Young poet self-publishes first book

When John Harvey first began to write poetry in 2019, it wasn’t his intention to publish a book.

“I never thought that I would write enough and then I became addicted to writing,” Harvey said. “It became a source of healing for me and I thought, ‘Wow, this is really powerful. I wonder if I could help someone else with it?’”

So for his sophomore project at the Minnesota New Country School in Henderson, Harvey set out to publish his very first poetry book. “The Hate I Receive Daily” debuted on Amazon on June 7.

The 16-year-old wrote the book as a “first-aid kit for your mind.”

The book’s blurb describes it as a map of how Harvey healed over time and learned to understand negative experiences. And he wants the book to heal the reader, too. He wants it to inspire them — to “reclaim what they projected onto you and create something with it. Don’t let hatred define you — instead use it to empower you.”

“我觉得这是我最大的动力n consider writing the book,” Harvey said. “I’ve been through a lot of bullying and dealt with a lot of insecurities — even to this day, I still get insecure.”

He believes in reclaiming negative experiences and turning them into something positive. His experiences helped him craft his poetry.

“I was fat-shamed a lot, or I’ve been ‘not masculine’ enough and I take that and use it for good.”

Recently, Harvey began to learn how to put on makeup and he would get made fun of for it — whether it was because “men can’t do makeup” or he wasn’t “good at it.” But he kept on learning through YouTube videos.

“I may not be the best at it, but I’ve continuously grown over the year I have done it.”

Harvey hopes his poetry helps at least just one person going through similar experiences.

“I use it to let people know that they’re not alone in getting told those (things) and feeling inferior to others ... I feel like it’s a lot of reclaiming shame that goes into poetry.”

The poem, “T.H.I.R.D,” stands for the title of the book — “The Hate I Receive Daily.” The poem focuses on when he was in third grade.

“It talks about when I became more than just ‘John,’” Harvey said. “I became my body and I became how others perceived me, and that poem shaped the whole book.”

It stemmed from an exercise he and his therapist did a few years back. Harvey was depressed and he couldn’t pin down why he was sad.

“I didn’t feel comfortable in my body and then we — my therapist and I — wrote a story together,” he said. “It took a lot of thought and going back to that time — we learned that my negative body image was caused a lot by third grade and one kid telling me that I was fat. It’s really weird how something simple can cause such a huge impact on your life and how you perceive yourself.”

“T.H.I.R.D” was also edited by Minnesota poet Blythe Baird, whose poem “When the Fat Girl Gets Skinny” went viral a few years back. It’s also a poem that struck a chord with Harvey.

“It’s just a really beautiful poem,” Harvey said. “That poem did inspire me with this book.”

If there’s one thing that readers can take from this book, it’s to simply be nice to one another, he said.

“One act of unkindness can cause so much harm to another person. Be nice to people, whether you agree with them or disagree with them, whether they’re nice to you or not — just be nice — as cheesy as it sounds.”

Harvey found the passion of poetry through speech. He began speech in seventh grade in the original oratory category. Having finished a season, he switched to poetry and recited works that may have had unpopular opinions or controversial topics. His spoken word poetry book delves into some of those topics such as toxic masculinity.

“Although it may not seem like it, it’s still a very big issue in the world,” Harvey said. “It’s something we need to break down and dismantle because there’s no deciding factor to what makes a man or what makes a woman.”

After more than 150 logged hours put into the project, Harvey can say he’s a published author.

“We’re all so proud of John,” said speech coach and high school adviser Jen Brunick. “That’s what our school’s made for — the project-based (lessons)— and get them passionate about something and working towards things that they love.”

Especially for students like Harvey, who promised Brunick since the seventh grade that he’d be an entrepreneur to “make money every single year.”

“I’m like, ‘Well, let’s make sure you can write a paper just in case you change your mind,’” Brunick joked. “John’s always been an entrepreneur — he’s creative.”

With his newly published book, the young poet hopes to create more. In fact, he’s already planning to work on more books.

The message remains the same, however. He wants to just impact one person through his poetry. Harvey, who also owns a fiber arts business — L.J Fiber Arts — strives to create something that’ll last for years to come. His poetry, even if the book becomes frayed and destroyed, can last for a long time. His work is deliberately made to make a lasting impact.

“I’ve been told by my mom’s family that I’m the ‘enigma that hate could never break,’” Harvey said. “I live to confuse other people and also help make them change for the better. I wrote this book as a way to reset that world — I know not all 7 billion people on earth will read it — I’d be shocked if even seven people read it — but if I just changed the way one person thinks, I’ve won.”