By Sophia-Joelle McDowell
Art by Kelcie McKenney

Valeria Eden is passionate, and it shines through her words and actions. She follows a vegan lifestyle, adores her pups, and loves to read whenever she gets the chance. And she funnels all that passion into her writing—both fiction and poetry. With a BA in psychology, Valeria is also pursuing an MFA in poetry and creative writing in colorful Colorado.

Tender Teeth is Valeria’s newest poetry book, and it’s packed with gripping poems inspired by the aches and pains found in death, grief, identity, love and survival. We spoke with Valeria about the journey life has taken her on thus far and got the scoop on her must-read poetry book.

Catcall: Tell us about yourself and what led you down the road of poetry. 

Valeria: I’ve always been a big reader, and have always really loved words. But I first started writing poetry as an outlet, something my therapist recommended when I was a teenager. I had seven pretty significant people in my life die all before I was 18 and poetry really gave me a place to process and grieve. At first, it had no structure to it, it was really just word vomit, but I loved it. I taught myself what I could in high school just by reading poetry books and watching slam poetry videos, and later I joined my university’s poetry club in college. We started off every meeting with a prompt and several minutes of silent writing. After, whoever wanted to could share what they wrote aloud and open themselves up to feedback. I was a member all four years of college, and that space really helped me start to feel comfortable and confident sharing my work. And I fell in love with the craft even more, with language and storytelling and the texture of words, with how magical it was to convey emotion between writer and reader just through words on a page or spoken out loud. 

But I was still convinced that poetry could only ever be a hobby, something I do on the side. I had heard it so many times from my family and from society in general that art wasn’t a practical pursuit, let alone career. So I got my BA in psychology, which I enjoyed, but secretly dreaded the future path I saw for myself in that field. And one day, in the summer before my senior year of undergrad, I decided to take a poetry class, just for fun. My professor and classmates were incredible and supportive, and I felt myself come alive a little. On the last day of that class, my professor pulled me aside and asked if I had ever considered pursuing an MFA in writing (I hadn’t—I was set on grad school for psych), and I couldn’t get it out of my head. I graduated into the first year of Covid, the job market sucked, everything was scary, and I just realized again how fragile and fleeting life is, and that I wasn’t okay spending another moment planning a future around a life I wasn’t passionate about. So I took that leap and applied to my MFA program a year later (that professor wrote my recommendation letter), and it’s been life-changing for me and everything I ever wanted. 

You’ve talked about how societal expectations and the opinions of others have held you back from fully pursuing poetry in the past. How did you break free from this and finally go for it? 

Coupled with confronting my own mortality during the start of Covid and my commitment to living a life I love (in all the ways within my control), I think for a long time I was scared to pursue writing because I didn’t think I was good enough. I was so afraid of trying and failing and hearing all the “I told you so’s” from people in my life who thought I was crazy for wanting to pursue it. But on the other side of that fear was so much growth and joy and even more people who cheered me on and encouraged me. We only get one life, and so briefly. I think it would be a waste of my time here to spend it wishing and wondering than just going after the things I love. 

You took a different path and decided to go to grad school for poetry. How has that journey been so far? 

I certainly don’t think every writer needs an MFA background, but it’s been life-changing for me. Part of that is because I got incredibly lucky with my cohort and my professors, but it’s really given me the space to experiment, to find my style and my voice, and has given me access to different skills, forms of writing, different authors, books, stories, and experiences that I don’t think I would have found otherwise. 

You published I Used to Be the Sun in 2018. How have you and your writing changed since then? 

I Used to be the Sun had so much heart in it, and it carried me a long way, but that’s pretty much it. Most of those poems were written as a teenager, so now, seven years later, not only am I in a completely different stage of my life, but so is my writing. I think my work has really expanded and has more teeth now, more structure, and cohesiveness and grit. There’s more intention behind it, everything from word choice to spacing on the page to even content. To be honest, I used to be embarrassed of I Used to be the Sun since my writing style and voice are so different now, but it really has been amazing to see my own growth and I’m very grateful to teenage Val for being brave enough to share her heart with the world and for setting the stage for 27 year old Val to do the same. 

We’d love to hear about how Tender Teeth came to be. How long has it been in the works? Tell us about the journey of bringing it to life.

Most of the work in Tender Teeth was written during the first year of my MFA program and the gap year I took before my final year, so really it’s only been in the works 2022-2024. I interned for my publishing company during that gap year, and even though the manuscript I had been playing around with that eventually became Tender Teeth didn’t feel “ready,” I shared it with them at the end of my time there. I really wasn’t expecting anything, but they ended up loving it so much they offered to publish it not long after. I got the news in January 2024 and immediately burst into tears because what do you mean, you believe in this? You think it’s ready? It was incredibly validating to my time in grad school, and feeling like I really had found my voice. 

How does it feel to be able to hold this work in your hands and know you did that thing? 

It’s everything. I mean to be honest, it’s three weeks past release day and still doesn’t feel real sometimes. I have to really remind myself to take it all in and hold my book and be like, “Holy shit! This is MINE. I wrote this! That’s me on the cover!” So I don’t know when it will actually hit me, but I do know that my inner child, that girl that is on the cover of Tender Teeth, and who the book is dedicated to, is so proud of me, and that’s everything. 

You’ve been transparent about your diagnoses of borderline personality disorder, social anxiety, and ADHD. How have these impacted your writing and how you navigate creativity? 

Mental illness and creativity has really gone hand-in-hand for centuries. We’ve all heard about the “tortured artist.” I think a big reason struggling people turn toward art is because it’s the one thing that will never judge or ostracise you. Art is for everyone, regardless of age or race or ability, and it will always welcome and hold you. I’m a very sensitive and emotional human, and I know it bleeds into my writing, but I think in a good way. I’ve often been told that people feel understood, seen, or moved by my poems, and I do contribute a lot of that to my ability to transfer emotion onto the page. I think a large part of that is my BPD. People often focus on the negative traits of borderline, but there are also several positive ones that I’ve come to see as really beautiful. Heightened empathy, passion, intensity, and a natural inclination toward creativity are common characteristics of the disorder, and I really think learning how to use those traits in a productive way helps give my work its depth. 

But for all my diagnoses, creativity has always been the answer for me when everything else gets too overwhelming or loud. I really struggled with my social anxiety in college, and writing was a way for me to confront that tension and connect with other people at my own pace. Working up the courage to share my poems at open mic nights or aloud at my poetry club was also a huge step in overcoming that anxiety. So, yeah. Writing is where I go when my head or heart are heavy and I always walk away feeling lighter. 

Writing is where I go when my head or heart are heavy and I always walk away feeling lighter. 

Can you tell us anything about the fantasy book you have in the works?

It is very much still in the early stages, but it’s about two very different twin sisters who would tear apart the world for each other. It’s about love and revenge and female rage and redemption. There’s mental illness rep, queer rep, a ghost boy love interest, a circus, and pretty prose and I can’t wait to have the time to work on it post graduation! 

How can our readers support you and your work? 

I would really love Tender Teeth to make her way into as many indie bookstores and public libraries as possible. So if you feel so inclined, it would mean the world to me to have readers request copies of it at their local book spaces! Otherwise, Tender Teeth is available on Amazon and hopefully soon online at other places books are sold. You can also follow along with me at my writing instagram, @poetvaleriaeden. 

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