Hi, my name is J.R. Sonder
You may call me J.R. Sonder. I am Sydney based Australian born thirty something with Lebanese/New Zealand heritage. I am from here/I am from there and forever a child of the Universe.
Despite my hatred of English class in school, I have always loved reading and writing. I didn’t like being told my interpretations were wrong. In youth, I was often burrowed under blankets reading a Mills and Boon or escaping with Tatiana and Alexander.
Then I discovered poetry and the infamous truncated sentence. Arab poetry felt like home. I’m not Shakespeare’s number one fan but I’m a lover of the rhythm of iambic pentameter and how it made my words prettier despite their ugly content.
My escape from the real world, writing has kept me sane and purged my emotions so that my body doesn’t decay from all the built-up emotion.
I now navigate my internal and external world primarily through the poetry medium.
I write poetry
To My First Love (TMFL) is my debut self-published poetry book and is a creation of over ten years’ worth of choices.
Choices that I’ve made that have caused me hours of anguish, moments of insanity and desperation, and eventually fulfilled me with peace. It is sometimes a lonely existence but in this modern ‘influencer’ era driven by the need for acceptance, that’s the cost of integrity and authenticity. And, on the brightest of sides, the people around me now only want the best for me as I do for them without a hidden agenda.
These choices have also supported my development and courage. They drive me to do better, be better, and to unlearn all the damage that was made from my childhood. Writing and reading has always been escapism. I’m never safer or more in tune with myself than when I’m writing.
I enter poetry competitions a few times a year. I’m working on book two, a script, and something to do with community. If I only have one project happening, I get a little stressed.
It is my intention that my work and creations bring a sense of healing and hope that even in the darkest of nights, there is an eventual light.
I am obsessed
When I’m not in one of Sydney’s finest cafés, I’m at home making a glorious Tea In Season tea.
I’m a Ferrari girl, Rockets girl, and WILL attend the big 4 in tennis.
Chocolate loves to see me coming and so does the skincare I buy to counteract the sugar.
I did buy a vibration plate. I love it.