With Brains in My Head and Feet in My Shoes: My First Blog Post!

Hi there! My name is two names, Stephanie and Evelyn, elongated not only to sound more artistic and professional, but to carry my grandmother with me into this (quite daunting) adventure-business. If you are here, that means you're giving this blog a shot and for that, I feel as though you deserve as much gratitude as my fluttering, flattered heart can give you. This is my first post! And you, whoever you may be, are reading it! So, for you, dear sir, madam, or gentleperson, I am eternally thankful. Welcome to Stephanie Writes.

I suppose I should begin by attempting to craft a connection with this space and the people who read it, no? Well, at the risk of sounding ridiculously corny and as though I’ve jumped in from a terrifying, cringey round of first-year “Intro to English” icebreakers, here is a little bit about me. I grew up in Ottawa, Ontario and amidst a difficult childhood, a few key moments stand out as absolute splendor. First, as will soon be obvious, was my discovery of the creative word; Robert Munsch’s Stephanie’s Ponytail stands out as one of my early favourites. Next, my first encounter of one Ms. Beyoncé Giselle Knowles (not yet Carter), which then spiraled into a broad love of music, encompassing numerous genres that, with literature, continue to influence me in ways I did not know possible; that I hope to elucidate in the blog posts to follow. Today, although always having been a settler, I am now a settler scholar of English and Irish decent, studying to achieve a Master’s degree in English at the University of Western Ontario. And if you haven’t got the message yet, I like books! And tea! And warm things but also winter and snow at the same time! And representation! And feminism! And most of all, I like talking and writing about all of them as they appear in different literary works.

Now, if this were an academic seminar, I suppose the first order of business would be to give my agenda; what I plan to do and the direction I will be going in.

For this blog, what I want more than anything is to start a discussion about the impact and importance of the arts and subsequently how they are represented through different works of fiction (or non-fiction). I want to create a space that values the English written word and all its beautiful, awful, ugly, and exciting possibilities. Throughout the next few months, I’ll be writing reviews on the different books I read for class and how they affect me. From then on, who knows what works I will read, but I can guarantee there will be books. There are always books. And although these speculations and feelings may well be outlandish and over-exuberant, I can assure you that I will be sincerely myself, completely authentic, and certainly as respectful as I can be.

For now, however, amidst all the practice I’ve had at goodbyes and conclusions, I have yet to master them and I refuse to end this with an over-used quote that signifies how unoriginal I can be. So instead of signing off, I instead will use this opportunity to signify my official, over-exuberant, and wildly enthusiastic signing on.