bio.
Cherise Lily Nana is a Writer, Muse and Lover of all things Venusian. (She's also an editor, but that didn't fit the rhyme.) At the core of all her work is a passion for story, art & myth, and a deep reverence for the beauty of the soul and the many ways it finds meaningful expression. She has woven all of this together to create The Story Studio, a space where stories are born from the deep imagination that we all carry.
An avid learner, Cherise holds a BA in Art History and a Grad Dip in Professional Writing, and has undertaken further studies in Narrative Therapy, Counselling, and Positive Psychology. She is currently completing a Master of Arts (Writing & Literature), and her words have been published in Paradiso, CosmoMuse, Rebelle Society, This Next Wave, Wildlife Australia, GO magazine, and more.
Cherise Lily Nana is a Writer, Muse and Lover of all things Venusian. (She's also an editor, but that didn't fit the rhyme.) At the core of all her work is a passion for story, art & myth, and a deep reverence for the beauty of the soul and the many ways it finds meaningful expression. She has woven all of this together to create The Story Studio, a space where stories are born from the deep imagination that we all carry.
An avid learner, Cherise holds a BA in Art History and a Grad Dip in Professional Writing, and has undertaken further studies in Narrative Therapy, Counselling, and Positive Psychology. She is currently completing a Master of Arts (Writing & Literature), and her words have been published in Paradiso, CosmoMuse, Rebelle Society, This Next Wave, Wildlife Australia, GO magazine, and more.
muse manifesto.
She diligently wove a golden net and prepared to cast it out to sea under the prophetic eyes of the full-bellied lady Luna. She wanted to observe all the creatures that swam in the depths of the unknown. These mysterious beings belonged to the unseen. Some ancient lore even labelled them as inexpressibles, but she didn't believe that. Her devotion would be to bring their strangeness gently to the surface, to study their ineffable nature and share her findings with the world. Then perhaps, if she could spin her magic in the way her grandmother taught her, each person might come to know and love what lies beneath.
She diligently wove a golden net and prepared to cast it out to sea under the prophetic eyes of the full-bellied lady Luna. She wanted to observe all the creatures that swam in the depths of the unknown. These mysterious beings belonged to the unseen. Some ancient lore even labelled them as inexpressibles, but she didn't believe that. Her devotion would be to bring their strangeness gently to the surface, to study their ineffable nature and share her findings with the world. Then perhaps, if she could spin her magic in the way her grandmother taught her, each person might come to know and love what lies beneath.
10 things.
1. I'm half Ghanaian and half Scottish, born in Australia. I grew up in Sydney's version of a ghetto (housing commission in redfern) as a child and then the beautiful bohemian town of Bellingen in my teens.
2. My mum named me after the dancer, Cyd Charisse. And my dad gave me the name Nana, which in Twi (local dialect of Ghana) means Grandparent, and represents an ancient form of historical learning: storytelling. (Incidentally 'Lily' was the name of my Scottish great Grandmother.) So as far as I see it, I was put on this earth to tell stories... and dance while I'm doing it.
3. I'm an ardent art postcard collector. For 20 years now I've been squirrelling away a stash accumulated from art galleries around the world. One of these days I plan to curate a miniature exhibition with my collection.
4. I love the places where the industrialised world meets the natural world. Decaying ruins, old piggeries converted into growing spaces, disused train tracks that are overgrown with greenery... In fact, I get excited about the intersections between any diverse elements, whether they be cultures, traditions, mediums or schools of thought.
5. I'm a tad conscientious. When I was at high school, I was like a kind of communal personal assistant. I had a habit of remembering all my friends' timetables, so at the end of lunch break, people would come to me to ask what class they had next.
6. I'm a big romantic. I believe love trumps all, cry at anything, and am an introvert. (INFJ for anyone who is big on personality types.)
7. I love love love riding my bicycle, and always take great delight in naming my bikes. I currently have a black cruiser called "Black Magic Woman" (or BMW for short), and my previous 2-wheeled friends have included "Queenie", "Audrey" and "Ruby the Empress".
8. I'm fascinated by death. Not in a creepy way, more in the sense of how it informs life. One of my life goals is to become a palliative care volunteer; to sit with the dying, help to record their biography, and be a witness to their beauty in their final days.
9. Yes, you picked it with the death talk- I'm a scorpio moon, leo sun and sagi rising for the fellow astro enthusiasts out there. Feel free to geek out on astrology myth and archetypes with me here.
10. I'm a major foodie. I love getting experimental in the kitchen, shopping in the sun at farmer's markets, picking the most unusual thing on the menu at cafes, and using food as medicine.
1. I'm half Ghanaian and half Scottish, born in Australia. I grew up in Sydney's version of a ghetto (housing commission in redfern) as a child and then the beautiful bohemian town of Bellingen in my teens.
2. My mum named me after the dancer, Cyd Charisse. And my dad gave me the name Nana, which in Twi (local dialect of Ghana) means Grandparent, and represents an ancient form of historical learning: storytelling. (Incidentally 'Lily' was the name of my Scottish great Grandmother.) So as far as I see it, I was put on this earth to tell stories... and dance while I'm doing it.
3. I'm an ardent art postcard collector. For 20 years now I've been squirrelling away a stash accumulated from art galleries around the world. One of these days I plan to curate a miniature exhibition with my collection.
4. I love the places where the industrialised world meets the natural world. Decaying ruins, old piggeries converted into growing spaces, disused train tracks that are overgrown with greenery... In fact, I get excited about the intersections between any diverse elements, whether they be cultures, traditions, mediums or schools of thought.
5. I'm a tad conscientious. When I was at high school, I was like a kind of communal personal assistant. I had a habit of remembering all my friends' timetables, so at the end of lunch break, people would come to me to ask what class they had next.
6. I'm a big romantic. I believe love trumps all, cry at anything, and am an introvert. (INFJ for anyone who is big on personality types.)
7. I love love love riding my bicycle, and always take great delight in naming my bikes. I currently have a black cruiser called "Black Magic Woman" (or BMW for short), and my previous 2-wheeled friends have included "Queenie", "Audrey" and "Ruby the Empress".
8. I'm fascinated by death. Not in a creepy way, more in the sense of how it informs life. One of my life goals is to become a palliative care volunteer; to sit with the dying, help to record their biography, and be a witness to their beauty in their final days.
9. Yes, you picked it with the death talk- I'm a scorpio moon, leo sun and sagi rising for the fellow astro enthusiasts out there. Feel free to geek out on astrology myth and archetypes with me here.
10. I'm a major foodie. I love getting experimental in the kitchen, shopping in the sun at farmer's markets, picking the most unusual thing on the menu at cafes, and using food as medicine.
