Today we’d like to introduce you to Deanna Repose Oaks.
Hi Deanna, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
When I was younger, my adoptive mother used to say “I don’t want to hear your voice” instead of “be quiet” or “shut up” or “hush, I’m on the phone”. Years of hearing how unwanted my voice was, along with receiving punishments for things I had no control over, like breathing, made me afraid to use my voice for a long time. Around 12, I started writing to have an outlet for my emotions in notebooks, diaries, etc.
My adoptive mother routinely found and read my notebooks, journals, and diaries. She even broke the locks on more than one. She’d routinely tell me I wrote lies, my feelings weren’t true, and gaslight me so much I didn’t know which way was up. I stopped writing and lost the only emotional outlet I didn’t get punished for.
In 7th grade, I discovered poetry through English class. I learned how to hide feelings in metaphors and analogies. I started writing poems instead of journals. Even when they were read, no one at home knew what they were REALLY about, so poetry became my self-soothing device. When I left home, I brought them with me and I kept writing.
When I was 34, my husband’s friend published a poetry collection. My husband brought home his friend’s horrendous book and dared me to publish something better. He knew my work was better and knew exactly how to goad me into doing it, even gave me the publisher to contact.
I whittled the 300+ poems written between age 13 through age 26 down to 100 of the best. I contacted the publisher, signed a contract, and published my first book, “Lost Loves…Found Strength” in November of 2007. They didn’t help market it and it went nowhere with them, but people had faith it would sell, most notably, Peggy, owner of The Book Shelter in Hiram.
I bought the rights back in 2017, added more poems and repackaged “Lost Loves…Found Strength” as “Life Span”. I published “Life Span” myself in August 2018 and started selling locally in Paulding County.
In 2019, I was approached by Natalie. She bought “Life Span” the previous year and wanted another collection of poetry, but I didn’t have one. Not to disappoint my first fan, I started writing my next collection: “Poetic Reactions” that same year. Before I could publish, the world shut down. When the world opened up again in 2021, “Poetic Reactions” hit the press. Natalie returned that year and bought the first copy!
In 2022, an argument with my husband turned into a 35 poem book written over 30 days, The title poem, “Trauma’s Death”, was written in the middle of the argument and helped me process that I wasn’t fighting him, I was fighting the traumas of my childhood. I took these poems to my therapist as I wrote them. She suggested I publish because she knew people they would help. “Trauma’s
Death” published in August 2022, And Natalie was there again to snag the first copy!
During poetry month 2023, my youngest daughter was in 6th grade and fell in love with poetry after reading “Brown Girl Dreaming” – the ONLY poetry book for middle schoolers in her school library. She came home and wanted to read some of my poetry…. but my poems had adult themes and language inappropriate for her age. We struck a deal, I would write a book for her library if she curated the collection. The result is “Inner Thoughts: Poems Suitable for Middle School” — curated by a 6th grade student edited by an elementary literature teacher, a middle school literature teacher, and a college literature teacher. Her school library now has two copies. “Inner Thoughts” was also the first book accepted by the Hiram Library and available to check out via the Pines Library System. (They have since added all my titles!)
Throughout writing “Inner Thoughts”, I was working through my traumas with my therapist. My mental state was getting darker and darker as we dug deeper and deeper. About 6 months after publishing “Inner Thoughts” I wrote the line “I am not suicidal, but my
poetry tells you so”. I sent the line to my therapist, completely panicking because my poetry is my self soothing device. She told me to keep writing. She urged me to look at all sides of my feelings. I kept writing, I kept FEELING. I stayed, and will keep staying. The result is a 100-poem collection, entitled “Don’t Go ; Stay” published in 2024 and
currently nominated for 2025 Georgia Author of the Year award in the Poetry category. I donate a portion of sales to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, so people without therapists have a resource they call, text, or chat with where there are caring counselors available 24/7. I want them to stay too.
In October of 2023, while feeling and writing about STAYING, I started vocal lessons, attending open mics at The Crazy Book Lady bookstore, and kept working on using my voice in therapy to overcome the echoes of “I don’t want to hear your voice.”, the biggest of my childhood traimas.
I can now proudly say I am a MC and Hostess of two open mic nights! You can find me on the 2nd Saturday of the month at The Crazy Book Lady in Acworth and the 3rd Friday of the month I’ll be at 2nd & Charles in Kennesaw, with plans to start a third open mic in Roswell.
I have been on two mental health panels, interviewed on 4 podcasts (2 published and two in post production), and am working on getting more featured poetry gigs.
I use my voice to lift others up – in both my written poetry and my feature spots, most recently at Caribbean Vibes hosted by the Acworth Cultural Arts.
My open mics focus on helping performers get comfortable using their voice because all voices, even mine, deserve to be heard!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My biggest obstacle is my mental health. Depression gets me thinking I’m not worthy, not good enough, I bring people
down… even while people are telling me I am lifting them up. It is an internal battle that I fight while writing, a solitary endeavor.
Add to that, I’m indie published, so I face an uphill battle getting my work noticed or past the screeners at the bookstores. Even with amazing covers, editors, and good reviews, not all bookstores will stock my book because poetry doesn’t sell and a “trad” publisher didn’t publish my books, even though I offer the
same discounts.
To overcome both, I seek out opportunities to prove my depression wrong lift others up, and show others my worth so they can reflect it back to
me.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am Deanna Repose Oaks, and I am a poet.
I am Me
I will never be Maya Angelou
Not afraid to show her rage
I will never be Tony Keith, Jr
With boundless energy onstage
I will never be William Shakespeare
With sonnets, plays, and (rumored)
Bible verses
Because I am ME
And MY poetry converses
Everyday items or experiences
People know and love
Become real examples
Of how life can shove
Your heart, your light
Into darkness, plight
Then pull it back
Where it once was
Using simplest of twists & turns
Changed and scarred
Possibly feeling phantom burns
These examples, universal
No matter your walk of life
For all hearts beat true
Even feeling different strife
I write free
In and out of time
Varying the meter
Manipulating the rhyme
Because dodging threats
Is how l learned
To survive
— Deanna Repose Oaks, May 3, 2025
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Finding mentors is HARD!! Once I started looking, authors were everywhere. Some lead me down the wrong path or inadvertently made me feel “wrong”. I joined writing groups, led writing groups, left writing groups. I attended BIG writing conferences, and small
writing conferences. I still don’t have a
mentor. I have TONS of author friends. I have research. I have librarians. I have bookstore owners. I learn from everyone, all the time.
My advice is to go to book events, meet authors. Join a book club, meet some readers. Find a writers group, see if they vibe. Ask questions LISTEN to the answer, even if you don’t want to hear it. Find an accountability buddy. Doing these things may land you a mentor you didn’t see coming!
Pricing:
- Life Span – $15.00+tax
- Poetic Reactions – $10.00+tax
- Trauma’s Death – $10.00+tax
- Inner Thoights – $10.00+tax
- Don’t Go ; Stay – $16.99+tax
Contact Info:
- Website: https://deannareposeoaks.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deannareposeoaks
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deannareposeoaks
- Other: https://linktr.ee/deannareposeoaks
Image Credits
All photos taken on behalf of Deanna Repose Oaks with her camera.
