About Avril (aka SomerEmpress)
Avril Somerville is a writer who writes candidly from her varied experiences as a Black woman immigrant wife momma daughter lifelong learner and spirit servant. (She occasionally breaks from convention as she sees fit, hence the lack of commas in the previous sentence.)
Avril is the author of A Journey Of Life On PURPOSE, which tackles, through poetry and prose, the intersectionality of creativity, womanhood, sisterhood, race, motherhood, activism, and identity politics. A Journey Of Life On PURPOSE is available on Amazon.
Born in the Commonwealth of Dominica, Avril is a first-generation college graduate of Swarthmore College where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature, and of Pennsylvania State University where she received her Masters of Business Administration. She has also lived in New York City, New Jersey, Virginia, and Chicago. She now lives with her family in Pennsylvania.
In Her Own Words:
I find joy when using my gifts to affirm, encourage, and inspire others. Rendered in love, these gifts have the ability to facilitate personal transformation along our Life journey.
I believe that thriving as a writer means engaging authentically with others. This requires the ongoing and deep-soul work of confronting my whole entire self—my uncomfortable truths and wiring, my imperfections, and my limitations). This is the business of living intentionally and artfully; this is the underpinning of living Life As An Art Form.
My writing celebrates community and love. I know that my words will outlast me, therefore, I take great pride in my work. Good writing is resonant, timeless, and always relevant. Good writing leaves an indelible imprint. Regardless of genre or style, good writing is remarkably powerful and ridiculously transformative. Good writing makes intimate the universal and makes understood the seemingly inaccessible. My responsibility as a writer then is to harness this power to impact readers at a deep soul level. My prayer is that this space, Life As An Art Form, serves as both testament and legacy of my responsibility as a writer.
What fuels me, you ask? Having a wonderful family is a blessing, but I am nothing without “My Tapestry of Women,” my sisterhood circle of kindred spirits with mutual love, tenderness, and adoration for one another. We know that we are better when we acknowledge our need for one another and corral our collective energy and beauty.
Life As An Art Form is my corner of the virtual Universe. It is just one of the references for my Life’s work and calling as a writer. I invite you to chime in when something resonates with you or even if you just have a clarifying question. As you navigate the rest of this blog, I ask that you remain civil and truthful. I welcome your comments, even when we disagree.
Welcome to my virtual table where we can share our truths, lives, love notes, breakdowns, and breakthroughs. Perhaps we can even occasionally laugh as we row our virtual lifeboats; perhaps together we can create some more Life As An Art.
To book Avril Somerville aka SomerEmpress for Transformative Talks, author readings, or guest blogging opportunities, click here.
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Life As An Art Form 
I have nominated you for the “Very Inspiring Blogger Award”. You can go to my blog here to get the pictures and read about it. I think you have a very inspiring blog. Congratulations. http://drses.wordpress.com/2012/03/10/my-heart-is-full-thank-youvery-inspiring-blogger-award/
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Thanks Sherry! I will most certainly do that (after cooking, and the likes… 🙂 )
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This is beautiful! I know so much more about you as a person now! And I’m so glad to see how important empathy is to you and your family.
I don’t see that word in places as much as I’d like. I agree with you that all of us who can, need to work toward bringing more empathy into our world. The first step is to say it more and more so the “deer in headlights” reaction to it diminishes. Maybe soon the opposition to it can diminish, too.
Glad to officially meet you, Ms. Empress!
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Hi there again, Lady Sparks! 🙂 For a minute there, I had to give thought to exactly which post you were commenting on, then I saw that it was regarding my “About Me” page. Thank you for taking the time to read it. I think it’s helpful to know a bit more about me, so you can put some of the posts in context. It was the word “empathy” that attracted me/ endeared me to you! I knew that fundamentally, no matter the differences in our writing, our hearts were in the same place of longing for connection with the larger human Spirit.
It is my pleasure indeed, Lady Sparks aka the Lovely Ré!
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Dear Ms. Empress, I don’t know how I missed your About page! I’ve got to run now, but I’ll be back later to read this. And I feel better to see that I still have my subscription to you! (I hate it when WordPress changes something around, and screws up one thing or the other in my little world here!) I hope all is well with you. 🙂
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Lady Sparks! I always put an exclamation mark after your name, as if I’m barging through the door and seeing you for the first time in a long time. 🙂 I hope you can feel my excitement. It’s also to show my reverence and respect for you as a fellow writer.
It seems that several of my subscriptions were amiss. Hopefully, it’s all squared away now.
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I’m feeling it! Now don’t go making me get all misty… ! I have a lot of respect for you, too. I hope you know that. That’s why I’m looking forward to your next piece. Until then, I’m glad you’re keeping in touch, Ms. Empress. 🙂
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I should be hitting that “Publish” button in a few minutes!
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Do you know, I think I love you… in the bestest possible way of course.
Every post that you have written in your blog speaks to me in a deep way.
I think we share the same journey in life, that of seeking out Unconditional love ( my mother unfortunately had no access to it because of her Narcissistic Personality Disorder) and the ‘living life as art’ thing. Oh yes, and strongly identify as a feminist too, that will be the sisterhood box ticked but I am no man hater, in fact I have the best partner a woman can have who supports my efforts to try and inspire women to be strong and stick together rather than following unwritten rules to scratch each others eyes out.
I’m also a big campaigner for the respect to be given back to the power of being silly, living life in a lighter hearted way, life is too short to live it with a serious adult heart. Embrace the inner child say I, let them giggle and splash in puddles and rediscover the joy all around us.
Sigh… it’s good to find a kindred spirit.
If you are on Facebook I’d be honoured to have you as a friend. ( I’m Diane Goldie , London)
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Diane, your words come to me this morning as a remarkable encouragement! I am very touched that these articles have spoken to you on a personal level – that’s what it’s all about! I’m all about the inner child – tapping into her to find her deepest fears and motivations, wants, and desires. Knowing her is the most sure-fire way to understand her gifts, as well as her most authentic self. Only from there, we can spring forward into self-actualized, though not final, selves.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. Cheers to continued sister connections, even across the seas! I’ll find you on Facebook.
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We have a lot of similarities. Im a stay at home daddy of three boys 10/8/3. I kinda fight for community by sharing my stories with my son’s classes, coaching and just speaking up to the youth and for the youth. Im in the process of starting an organization called H.Y.F.Away helping youth find away. Its purpose is to help the youth finacially participate in extra curricular activities.
I appreciate the feedback more than you know. I really didn’t expect anyone to really check it out. 12 days in and I feel now like I really have to complete the project. I definitely wanted to but daily I get more excited and nervous about the future. But its all good as its giving me so much
confidence to shoot for the stars again! Well take care and again thanks for the encouraging words.
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You’re welcome! A little encouragement goes a long way in today’s world. The nervousness that you feel is of the good kind, especially as you’re taking on a meaningful project with scope and significance. See it through!
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