RANYBTHEPEN is a poetry Instagram account where words meet art. Poems written by Eva Kosec are introduced to the world accompanied with illustrations by Maja Rigler and it seems to be a winning combination. The pair produces small squares of delicate, personal art which resonates with many people floating around the social media universe. Raw and real, Eva’s poetry touches on topics such as relationships, the phenomenon of falling in love and manoeuvring life when your heart lives in two places simultaneously while Maja’s illustrations add the visual image of what the poems feel like with the soft pastel hues, adding to the all-around image of the Instagram profile.

Who is the girl behind the poetry we can find on ranbythepen?
A social media manager by day, writer by every free minute she gets. A hopeless romantic, lost in her own thoughts most of the time, but knows exactly what she wants and has a lot of faith in achieving everything she sets her mind to.

When did you first start writing – in general? And how did you discover and fall in love with poetry?
When I was around 16, 17 was when I discovered that not only do I like writing – it was also a great way for me to express my feelings and put my thoughts into order. I still to this day find it very therapeutic. At first, I was writing essays and different articles that were published on my blog Eve’s breeze. It was a few years later that I fell in love and truly understood poetry. One day I stumbled across Rudy Francisco’s Love poem reading on YouTube and that quite literally got me hooked. Last year while living in Toronto was the first time that I felt the itch to write my very own as well and haven’t stopped since.

What inspired you to start an Instagram account for sharing your work?
The ability or rather the opportunity to maybe help someone with my words and my experience, to let anyone out there know they’re not alone and hopefully open a discussion about a certain topic, to create a community where people can express themselves freely or just to put a smile on their face. Poetry helped me find so many answers and I want to give back and do the same.

Where do you draw your inspiration from and what impacts you the most?
I draw inspiration from everyone and everything: the places I visit, people I meet and their stories, a lot of other Instagram poets and their poems, but the most inspiration though I get in more difficult times, the bad days when my mind works even harder and I reminisce about everything – that’s when I write the most.

Are there any artist you look up to in terms of your work?
I do. My biggest inspirations are definitely Rudy Francisco and Maya Angelou. I re-read everything by them a million times hehe. I can relate to so many of their poems and sayings.

How did the idea of combining poetry and art come along and where did you and Maja meet? How did you start working together and what’s it been like so far?
I saw a lot of poetry/illustration collaborations in books and on Instagram and always loved the idea of the two together so that’s how I knew if I’ll ever publish my work it will be in the company of illustrations.

I met Maja trough my brother and we later become boxing partners which led to us being friends and eventually collaborators. Her illustrations and her style caught my eye and I asked her if she’d like to work with me and voila, couldn’t be happier. She has a great creative mind and knows perfectly how to embody my words.

Do you have any bigger plans for the future in terms of expanding your account – maybe self-publishing a poetry collection?
That is definitely my goal for the future but before that I would first like to build a strong community, work even harder on it and gain more experience. There are a few cool projects I have in mind, but I’m taking it slow. All at the right time.

Do you have any advice for (young) creatives who wish to start something similar?
Just start. Stop wondering and just do it, there is literally nothing bad that can happen in the process of creating something you are passionate about and it’s so worth it. Creating and working on things you like and love brings so much joy to your life. So just do it and don’t stop. Ever.

What’s your motto?
Does C’est la vie! count as a motto? As much as I tend to hold on things and memories in a way, I also believe everything happens for a reason – good and bad things and saying C’est la vie for me kind of means accepting what was, learning from it but in the end moving forward.