Blunt and powerful, the poems of Chrystina Tobey make themselves very clear: beware the author, she is mentally ill. They possess a sense of humor and energy rarely found in confessional poetry, yet clearly and openly discuss the pain and confusion of living with a mental illness, and living in the world of psychiatric medicine. With verve and implied violence, these poems ask questions, and come up with very disturbing answers.
Chrystina says: "I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio (don't you dare say, 'Cleveland rocks'). I packed up and moved to California at the ripe age of nineteen. Now I'm at the ripe age of twenty-something.
"Currently I am back in school at Antioch University, where I am finishing my bachelors with a double major in Child Studies and Creative Writing. Soon I will be pursuing a Masters in Education. With this I plan to teach first or second grade, in the inner cities, and continue writing.
"Recently I've had my work published in Hick and the Blackman, The Advocate, and Blind Man's Rainbow.
"The reason I write is simple. I've been writing since, around, the ripe age of ten. I write to survive." Drop her a line at chrystobey@earthlink.net.
Chrystina's works here at Unlikely Stories are:
2002:
This Type of World
Constant
Simple