Andrea Carter Brown: Poetry and Positivity in Troubled Times

Escaping the horrors of 9/11 on foot, and coming to terms with the experiences through poetry.

First released in September 2021

What happens when tragedy collides with creativity? Andrea Carter Brown's journey from accountant to acclaimed poet was forever altered by the events of September 11, 2001, when she fled her apartment just one block from the World Trade Center.

Growing up in a home without books or art, Andrea never imagined becoming a writer. "I am the first artist in my family ever," she reveals, crediting her mother for nurturing her love of reading despite not being a reader herself. Though poetry spoke to her unhappy teenage self through Emily Dickinson's words, Andrea followed her natural talent with numbers into bookkeeping, building a successful business career that left little room for creative expression.

The turning point came unexpectedly at a New York poetry reading where "the dam broke" and Andrea began writing poems about her experiences in East Germany. But the most profound chapter in her creative journey began on 9/11 when she witnessed the unthinkable. "I knew I had to flee," she recalls, embarking on a 12-hour odyssey through New York and New Jersey while her husband feared she was dead. The trauma of that day – including respiratory disease from toxic dust exposure – created a profound writer's block that took years to overcome.

Fast forward and Andrea has published a number of poetry collections, including one about her experiences of escaping on 9/11, and the effects of that experience on her and her community in the 20 years in between the event and her publishing the collection, entitled September 12. 

In this episode Andrea also reads one of the poems from September 12, that she chose specially for us at Creativity Found.

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Researched, edited and produced by Claire Waite Brown
Music: Day Trips by Ketsa Undercover / Ketsa Creative Commons License Free Music Archive - Ketsa - Day Trips
Artworks: Emily Portnoi emilyportnoi.co.uk
Photo: Ella Pallet

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