On June 22, country singer, Kelsea Ballerini teased an upcoming announcement via her Instagram page. Two days later, Ballerini again took to the social media platform to share that she has written a book of poetry, which will be released on November 16.
The book, entitled, Feel Your Way Through contains over 50 original poems written by Ballerini. Much like Ballerini’s music, the poems are autobiographical in nature and detail her life over the last two years.
In an Instagram Live–now saved as an IGTV video on her account–Ballerini shared that she began writing poetry while making her third studio album, kelsea. (Fun fact: The song, “la” that appears on the album began as a poem; Ballerini was in LA and didn’t have her guitar with her so she wrote down what she wanted to say and added the music later). She also found inspiration during the COVID-19 pandemic while much of the country was locked down, and concerts and music festivals came to a halt.
“Over the last year and a half or so, I obviously had a lot of time on my hands,” Ballerini laughs. “I really dove into writing a lot in that way. I think, like a lot of artists I got really disheartened in not knowing when live music was gonna come back. I put out a record the week the world shut down, and so I was really discouraged with music in general. I still needed a way to write and get all of the turmoil and sh-t out, and so [poetry] became my way.”
In all, it took Ballerini 16 months to finish her poetry book. She kept the project a secret from everyone but her team and closest friends and is currently in the process of working with her publishers on “last-minute edits” to refine her poems so they’re ready to go to press. She also designed the cover for the book.
Ballerini has been painting a lot in her spare time, because it “keeps [her] off [her] phone.” She said she knew she wanted the cover to be a picture of a woman that could represent “any and every woman” and that every woman could connect with. She’s hoping her poems will do the same.
Feel Your Way Through, being published via Penguin Random House’s Ballantine Books, is available for pre-order now. Signed copies will also be available for purchase, and Ballerini plans to go on a tour to promote the book.
To get the full details about Ballerini’s latest creative venture, watch her IGTV video here:
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