Poets Azizi Hoy, Myrna Manzanares Team Up for “The Healing Circle”
An anthology of intergenerational poems by two Belizean writers has been condensed into a book that was launched today at the Saint Catherine Academy Multipurpose Center. The Healing Circle, by teenager Azizi Hoy and seenager Myrna Manzanares, has caught the attention of the National Institute of Culture and History and the Ministry of Education because the book showcases everyday emotions and challenges from two unique perspectives. This afternoon, News Five spoke with the poets about the project.
Azizi Hoy, Poet
“We stayed up one night and going through her poems, so many poems, and my poems and we got up recite it for each other and we were so amazed by how similar in meaning they were; how we had many on the same topic and I think that really brought us together.”
Azizi Hoy
Duane Moody
“The Healing Circle; talk to us about how you guys came up with that title and what really inspired the book.”
Myrna Manzanares, Poet
“The Healing Circle is actually a poem in the book; it talks about meeting each other and sharing our feelings and all of that. And the types of work that are there about abuse and different things; that poem is one that can tell people listen you can talk and you can work together and you can get healed.”
Myrna Manzanares
Azizi Hoy
“Everyone can heal themselves physically, mentally, spiritually because through our writing, we are talking for you or for the person going through that problem. And so it is a way of healing for that person.”
Myrna Manzanares
“For my poetry, some of them are very angry and I am saying to the community, to the people; you have to get things together…all the stuff that I see. So I think that that’s the other aspect that you are going to see from me. She is writing for the young people; I am writing for the country and for the adults as well to realize that we are a lot to blame for a lot of things that happen in our society.”
At this time, the books can be bought for twenty dollars from Hoy or Manzanares. The goal is to make them available at bookstores and libraries countrywide.
