ky perraun, were frustrated with traditional publishers so they started up their own chapbook production venture.

“We could have sat there and taken a couple of years to get this chapbook published by someone in B.C. … but they chose to just do it themselves to get it out now.”

The big risk has proven successful as the first run is almost a complete sell-out and a second printing has already been scheduled.

Mooney-Ellerbeck recalls when she has had to step away from employment in order to further her passion.

“I just thought that is exactly how I felt. If you're in a job that's fuelling your creativity then you're able to create. If you're in a job that deadens your creativity, you're dead. It's like your whole brain shuts down.”

To promote the publication, there will be a live reading from the book on Feb. 22 at Upper Crust Café, located at 10909 86 Ave. Edmonton. It starts at 7 p.m. and the $5 admission covers coffee, tea and a variety of desserts.