Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: The Verge

Amanda Veale. (Karolina Strack/The Daily Eastern News)

Amanda Veale started writing songs and poems when she was about six-years-old.

As she got older, she started to dabble into fiction.

The junior English and psychology major is currently stuck on poetry because it fits her voice the best.

Still, she hopes to start writing fiction again soon.

Veale said she likes to convey a lot of truth in her poetry.

"My goal in writing is to take my current truth and turn in into this art," she said.

It sometimes takes her five minutes to write a poem, but other times the process can last weeks.

She never stops editing her poems.

Veale has also experienced writer's block during highly emotional times.

The best way for her to cure it is to write anyway, even if it turns out bad.

"After that I can usually get beyond the surface of whatever's on my mind, and write something meaningful," she said.

It won't be a surprise to find her name in the upcoming issue of "The Vehicle," which will come out later this month.

"The Vehicle" is a literary magazine created by students that is published once every semester.

There are usually up to three winners who submit the best poems, and they receive an award and prize money.

Veale was chosen as a second prize winner of spring 2007 and her work has been published four times in "The Vehicle."

The first time she was published in the Vehicle, she was surprised.

She didn't know her work had been made known until her boyfriend found the literary magazine in his residence hall and brought it to her attention, she said.

English fraternity Sigma Tau Delta judges write "The Vehicle," as well as the award winners, said Leslie Hancock, junior English major and editor of "The Vehicle."

Veale's work was also included in Eastern's first "Chapbook," which was published this fall.

Hancock said this is a miniature chapter book that features a bunch of different selections from one author.

In order to be considered for "Chapbook," the person must be an award winner of "The Vehicle."

Currently, STD as well as Writer's Ink, another club in the English department, gets to decide who will get to be in "Chapbook."

It is a big honor to be in "Chapbook" because Veale has gotten a lot of attention from professors, she said.

In fall 2007, she had a chance to read from "Chapbook" to the public in Coleman Hall Auditorium.

Veale doesn't think she will ever be able to stop writing.

"Writing is an essential form of catharsis for me," she said. "And without it I feel creatively dead."

Another part of writing she likes is that it cannot be tamed.

"It's about language, which is, in that wild way, a very zebra-like force," she said.

Veale said she gets her inspiration from personal experiences.

The last poem she wrote was called "Dining at the Mortuary."

The poem was about a man embalming a body while casually eating his lunch.

Veale got the idea when she and her boyfriend were looking for a place to eat in St. Louis, and upon seeing a mortuary he said, 'We could dine at the mortuary.'

"I knew there was a poem in that," she said.

Although she enjoyed writing that poem, most of her poetry is not morbid.

Veale writes mostly poetry now, but has written other things in the past.

Letitia Moffitt, assistant professor of English department, said Veale is different from other poets because she has a sense of humor.

"Amanda Veale is already an extraordinary poet with a unique vision and voice," she said. "In ten years, I envision going to Barnes & Noble to hear her read from her second volume of published poetry, and hoping that she'll remember me when I get in line to have her autograph my copy."

Moffitt is also the Writer's Ink and "The Vehicle" adviser.

"Writing is not just a matter of sitting alone in a room with your computer; the desire to write reflects not just a need for self-expression, but the need to connect with others," she said.

Moffitt said work published in "The Vehicle" was not created to boost resumes, but to become part of a community of readers and writers.

"(These) people care about their words as well as their world," she said.