Romanced by The Girl Who Cries Wolf

As the modern world evolves, the popularity of poetry books has been on the rise. A good amount of poets work now get exposure through social media. Tumblr, an array of images ranging from nature to quotes, to everything, is a site that has generated a lot of attention for poets. Show casing all categories of artwork, Tumblr serves as a homepage for writer and artist Lang Leav.

A winner of the Qantas Spirit of Youth Award and a Churchill Fellowship, Lang has taken her work all over the world from Australia, the United States, Japan and beyond. Her artwork has been seen in exhibits at the Andy Warhol Museum in the Playboy Redux show, as well as in her own books. Steadily released, Lang achieves a large fan base of followers who pose with her work, particularly poems.

As an avid reader and poetry addict, I have found her work quirky and slightly reminiscent to tales of younger love. Very simple structures, such as free verse and prose poem styles, litter her pages to create a rhythm of balance between each piece. Coloring her poems with themes, she explores love, heartbreak, longing and happiness that only the sweet shades of romance can achieve. To accompany her written masterpieces, Lang adds her own drawings to the pages of her books. With a Margaret Keane (recently known for the Big Eyes movie) like style, Lang offers a subtle and borderline Tim Burton creepiness in the air of her drawings. Most of her art centers around a female character – possibly in light of herself or that of the stereotypes and emotions attached to the female world.

 

Lang Leav’s partner in poetry is Michael Faudet, author of the “Pretty Dirty Things”, an erotic collection of poems. The unique aspect of their relationship isn’t that they’re both writers of the lyrical world, but rather that they’re home sites are located on Tumblr. A close up of cream colored paper with a page from a typewriter has become wildly popular in the writer sphere of the site, and this is how Lang and Michael share their work. As a user of Tumbler myself, I find this type of reveal intimate. The personalization from this showcase lets reader and author suspend in one silent moment through a pixelated form. Raw and isolated, the poems take on a deeper meaning aside from childish rhyme, proper and sometimes excessive punctuation and the familiarity of teenage love that Lang’s pieces tend to create.

The books that Lang has published are sequenced a year apart (I believe this is done for the suspense factor like that of the Hunger Games sequels, gets me every time!). In 2013, “Love and Misadventure” was published – a playful take on three different part titles of the work: Misadventures, The Circus of Sorrows and Love. With these three titles, the poet may be showing the complete and exhausting process of that horrid thing called love. In 2014, “Lullabies” arrived with four distinct chapters: Duet, Interlude, Finale and Encore. Mimicking the sense of musicality, Lang intends to show the beautiful creation with the founding of love through twice as many poems. A handcrafted, limited edition volume called “Charlie’s Widow” was completely constructed by the poet herself. And this October will house the release of “Memories” with 35 new poems and color work. Be on the lookout for a rumored novel, manuscript finished, called Sad Girls.

Lang Leav is an exciting and modern poet that combines her artistic skills to deliver one amazing quality: originality. As college students, we all strive for creative and original products, and this could be the reason why she has gained so much popularity from around the world. This poet holds the innovative approach to reaching these larger audiences and successfully relaying messages. Her next step? Applying her written work to the rising slam poetry culture.

For those interested in the links or references made, here is a list to feed your curious hunger