Meraki

by Tobi-Hope Jieun Park

𝙈𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙠𝙞  • [𝙢𝙖𝙮-𝙧𝙖𝙝-𝙠𝙚𝙚]

𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤

AUTHOR BIO

Tobi-Hope Jieun Park is a senior at Orange County School of the Arts, and has been writing since the age of eight. Her poems and narratives have appeared in Rattle, Chautauqua Journal, Cold Mountain Review, the underwater railroad, and more. Tobi-Hope is a three-time Gold Key winner and a National Gold Medalist at the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Her debut poetry collection, Meraki, is available on Barnes and Nobles and Amazon! In her free time, she can be found singing karaoke with her siblings, tending to her pets One-Eyed Jack and the Lizard Gang, and knitting pieces too small for conventional use.

Check out https://www.tobihopepark.com to take a look at more of her work, or follow her @tobi.hope.park on Instagram!

𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙨𝙩, 𝙗𝙪𝙩

𝙄 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚, 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚.

REVIEW

Maybe it’s POETRY, but somehow the sentences are mere ink & paper to me no more, but something deep & complex & slightly fleeting—like a translucent painting you can only catch a glimpse of, but still being able to leave an afterburn on the insides of your eyelids, where the feeling takes root deep inside, somewhere even you yourself cannot locate.

This is a journey of family, love & self-discovery, as readers delve into the magical atmosphere Tobi-Hope has created—dark or bright, heavy or light, the journey is enlightening. I thoroughly enjoyed the exquisite experience—my first ever official encounter with poetry—though there were certain parts I did not quite grasp the meaning of, it has given me quite the thrill to ponder over the lines.

Overall, this is a beautiful debut collection of poetry that I love ♡