Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Rebel.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Patrick. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Born in Hartford, Connecticut and raised in the suburbs of Georgia, I grew up in modern yet dramatic Caribbean home with my single working mother and three older sisters. I had always had a passion for writing but music became one of his very first loves. With that love for music, I would often find myself creating my own lyrics to every song I heard on the radio. That then turned into me taking those lyrics and turning them into poems. Those poems would consistently become a reflection on things I was going through at whatever moment that was. Traumatic events became a new norm for me, from the absence of my father, the sudden passing of my “Uncle Daddy”, my ongoing battle with my mother about my sexuality and just the constant struggles of growing up as a black gay boy in America.
In my late teens to early twenties, I experienced military life, engagement, marriage, divorce, engagement (again), cross-country moves, all while coping with mental health issues. Those issues would soon become material for my debut book, “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever, But I Don’t Wanna Die.” The book debuted at #1 on the Amazon New Release list for Gay & Lesbian poetry and has been highly celebrated within the community. As I evolve as a writer, I plan on releasing more books along with venturing out within multiple different artistic languages such as song-writing, screen-play and movie scripting. I really just wanna use my platform and creativity to bring awareness to those voices and stories the world has yet to experience.
Has it been a smooth road?
Not at all. A lot of things that made it difficult are expressed a lot more artistically within my book but to summarize for the most part my life has never been of any type of smooth or normal environment and I am grateful of that because it allows me to truly be able to use the best & worst of times & create art. For example, a poem in my book “Save me from the Sanctuary” is about an experience that I had never told anyone other than my therapist about. It was an experience that not made a huge impact on not only my spirituality but also my sexuality in terms of the way I acted out on others’ way after. I’m just grateful to now be able to look back and say that I truly survived that sh*t!
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I am a writer. However, I don’t want to limit myself to just that, so I truly like to look at myself as a true artist. I started with lyrics to music then moved into the poetry realm & kinda teeter-totter on both ends with whatever mood I’m in. I’m honestly most proud of being able to self publish my debut book, “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever, But I Don’t Wanna Die.” It was something that was legit eight years in the making all because it had to be at the right moment with all the right pieces. And that it was and forever will be. One thing that I feel that separates me from others is my fearlessness with anything I write about. It feels great to be able to take things and events that were meant to break me & to be able to write about not only how they made me feel but how I survived and conquered it.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the passion that Atlanta naturally has but also gives to young black artists like myself. I feel like this is the place for people like me to really feel connected to black culture & at that point, feel more connected with self to unlock an unlimited amount of creativity & passion we never knew that we possessed.
To be honest, I wish Atlanta was a more 24-hour city. And although it’s somewhat turning into one, I feel like we have the means & the population to be a MAJOR city like LA or NYC. We’ll see, though cause we just might be real close anyway.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.WrittenByRebel.com
- Email: writtenbyrebel1@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/writtenbyrebel?igshid=eaeirju5yloe
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/WrittenByRebel/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/WrittenByRebel?s=21
- Other: https://writtenbyrebel.bigcartel.com/
Image Credit:
FAVOR PHOTOS by MRH PHOTOGRAPHY
Book Cover by @Ojayys_ (instagram)
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
