Artist S. Korey Steckle Releases First Book “David: A Memoir, Volume. 1”

Second chances, artistic inspirations and motivational lessons are found in the pages of S. Korey Steckle’s recently published memoir

Few people get the opportunity for a second chance at life. Multidisciplinary artist S. Korey Steckle has had that opportunity not once but twice. The first time was when he was rescued from a destitute orphanage in his native Bangladesh by his forever family who brought him home to Canada to live a life an orphan can only dream of. But sometimes our inherent beginnings and heritage are the things that haunt us; and Steckle was in a deep, dark place at one point that brought him to the brink. A downward spiral of addiction literally drove him to a suicide attempt that he survived in 2014. 

Two years after his suicide attempt and survival, he really found himself struggling and without purpose. The photographer-collage artist has always used art as an outlet. While his mother had always encouraged him to write, it was a prompt from his aunt that finally pushed him to put pen to paper and write his own story. Steckle remembers, “The excitement of being alive and surviving had dissipated and I was back to almost square one again. And she said, ‘Korey, not many people come back from the brink like you did, from that dark abyss. And I think your purpose is to tell your story.’” 

The motivation to write his memoir was not only a personal one, but one fueled by his devotion as a parent to his son. “My son is in his teens now and I wanted to grant him insight into the struggles I had dealt with at his age, while also helping myself in the process.” 

David: A Memoir, Volume 1 focuses on the internal struggle the author faces throughout his life: an overarching feeling of displacement and not belonging as he facilitates between two worlds. It’s a tale of cyclical detachment. “The essence of my story is about the cultural issues that I’ve wrestled with for so long. It’s about not fitting into my birth country because of the displacement; and not fitting into my adoptive country because of my biological heritage.” He was routinely bullied at school and looked at as an outcast in his predominantly white childhood neighborhood. He struggled to fit in and turned to substances to ease his pain. This led to a path of destruction.

Thankfully, the one thing Steckle did find healthy solace and belonging in was a love of art. Photography, a passion for collage artwork and music all saved Steckle from the low points of his life. Now a successful artist and author, he notes how thankful he is to have found this gift of art. “The lesson to take away from my memoir is that if you recognize in yourself that art is your calling, follow it. Do not relent. And find purpose in your pain. I took the drive I used in self destruction and channeled it into creation.”

Turning his struggles into a published book didn’t present itself without challenges. “I struggled in many instances during and after writing because of P.S.T.D. I am proud to have remained sober throughout the duration of writing,” Steckle says. But he says that throughout the process, he gained a wealth of self awareness and understanding of the root causes of many of the burdens that haunted him since he was a young child. There was both pain reliving the traumas and on the other hand, there was also the healing that came from facing those traumas head on through the process of writing. David was the name he was given while in the orphanage. It’s a nod to his beginnings. But that is just where the story starts.

While many memoirs come to a final ending, Steckle’s story is still being written, as much as transpired in his life since he last wrote Volume. 1. Over the last two years, he’s been working on the second installment of his memoir. There’s life, loves and losses to cover in Volume. 2. But through it all, what transpires is a story of redemption and perseverance for this Nova Scotia-based artist, author and father as he continues to evolve. “The evolution of my art is directly linked to the progression of my growth in recovery and in my relations with myself and others.”

Steckle hopes that his story and artwork will inspire others to find what drives them to see a life with purpose beyond the struggles of life–and to find inspiration in other artists and their work. “My advice is that if you find an artist, musician, writer, designer, poet, etc. that inspires you, dig deeper. Find out what in their life gave them the fire and courage to strike out and create. Who influenced them notable in those fields or amateurs in their family that inspired them to be brave enough to express and extract what is stored inside? Read their favorite writers. Immerse yourself in their realms and possibilities. Patti Smith and others that I’ve met and look up to have their cannon. Their touchstones. What got them through and laid the path for their own voices to be heard. Because of those artists I gained lists of other artists, writers and musicians that I felt compelled to take in with all of my senses.”

David: A Memoir, Volume. 1 is fittingly devoted to Steckle’s son, who remains a daily inspiration and motivation to the author.