Soleil Yakita has long had a passion for reading and writing.
But it was during a 14-day poetry workshop with Atlantic Cape Community College Associate Professor of English Rich Russell that gave her a new creative focus.
“I pushed myself through each incoming challenge and I watched my skills improve from assignment to assignment, which was very motivating for me,” said the Absecon resident who is now majoring in literature at Stockton University.
Her work paid off.
Yakita's Sonnet No. 1 was one of two dozen poems chose from more than 800 to be published in the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society’s 28th Annual Nota Bene literary journal.
Nota Bene — note well in Latin — is the nation’s only literary anthology featuring excellence in writing among community college students.
“I feel that my love for writing evolved from my love for reading," she said. "I enjoyed the characters and worlds I explored through books so much that I couldn’t wait to create my own.”
She admits she did not spend much time on her craft during her freshman year at Atlantic Cape Community College.
Then she had Russell's Creative Writing I class during her second year, and her desire to write was rekindled.
“Engaging with other students who had a genuine interest in writing, receiving feedback and encouragement on my own assignments, as well as being exposed to a variety of new authors, revitalized my motivation and interest in creative writing,” said Yakita, who earned an Associate in Science in Liberal Arts with an English option in 2022.
“My inspiration for writing Sonnet No. 1 was my long-standing love of fantasy-fiction," she said. "What I have always found rather ironic about the fantasy genre is that it offers a magical escape; however, many of the problems that plague the ‘real world’ are present in these fictional stories, though they are naturally more digestible in a context removed from our own reality.
"I wrote Sonnet No. 1 with the intent of acknowledging that human nature and the historic desire for escape through storytelling always prevails, even if fantasy is sometimes little more than a warped mirror of the world’s social climate,” she added
Russell praised his former student.
“I think her poetry is her true strength, comfort and passion," he said. "Soleil has a keen sense not only for language — for the close observation of words and their component sounds, which is the very definition of Nota Bene — but also for the rhythm and structure of a poem.
"I have been fortunate enough to see her work evolve since her time in my classes as she continues to experiment with different forms of poetry," Russell added. "She is also a brilliant visual artist and often publishes her work in zine form, with intricate layouts and original illustrations.”
Yakita works part-time as a library assistant and English tutor at ACCC's William Spangler Library on the Mays Landing campus while attending Stockton.
Her professional career options after graduation are still flexible.
“I view the future as a wide-open expanse," Yakita said. "I am not sure if my career, itself, will intersect with writing; however, I hope I find myself in the literary field. Museums, bookstores, libraries … I feel most at home in these environments.
“Above all, I just want to remain connected to the local arts and writing community wherever I end up living," she continued. "I draw a lot of inspiration and motivation from spending time in (creatively) like-minded company.”
In folklore wild, and restless tales unwind,
In hidden pages, places — hallowed ground,
Unravel secrets mortal and divine,
Do go and seek what yet remains unfound.
Adventure, book-in-hand, by firelit warmth,
To worlds of warlocks, witches and wishing wells,
Where foolhardy knights hunt dragons but for sport,
Among illusions, magic brews and spells.
Yet where such greed and war and pain pervade,
Just under different nations, flags, and stars,
It seems a trickery, calling it escape—
For save the face, the beast’s the same as ours.
But lessen not a bit, does the allure,
‘Tis fiction that the heart does hunger for.
