It came on December 20th, five days before Christmas and 12 days before the new year. It was just an email with a simple subject line yet a message big enough to push a long scream out of
Tanguy Exume.
"It was a long yell as if someone in my family passed away [followed by] constant laughter," divulged Exume. "I just couldn't imagine it. Finally I had a positive answer on having something published."
Now begins the process to publishing Exume's collection of poems, "Sur Mon 31," and he is more than ready for it. He has already signed the contract, sent corrections, took out the English poems (including the poem that will feature a rap verse by Mizzy) and replaced them with French poems. He will soon receive a tentative cover, and from there, there will be a lot of back and forth to bring the book to its final look before officially publishing it in four months or less.
It all started 10 months ago in March as a "tentative project" (as Exume describes it) to challenge himself to write 31 poems in 31 days for his 31st year on earth.
"I was working on just following a task, so sometimes it was painful," he admitted. "Some nights, I would be like 'OMG I have to write a poem today.'"
Other nights, he would wake up in the middle of the night realizing he forgot to finish a poem.
"It was the first series not based on inspiration," he said. I was forcing myself to write as opposed to feeling something and writing about it."
The collection is made of a diverse set of poems varying from political and social issues to pure love. As Exume pinpointed, several of the poems contrast with the title, which refers to the expression "Sur mon 31" (meaning to be on your Sunday best).
He wrote one of the poems (also one of his favorites) in Vancouver Island where the aboriginal heritage is celebrated.
"We went by a lot of Totem Poles, and that day I had to write a poem," he narrated. "And I [thought] if they ask me build a Totem Pole, what would it be, what would it contain, what would be my heritage and what would it represent?"
"Mon Totem/ Un poeme/ L'embleme de ma vie boheme/ Le siege de mes dilemmes/ Mon Totem..." he wrote describing every aspect of his life.
He joked about his inability to draw and explained writing the poem was his way of drawing with words his Totem pole.
Also in the collection is a poem on Aida, the love goddess and on John Coltrane, the famous Jazz saxophone player.
"It about how I feel when I listen to John Coltrane, and the fact that I grew up with my dad playing the saxophone," said Exume. "All of those memories resurface throughout the poem, but the poem is really based on the accomplishments of John Coltrane and his influence on me."
Once the book comes out, he plans to tour and promote his book in Vancouver and Montreal, Canada and of course, his country Haiti.
As mentioned in my first article on Exume, he is also hoping to produce a CD composed of a dozen of the poems. Due to budget and time constraints, he didn't start this project yet. Nonetheless, Exume is determined to give his fans something concrete to remember him in addition to his live performances.
Of course, the upcoming book will also fulfill this goal.
In two weeks, he will his release his video project with new poems on YouTube. Please see the video for a preview.
Exume, elated, talked about his excitement for upcoming reactions for his book.
"I am not afraid," he said, welcoming both positive and negative feedbacks. "I do it because I love writing. I have no commitment to writing. I am very excited for 2014."
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