An Okotoks author, teacher and poet is publishing another body of work.
His seventh book and third of poetry, Leonard Quilty published The Secret to Happiness – Micro Poems for a Macro Life in March as a response to the modern pressures people face, particularly throughout the pandemic.
“They’re inspirational, my poems have a message for the reader,” Quilty said. “I just think about the times we’re living in, people could use a little inspiration.
“These are poems I wrote over a six-month period the last year; a number of them are related to inspiration I’ve gotten from nature, the rest are just messages about life in general.”
The poems in The Secret to Happiness all touch on ideas of taking time to self-reflect and be mindful, to seize the moment.
The author has been working in the genre of poetry for a few years now, having published two prior collections, Confidence in the Game of Life: Poems to Inspire and Serendipity Calling: Selected Poems.
“I’ve just been in the genre over the past three or four years, and I’ve been continuing to write poetry almost every day,” Quilty said.
A common theme in his writing is inspiration, with other works including a fiction novel titled A Manual for Piece, a self-help book titled Success Strategies: 7 Pillars of an Empowered Life, as well as a collection of newspaper columns written over the course of 15 years in two books titled Character Cultivation in the Classroom and Beyond Vol. 1 and 2.
Quilty has been a teacher for over 13 years in Alberta, currently through Christ the Redeemer’s Centre for Learning at Home, and in Newfoundland before that.
He also bears the designation of Distinguished Toastmaster, the highest level of achievement in the international public speaking and leadership organization Toastmasters International.
Just about anyone can get something from the poems, Quilty said, including teenagers.
“I teach high school English, creative writing, I’ve been getting good feedback from my students about it,” he said.
Not one to hit the pause button, Quilty is continuing to assemble more poetry and potentially another inspirational book.
The Secret to Happiness – Micro Poems for a Macro Life can be found on Amazon.
For more information about Quilty or his books, visit leonardquilty.com.
