At first sight, Maya Ganesan looks like your typical fourteen-year-old: she likes books, badminton, riding her bike, big cities, and listening to music. But her words speak louder than her preferences – at age eleven, Maya could truthfully say she had a published book under her belt, a book that has since gone on to receive positive review after positive review.
Her debut collection, “Apologies to an Apple,” features her observant and reflective yet unique style prominently – a style that has enchanted readers for years. In 2006, at age 8, Maya took first place in the RASP (Redmond Association of SPokenword) poetry contest for young writers. But her accomplishments and talent were evident around the house at a much younger age: she was reading chapter books at age two, and when she was only four, she began rapidly filling up a diary with poems. And seven years later, her first collection was released.
The volume, which firmly establishes her place in the poetry community, showcases the different sides to this 12-year-old writer, allowing the reader to explore the world in which she lives. “This collection of poems is so diverse…at one point, you’re in a deserted art studio, and in the next page, you’re caught in an earthquake at four a.m.…it’s like taking your reader on a tour of all these places and scenes you imagine in your head,” she says.
Her personal favorite? The quiet ‘He Speaks of the Blues in the Rain,’ the poem that silently unravels an image of driving down the road while listening to the blues station on the radio. “It’s a very low-key and hushed kind of poem,” Maya explains, “but at the same time it’s so strong that you can imagine yourself in the same position the narrator is in.”
The collection also features poems like ‘Before Sunrise,’ the quirky opening piece, and ‘Diagram,’ the piece that laughs at a diagram of the human body distorted by water. “I like having so much variety in the poems I put in the book. That way, you get to see the full spectrum of everything I can write—everything from carefree [‘Red’] to rebellious [‘Maps’] to just plain sad [‘Heartbreak’].” The range of tone and mood doesn’t affect the quality of “Apologies to an Apple,” though; the poems, although sometimes seemingly unconnected, take the reader along for a smooth ride.
Even one read-through reveals a common thread throughout the book—it’s full of Maya’s unreserved character and personality. “I feel like all of the poems in this collection are very ‘me’—I invest myself into every poem I write, and I try to make each one my own,” she says. The desire to make each poem “her own” is especially obvious in her work; the poem ‘Sold’ even features the line “I have sold other things, // too, // like myself.”
And another common thread? “Apologies to an Apple” shows a maturity unusual for her age—and an eye for detail that most people don’t possess until much later in their lives. “I do feel kind of out-of-place sometimes around people my age…I’m always the serious one!” Maya laughs. “I’m not actually that serious; in our family, I’m the one always pulling pranks on people and begging people to tell jokes.” And in regard to the detail: “I consider myself more a storyteller than a poet,” she says, “because all my poems have a story behind them. And every storyteller has to have detail or else they aren’t telling the story well.”
Maya’s vivid, engaging style has been praised by poets around her, who describe her work as ‘invitations to see anew.’ “It’s nice to read reviews,” Maya admits, “because I can always take something away from them. From each review, I’m able to figure out what people like to read and what they don’t—and what they would like me to improve on, which is so helpful. I keep pushing myself to be better and better...I don't think there's ever a point where you're as 'good as possible.' You can always improve."
Her goals for the future, she says, are "pretty foggy at this point, but I'm just going to keep writing." And after reading the impressive debut collection that is "Apologies to an Apple," it is evident that Maya's future will be not only one to be proud of but also one where she will no longer need to apologize to anything – or anyone – for her unmistakable talent.