By Edward Henderson
Most 15 year olds these days are usually staring intently at their fidget spinners, trying to find a way to prove to their crushes that they exist, and the only stories they are concerned about creating exist on their Snapchat accounts. Precious few are even thinking about embarking on the ambitious journey required to birth a book into the world. At 15, Terrence Carter was one of those outliers.
Now 20 years of age, the Southeast San Diego native was inspired to pen his first book ‘Poison in Magic Land’ after studying poetry in his English class and the events surrounding Treyvon Martin being killed in Florida. Carter’s writing began with channeling his anger towards the situation in a poem entitled ‘Africa America’. As time passed, however, he began focusing on the world around him and the day to day emotions and situations students his age navigate through.
“You learn a lot in high school about love, relationships, and friends and how to deal with all that stuff,” said Carter. “It was a lot about self-acceptance, self-love and how to treat yourself. The standards in relationships that you want. I wanted to pinpoint some of the weak points as a generation that we were experiencing and help find true love within ourselves.”
‘Poison in Magic Land’ is a collection of poems and stories that delve into the subject of finding self-love and navigating adult situations at a young age.
“This book opens up people’s eyes to the things that are killing this generation emotionally and physically. My goal was to have readers be able to dive inside of a book that will help them love themselves more. These are real stories and real life experiences that will help them find real love. If they are down on themselves, or need to find more love within themselves and experience things.”
With San Diego’s poetry and literary scene growing by the second, it’s important for writers to establish a sense of individuality and unique voice. Carter does this through vulnerability in his work and digging into his personal life experience and stories to make readers feel less alone in their journey through life.
“I’m not afraid to bring to life in my books the things I’m going through. It makes an impact on readers because its things they can relate to. My focus is to reach people who are going through certain things and bring it to life. I’m able to be brutally honest about that things need to be heard.”
Carter continues to write books and create new content on a regular basis, however, his most recent creation gives him the most joy. His new born son.
“The only thing I have left to give the world is who I truly am and spread as much love as I possibly can. There is a lot of love I want to leave behind as a legacy for him as a legacy for everybody else around me and for myself.”
You can find Poison in Magic Land and Carter’s other books here.
