Inspired by her recovery from the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Ida, a former DHS student has landed a publishing deal for her debut collection of poetry.
“Years to Come” is a collection of poems by 16-year-old Isabelle Berg, which came about after the pandemic and Ida drastically altered her outlook on nature and humanity The book will be released on Tuesday, Jan. 23 and a launch event will take place at the East Bank Regional Library in Destrehan on Saturday, Jan. 27.
“I believe corona definitely started my interest with poetry specifically,” Berg said. “I felt overwhelmed and poetry was my way to vent. Writing gave me a way to deal with the stress. Hurricane Ida also strengthened my love for poetry and helped me deal with the anxiety while evacuated and afterwards when cleanup was required.”
Ida brought destruction to Berg’s home, church and school.
“While my house was being rebuilt I and my family were between houses a lot. We didn’t know where we were going to end up,” she said. “My school had also been destroyed in the hurricane and I went to Hahnville every other day, which added stress to already stressful classes.
“Though all of this was happening in my life, I was glad to have my community with me through it all. I can truly say that I saw us come together multiple times in multiple ways.”
While poetry was more of a hobby during the pandemic and fallout from Ida, Berg began to share it with friends and family and got positive feedback.
“That was when I realized that I may want to take it further,” she said.
One of those people Berg shared her poems with was friend and book illustrator Ella Esquivel. Esquivel asked Berg if she could share the poems with Stone Aside Publishing.
“I told her no because I was nervous and felt I needed more time,” Berg said. “She texted me back telling me it was too late. Ella’s mom had already sent it.”
Stone Aside Publishing, based in St. Charles Parish, is owned by Lee Stephen. Stephen is the author of the Destiny’s Edge series.
“What sets Isabelle apart is her emotional maturity,” Stephen said. “She has an incredible ability to prompt real, genuine introspection through her poetry. The concepts she writes about – things like loss, self-reflection and the fragility of life – are such relatable concepts to those of us who are getting older.
“I think it speaks volumes that someone so young is able to explore such poignant themes and conjure up such emotional responses from those of us who read her work”
Stone Aside Publishing was founded in 2006, but was solely used to publish Stephen’s own material. That changed once Stephen read Berg’s poetry.
“It was actually the experience of discovering and reading Isabelle’s work that prompted me to open up the doors to other authors,” Stephen said. “She gets to call herself the first of those, though more will be coming.”
Berg, who spent her freshman and sophomore years at Destrehan but currently lives on the Northshore after her father’s job required the move, is thrilled to share her poetry with everyone.
“Two years ago I never would have believed it if someone told me I’d be publishing my first book at 16 years old,” she said. “I’m forever grateful for all of the work at Stone Aside Publishing and the beautiful illustrations from Ella Esquivel.”
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