TULSA – Cherokee author Rebekah Warren signed copies of her first published book, Moon Pull, at Palomino Books and Music, an Indigenous and Latine-owned business in the Kendall-Whittier neighborhood on Saturday, August 15. Moon Pull is a collection of poems on themes of longing and devotion. It was published on Wednesday, July 29, by Arcana Poetry Press.
Warren is an English and humanities professor at Rogers State University and has been involved with the Native American Student Association (NASA) on campus. According to Warren, the poems in Moon Pull come from a collection she submitted for a contest held by Arcana Poetry. The contest’s theme was yearning. When Warren learned the contest’s theme, she already had original works in mind to submit.
“I had a couple of columns that fit the bill, and I just expanded on those,” Warren said. “I just dove into that feeling and figured out how to shape a narrative around it.”
The short collection received an honorable mention. The poems were kept on file for potential publication in an anthology. A few months later, Warren reached back out to Arcana Poetry and learned they wanted to publish her collection as a standalone chapbook or a short book of poetry. From there, Warren and her publisher worked hard to craft a uniform narrative.
Warren described the feeling of publishing her first book as “surreal.” She shared that she does not have formal training as a poet, but has written nonfiction works. According to Warren, writing poetry is a much different creative process than writing a novel.
“When I transitioned into poetry, I thought it just felt like a way to quickly access an emotion or a feeling, or a moment, and really slice into it rather than taking 200 pages to tell a story, you know? I really fell in love with that process,” Warren said.
Warren hopes her work might help readers discover who they are and understand they are worthy of self-love. Her advice to other authors is to keep listening to their inner voice.
“If I’m talking to a younger, Indigenous creator, I would say you have a voice, what you have to say is important, you want to keep your voice,” Warren said. “When you’re starting out, it’s really tempting to emulate other artists. You might do that a little bit to learn from them, but your individual voice can not be replicated.”
For those who want to immerse themselves more deeply in the atmosphere of Moon Pull, Warren has curated a public Spotify playlist. The playlist is intended to be listened to while reading the book or on the go.
Moon Pull is available for purchase on the Arcana Poetry Press website, arcanapoetrypress.com. It is also available at major book retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Warren’s next book signing for Moon Pull will be at The Same Page in Claremore on Thursday, Aug. 27, from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Palomino Books and Music is located at 2411 E. Admiral Blvd. They are open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Warren’s poetry can also be found on Substack and Instagram under the handle, rebekahwarrenwrites.
THE AWAKENING
feet in the creek bed,
eyes toward the leaves
of an oak tree who has seen
a rabbit’s foot in the mouth
of every yearning thing—
I spin and drop and let
the current catch me.
why will no one hold me this way?
cradled between earth and sky,
sunbeams dappling my skin,
stardust illuminating the confines
of my heart—there is too much
for me to hold. I am bursting
with luminosity. a mirror ball
begging for someone to see.
From “Moon Pull”
Rebekah Warren
