Out of bed before the sun to reignite the remaining coals in the woodstove, build a fire to meet the frigid 10 degrees the thermometer reads outside amidst layers of fluffy white. I sat down to sign and number each copy of my poetry book ‘Soft With Me’ and write a small letter of gratitude and wish for the year ahead to everyone who has purchased as we carry our lanterns into the collective unknown.

This book would not have been possible without the support of the Haywood County and N.C. Arts Councils who awarded me a small grant earlier this year to fund its creation. I diligently worked with a local editor/designer in stolen moments throughout the fall, then went on to find a local printer and book binder, ensuring the work was fully edited, printed, bound and brought to life in Western North Carolina.

Creating small batch items like this in partnership with local makers is certainly a more costly endeavor, yet the only way I seek to co-create in the world, planting small seeds for the type of community I wish to live and grow within.

If you’d like one of the 50 printed in this small run, you can order one through my Etsy shop HERE. I’m so incredibly grateful to everyone who has purchased a book thus far, helping fuel this vision to life, re-ignite the coals that will burn and carry me through winter.

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What the community is saying about ‘Soft With Me’

“Soft With Me by NC poet, Tiffany Narron, is a beautiful collection about mountains, oceans, listening and seeking. Tiffany shares her sensibility and experience in a lovely cadence, taking us away and bringing us back. I found her poems easy and deep and am thrilled to be a small part of her professional life.” – Mary Carol Koester, Azalea Bindery, 2020

“I feel transported to the river, listening to the geese, feeling the ache of womanhood, watching the tender blanket of snowflakes.” – Marca Pacheco

“The paper itself is handsomely substantial and I thought of so many meanings for the crimson thread binding. I believe I’m holding a precious prelude before you are ‘discovered.’ Thank you for giving us these words to name your uniqueness but more so, all we have in common.” – Susan Sides

“What a beautifully bound collection of poems– a salve this week with all the goings on. Your words are good medicine. Thank you.” – Dawn Bruneau

“You have a great way to express many aspects of the human condition. My favorite poems were ‘When Someone Deeply Listens to Me’ and ‘Holding Your Sacred Close, A Reminder’. Granny Lee should be very proud of you.” – James Dunton