Michaelah Hatcher

To Turn the Pen Michaelah Hatcher

Hatcher's debut book is a journey to adulthood, and much of the story is autobiographical. Michaelah writes poetry to learn; she longs to understand the little things in life, the world around her, and most of all, herself. Hatcher deals with the difficult topics of first love, anxiety and depression, spirituality, and the precarious nature of America's current culture through a very personal lens. To Turn the Pen comes from the Latin proverb "Stilum vertere." The phrase is in reference to the styluses of the Greco-Roman era, which had a scraper on one end used to erase letters from clay tablets. The saying means "to correct and begin again," which is something Hatcher has had to remind herself continually over her journey.