"What do I Know about my Daddy" 1999-2000 ( Link
CLICK HERE )
Published by The Famous
Poets Society "Sistership" 2002
Featured in Online Poetry
Reading Rooms 1999-2001
Writing for her own online
Magazine for Size Acceptance and Empowerment 2004 to present
day.
www.LargeInCharge.com
Raqui was a writer to the
www.BBWPress.com team Check out past issues of BBWPress for her monthly
articles.
The Writer
& PoetI
believe I was born with a pen in my hand because I can't
remember a time in my life that I wasn't writing. As a
young child I would take all the old cards my mother had in
her desk drawer, and write poems on them for my parents.
Often taking well known rhymes and rewriting them Raqui style.
I wrote
many short stories in school which always got Gold Stars.
When the teacher gave special assignments I would always include
pictures, drawings, stories and comments. For some strange
reason my assignments always looked like a book. I
guess you can say I thought I was a publishing my own work
when I was a child.
As a
teen Poetry became my favorite form of expression.
From a few well chosen lines to pages upon pages of writing
that seemed like song. At age fifth-teen I wrote a few
skits for the City Kids Foundation of NYC. I am not
sure if they were used but I performed them for some of the
trainers and they were supposed to be filed away. At
sixteen I went to Job Corps in Callicoon NY. My writing won prizes in local contests and was
recited in front of the student body on a few occasions. My
poetry was featured in the Drug Awareness Festival for the
community. I was in the
Local Newspaper for winning the area art contest in which I
went on to the finals. My writing and passion for
reading were also highlighted.
In my
late teens and yearly twenties I spent my time evolving from
poetry to short stories. While I did get published in a
few anthologies with my poetry. I didn't think that I
was capable of writing anything other than poetry. But I practiced as much
as I could. In my mid twenties I wrote a children's book
that I am planning on publishing one day. I
experimented in the following years learning to write about
different subjects and pushing myself to write about things
I knew and didn't know. I wanted to be versatile in my
writing and able to come up with something interesting no
matter what. Reading also took on a new form, I became a
collector. Giving up books was very hard for me and
still is. I must read books over and over again. I
believe that reading helped me with my writing.
Since
2004 my writing has taken a different form, I am
writing monthly articles for a Monthly Newsletter that I
Founded. What started out as a Size Acceptance and Empowerment Newsletter
turned to Magazine two years ago. LargeInCharge.com
www.LargeInCharge.comis a labor of love for me. I write about different
subjects that concern people of size. Some serious,
some not so serious. I also conduct interviews with
those who are doing positive things in the Plus Size
Community. I am really proud of the work I have done
with this Online Magazine. Giving free promotion to those
who are catering to people of size and giving people of size
the resources they need is very important.
In 2005
I started taking the final steps in preparing myself to go to
the next level, Publication. I started a Writing
Course that helps with your weakness and compliments your
strengthens. They help to make you a better writer and learn
to present your work for publication. Writing is truly
a form of expression I cherish and something worth
perfecting. I plan to continue my quest until I reach
the level I want to achieve. While writing seemed so natural
in my childhood, Publication is the dream I truly seek.
Raqui
is currently working on a book for the Plus Sized Community
and hopes to finish it by the end of 2008. She has
retuned to her roots and started Performing Spoken Word
(Poetry) January 2008 for the first time live. So far all her poems are
from her Up and Coming Book.
