Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenny Sandoval.
Hi Jenny, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Since I was a child, I enjoyed writing. I remember there was an assignment in elementary school where we had the creative freedom of writing a scary story, and I had so much fun writing my story. My elementary school teacher praised me for my work, and as I grew older, writing became more of a passion of mine. I read significantly when I was a child, thanks to my mother. She encouraged and emphasized that reading was important. Reading was an escapism for me, and I quickly realized how someone’s story could have me not wanting to put a book down until I was almost done with it. I wanted to have that same effect for someone reading my poetry book.
Poetry allows a space to be emotional and vulnerable. I first wrote poems as a way to hold a safe space for myself and release any emotion that weighed heavy on me. I slowly felt comfortable sharing my poems on my Instagram, and people reacted well to them. When I was a college student and had a creative or poetry assignment due, my professors would give me excellent feedback on my work. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit, and it was a difficult time for all of us. I found myself writing more and more. I decided to create my first poetry book, “Nectar,” a collection of poems I had written throughout the years. My acknowledgment page summarizes my poems. “For- My family, may we continue breaking generational traumas and create more memories of love. For- Myself, may we see how much we have healed since childhood.” I sold it as a PDF, and to my surprise people actually bought it and told me they appreciated my words. Reading their feedback encouraged me to write and share more of my poetry.
I later wrote “Butterfly in the Spring”, poems of a turmoil year of dealing with the pandemic, family issues, and my own personal issues. It was a way of releasing all these feelings of depression, loneliness, anger, and grief while still holding on to hope for a better time to come. The transition stages and time process it takes for a caterpillar to hatch from an egg, eat leaves, survive, create its own cocoon, and come out as a butterfly, is the best way to describe “Butterfly in the Spring”.
When I first printed “Butterfly in the Spring,” I contacted and went to bookstores in San Diego to see if they accepted books from local artists. Libélula Books & Co was the first bookstore to accept my book and put them on their shelves. It was a surreal moment to see my book on a shelf, I just couldn’t believe it. I thank Libélula Books & Co for supporting and believing in me as a poet. I later got accepted by La Tiendita at Centro and Verbatim Books to have my poetry books on their shelves. I started submitting my poems to art galleries, and seeing my poems hung up in art spaces just made me want to write more. The act of selling both of my books as PDFs, to physical copies, to shelves in local bookstores, to my poems being hung up in art spaces in San Diego is still something that I can’t believe is true.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When I decided to make my poetry books physically and no longer PDF, I didn’t know the languages of creating or the process of printing a book. I did my own research through Google and youtube. I don’t like to admit it, but when I look at the first copies I printed for my books, I can see how much work there needs to be done to make them look better. I am currently in the process of revisioning my books to a better version, but I still cherish and appreciate my first copies as a testament for putting my poetry books out there by myself.
Since I am a self-published author, I don’t have a team to help me with my work. Editing is one of the most difficult parts for me. I can find myself editing for hours, and still when I think I am done, I will find a mistake. I can get consumed with minor details and then have to take some days off from writing/creating to refocus. Despite all of these hardships, I believe I did the best that I could as someone who had no previous knowledge with creating books and printing them.
I had goals set out for this year 2023, and it was my first-time planning for how my year would look like as a poet. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with a rare tumor in my foot, and in getting surgery, I became someone with a temporary disability. It was difficult to know all the goals I had set for 2023 will not be accomplished, but as I am getting better with the recovery of my foot, I have found myself putting in more passion as a poet. I feel more driven than ever and have new upcoming projects for the year! I feel that the universe has truly opened more doors for me as a poet this year, and I am trying my best to put myself more out there while still being someone with a temporary disability.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As a queer and Latine person (they/them), my poetry speaks out raw and vulnerable truths. My poetry focuses on healing generational trauma, being an eldest daughter from a single mother, being a survivor of SA, talking about mental health, grieving loved ones who have passed away, and my own personal stories. Nature and my community, South Bay San Diego, are two focal points I write about as well.
Nature has always been a safe space for me since I was a child, and I honor it in almost every poem I write. I wrote a poem named “Pirul” (schinus molle), and that poem emphasizes my connection with nature. Growing up in an emotionally abusive household, I felt more safe in the backyard than in the house. We have a pirul tree in the backyard that got turned into a little tree house. As a child, I spent a lot of my time up there because I didn’t want to be in the house. I felt as if the pirul knew I was hiding there, and I felt welcomed by it every time I went to the tree house. I still honor the pirul as an adult when I go visit my childhood house. I don’t like to call that house a home because it never truly felt like one.
Growing up in South Bay, San Diego, I write about the harsh realities of living here while also showing the beauty the cities hold. I grew up in South Chula near the area where the Fun 4 All used to be. My mother and I would walk around everywhere in that area: the parks, school, Costco, Walmart, Target, the taco shop and laundry on Palomar Street, and the health and human services agency on oxford street. My mother loved taking me to Imperial Beach, and for a moment in my life, I thought that was the only beach that existed in San Diego. When I was eleven years old, we moved to National City, and I have been living here ever since. I write about my city, the streets, the parks, the stores, the food, and my core memories here. I believe writing about your city is important to share your unique perspective while also having others relate to it. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I was able to explore more of San Diego outside of South Bay. Even now, as an adult, I still mainly stay in the South Bay and write my poetry about living in this area that I cherish wholeheartedly.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
If this question was asked to me several months ago, I would have answered, “When my books are on the Barnes & Noble’s shelves.” However, success to me is knowing my community, family, and friends know about my work. Family members and friends calling me autora (author) are what I view as success. Even hearing my grandma say, “Le estaba hablando a mi amiga de tus libros (I was talking to my friend about your books).” It’s truly wonderful hearing my own grandma talk about me as an author. I had a difficult time calling myself an author since I am self-published and still learning everything about editing, printing, marketing, and so much more. In the past, the words “I am an author” never felt that I could truly say them, and when I hear them from loved ones, that is success to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jennysandovalpoet.wixsite.com/my-site
- Instagram: @_poemsbyjenny
