At 19, has self-published two books of poetry. Her second book, “The Soft Color of Starvation in the Morning,” which was composed over a few months with the majority written in March 2021, was released in early October. Several of the poems were previously published in “Eunoia Magazine” and “Unspoken Word.”
The book, which contains over 90 poems reflecting on two lesbian relationships, is structured like a diary. Following in the same vein as her first book, “Starry Eyes, All Bright From Crying,” Van Campen’s second book is experimental. To add to the overall feel of internal reflection, Van Campen styled the book completely in italics.
“All of my poetry, but this book especially, is stream-of-consciousness,” Van Campen said. The poems vary in length from two lines to many pages, describing their thoughts and experiences with surreal language. Despite its abstractness, the book follows a clear narrative of Van Campen’s first relationship ending and second relationship beginning.
Van Campen views the second book as a progression from the first in both narrative and artistic growth. “My first book was mostly dealing with the shit that was going on in my head. This book deals more with external things but how I process them internally,” they said.
The book is saturated with visceral imagery. Focusing heavily on the body, Van Campen often returns to images of blood, starvation, eating and movement. Her work is heavily detailed; specific, concrete moments burst through and add clarity to some of the more abstract poems. In “Devastated Shoulders,” Van Campen writes, “I tie the string on your tea around the handle so the paper / doesn’t fall in the cup.” Gentle moments like these interplay with heavily visual and synesthetic poems.
“Robert Hass is 100% a literary influence for me,” said Van Campen. Their broad vocabulary, epistolary style, line work and dreamlike flow interspersed with intimate snapshots are evocative of Hass’s style. Van Campen is also interested in the auditory aspect of poetry, having grown up attending poetry readings around New York City.
“I don’t read a lot of written poetry,” said Van Campen. “I went to poetry readings all the time, from a really young age. I went to my first one when I was twelve or thirteen, and I’ve been writing ever since then.”
Van Campen is open about their past experiences with substance abuse, which color both of their books. “A lot of my first book dealt with a period of really heavy addiction,” said Van Campen.. “The second continued with the same sort of visuals and psychedelic moments of complete psychosis. Although this book is a lot more positive than my first, I still kept with that because I still had those same mental issues. A lot of the harder parts are coming to terms with the fact that I’m sometimes a bad person.”
Van Campen is already working on a third book that plays with ekphrastic poetry and childhood memories. They mention Rothko and early Pollock paintings as enduring sources of inspiration for their work.
“A lot of it will be working more with actual scenery, and trying to create things that are more coherent,” they said. “But I’m not entirely sure if I’m going to publish the next one because a lot of it is really personal. I’ve also been writing a lot of it while sitting in class, and literally just describing a person sitting in my class who I thought was wearing a cool outfit or looked interesting.”
Reflecting on her relationship with the poetic gaze, they take an introspective view on poetry: “I usually try to look for myself in something. I try to have the poem be more acquainted with who I am and looking for myself in other things is something that really helps with that,” said Van Campen.. “This book was definitely a healing thing for me, and I was committed to being wholly transparent in its publication. I wanted to allow myself to have a space; I definitely published this book for myself.”
