Hi there, I’m SK and this is my first blog!

I’ve been sitting here wondering what I should write about in my first ever ‘to be published’ blog(!) and I’ve decided that it would probably be best to use this space as an introduction. I mean, you’re on my web page after all, I’m guessing you’d want to know a bit about me!

My actual name is Sonay (pronounced ‘sonn-eye’) but I go by SK (I’ll explain why a little further down). Born and raised in London, UK, I’m second generation Turkish Cypriot and the youngest child to my wonderful parents, who moved to England from Northern Cyprus in the sixties.

Without delving into my childhood and somewhat chaotic young adulthood (perhaps I’ll write about that in a future entry!), let’s move on to my journey as a poet/writer.

To explain how and why I started writing, I will take you back to August 2007, when I gave birth to my beautiful daughter and only child, Kader. Unfortunately, due to some problems during birth, Kader was born with an injured brain and a number of disabilities and complex needs. Initially on life support, Kader started to breathe unaided on the eleventh day after she was born. This was unexpected by the medical team and it was the first time she showed me what a fighter she was! I called her my ‘little soldier’ and she spent the next 6 years and 5 months proving to be exactly that. But every fighter needs to retire eventually…

On 28th January 2014, as I held her lovingly in my arms, Kader said goodbye to this world. We had been at Great Ormond Street Hospital for three and half weeks, but Kader’s destiny was not up for change – she was meant to grow her angel wings that night.

A few days later, during a prayers gathering for Kader at my parent’s house, the Hodja leading the prayers read a poem that he had written about me and Kader. It was not only beautiful and emotional, but also a pivotal point for me as this was the moment I decided I would start writing poetry to help me cope with my grief. I am forever grateful to that man!

That was eight years ago. Some years later, my dear friend, Ozlem, convinced me to start a poetry page on Instagram. I had absolutely no idea how that would pan out but I decided to give it a go. I chose to use a penname ‘SK Mustafa’, which you will have probably realised by now are the initials for Sonay and Kader. I’ve always loved that I chose to that. That was in May 2018.

Who knew that I would find such a huge society of poets in one place? I certainly didn’t! Finding the poets community on Instagram has truly been one of the best things that’s happened to me. Not only have I been able to grow as a poet and, in more recent times, a fictional mini-story writer, I have also made some amazing friends that have become like family to me. My gratitude is endless!

Fast forward to April 2021 – when I set an intention to finally compile and publish my first book. My exact words were ‘I AM going to publish a poetry book within the next 12 months! -SK Mustafa’ – and so I did! My book ‘Losing My Sunshine’ will be live for purchase on 28^th January 2022 and I couldn’t be prouder of myself!

So there you have it! You know who I am now and why I started writing. What more can I tell you? Well, I’m sure I’ll think of things as I go on adding posts to my blog!

Thank you for taking the time to read my very first blog entry!

Signing off for now,

SK