The Things We Become

Somewhere between who we are and who we thought we'd be, there are a thousand versions of us.

In 44 poems, across four sections — The Architecture of Wanting, A Constellation of Two, The Anatomy of an Ending and The Work of Becoming — Sri Vennela Gadhiraju explores the spaces between desire, connection, loss and becoming.

In the poet's own words:

We spend our lives becoming.

Becoming who we thought we would be.

Becoming someone we never imagined.

Becoming softer, harder, stranger, wiser.

Becoming someone our younger selves might not recognise.

The Things We Become is a collection about growing into,

and out of, the many versions of ourselves

that life asks us to inhabit.

Because none of us become ourselves all at once.

We leave pieces of ourselves in people, places, years,

and memories. We carry some forward, outgrow others,

and sometimes, without noticing, become someone new.

These poems are for every version of you that got you here.

For who you were.

For who you are.

And for whoever you are still becoming.