“Poetry is the softest way to hold a memory.”
Jannie Fernandes is a poet, author and spoken-word artist. Through poetry and deeply personal conversations, she explores what it means to live through loss, grow around it, and find your way back to yourself
She is the author of Magic in Teacups and Starlight & Seashells, books written for an empathetic generation and old souls. She has also created Maybe You’re Not Overthinking, a podcast exploring emotions and the strange, beautiful ways we experience them.
Jannie began writing as an intensely quiet teenager, hiding behind the pen name “trustonlystars” because she wasn't sure her voice was worth being heard. Years later, that same voice has found its way into books, poetry performances and conversations.
Losing her mother during the pandemic changed the way she understood grief, resilience and what it means to move forward. Rather than treating grief as something to overcome, Jannie began exploring how we learn to live alongside it.
That exploration has grown beyond her own work. Jannie facilitates intimate grief circles and holds space for The Living Room, a community for people navigating grief and loss. These are spaces to talk, remember, listen and feel less alone, without the pressure to “move on” or have all the answers.
At the heart of Jannie’s work is a belief that we don't always need answers for what we feel. Sometimes, we need language, permission and a place to be honest about it.
She is drawn to the conversations beneath the conversations: the things we feel but don't say, the versions of ourselves we outgrow, the losses that change us, and the small pieces of magic that help us keep going.
