“A fierce-hearted triumph of personal truth against power. Jyl’s words stirred my spirit and sharpened my vision: a surge in our collective struggle to hold on to what is vital in a world that would deny us our humanity.”

— Will Hall, schizophrenia diagnosis survivor & host of Madness Radio

“Like a skilled knife-thrower, Jyl Anais hurls truth with precision, cutting at realities many prefer not to be addressed at all, realities many prefer to cover up and smooth over. She exposes the raw undersides of these realities, sometimes leaving them hanging, like something that must be contemplated and dealt with, and at other times, transforms pain with sound lessons, hope, and connections. For people who have had any experience being human, of loss, betrayal, assault, or for people who have had to make decisions or have taken paths they may have later questioned, or been forced on paths that they ought never been subject, Jyl Anais has wisdom in her words. She presents justified challenges to the way societies operate, a shaking down of the norms, and a rejection of the status quo. If Jyl Anais’ words are heeded, a different world might be had for us all. Specifically for people who have had interactions with doctors, and even more specifically involvement with psychiatry, she brings crucial reasons why these institutions and practitioners must be held accountable. Soft Out Spoken is evocative, complex, bold, and courageous, pouring over with soul-twisting brutal honesty. Jyl Anais offers another place for connection in explaining some of the resulting tortures and other human rights violations people with psychiatry are subject.”

— Lauren Tenney, PhD, MPhil., MPA, psychiatric survivor

“Poetry, the language of the soul, lays bare and expresses tumultuous emotions that can help heal the wounded spirit. These poems document one hero's journey through a dark night of the soul, that ultimately leads to the author's self-discovery, recovery and a sovereign victory. Emotionally palpable, deeply moving, artistic and inspiring!”

— Gwen Olsen, author of Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher

“A powerful and candid exploration of the tortuous path to reclaiming our individual power told through lyrical and heartfelt poetry. Jyl’s work reminds us of the might of poetry to capture ideas, thoughts and feelings at some of our most vulnerable moments. The poems here represent the taking back of power, the breaking of restrictive rules and the transcendence of difficulty and so present soulful motivators to betterment. Words can be medicine far more powerful than mere chains of molecules, and Jyl’s writings show us a life force in full, unabated flood.”

— James Moore, Program Director & host of Mad in America Radio, survivor

Read what Jeanna Paden of the Harbor Review said about Soft Out Spoken here.

from Glass: A Journal of Poetry

Jyl Anais’ Soft Out Spoken comes at just the right time. Now that multitudes of dissatisfied and wounded former psychiatric "consumers" are rising up and finding their voice, the loudest voice I’ve heard so far is this one, who is indeed soft outspoken. There is equal amounts towering strength as there is heartbreaking fragility. Her oeuvre could best be summed up by the title of one of her poems "silence as subtext" with some of the best moments found in the thoughtful pauses the author leaves within the work. Jyl’s book simmers like a fine stew with many great ingredients and layers of flavor, delivering a satisfying meal.

Being an African-American artist and author, I am most captivated by Jyl’s explorations of race and culture and the dissonance within. Her summation of an encounter with another Trinidadian, the kinship, as "my body relaxes, because" as the title so plaintively suggests, "culture." So simple yet so heavy with meaning and implication, and she knows this. It is this knowing that I believe separates the weekend writer from a true poet.

Most impressive and courageous is Jyl’s deep dives into her own mental health experiences and the loaded and oft misunderstood journey people take when prescribed psychotropic medications. The reader truly feels her rage as she excoriates "Incarceration through diagnostic code" branding professionals as "purveyors of poison for profit." Strong words, but all too real for those who have been there. Listing the dozen of medications that they "claimed to do no harm" in her love to hate you letter titled "Dear Psychiatry" Jyl steps up in her writing as a potent voice in the anti-psychiatry movement.

Jyl saves her most profound musings for issues of female empowerment. I believe every young woman and boy child saddled with toxic masculinity should read and inhabit the powerful "No Trespassing," a declaration the writer thinks to tattoo "across my chest after all, and walk with a pit bull named ‘Happy’." Too often I have heard female friends decry the wolf-whistles and unwanted attention of clueless men, yet Jyl captures perfectly that frustration married to an unyielding dignity.

The book is comprised of one-and-two-page tender morsels and bon mots that make for easy reading when you need a poetic pick me up or emotional salvo to punch you in the gut… something real to make you feel alive. Like the best poetry, Jyl’s work beguiles, asks questions and leaves the reader unsettled, begging for repeated readings and visitations long after the volume is completed.

If you have are lucky enough to have a woman in your life, be it lover, mother, aunt, sister or daughter, are curious or wish to celebrate the darker hues beneath the skin of Caribbean culture, or you or someone you know/love has been beset by mental health issues and been misguided and derailed by psychiatry and the system, then this book is required reading.

— Issa Ibrahim, visual artist & memoirist, author of The Hospital Always Wins