I Am In It: isolation Paperback - 2025

In the early months of 2020, Greg Orrē was deep in the creation of I Am In It-painting the oil pastel cover art for Volume One, recording music on his new 8-track, and finalizing his first poetry collection. Then, the world changed. On March 11, 2020, a global pandemic was declared. In response to the sudden stillness and isolation, and to honour National Poetry Month, Greg challenged himself to share one poem a day throughout April 2020. I Am In It: isolation gathers those 30 poems-presented in the original order they were posted online. The first half of the collection revisits earlier work, hesitantly dipping back into poetic waters. But halfway through, something shifts. A plastic bag dancing in the wind, the release of Fiona Apple's Fetch the Bolt Cutters, and the daily ritual of writing & reflecting cracked something open.

What followed was a flood of impulsive, alive, imperfect poems-shared the same day they were written. This practice helped Greg loosen the grip of perfectionism and embrace creative flow, directly influencing the raw, intuitive sound of his self-produced debut solo album later that summer. Part joyful read, part time capsule, I Am In It: isolation is a portrait of an artist navigating uncertainty with curiosity, courage, and creativity.

Photos: Kristen Boy, 2020

GREG ORRĒ (pronounced greg-ory) is a multidisciplinary artist exploring connections between nature, identity, and perception. He creates joy and lives with his family in Saskatoon near the South Saskatchewan River on Treaty 6 territory, the traditional lands of the Cree, Dene, Dakota, Lakota, Nakota, and Saulteaux peoples, and the homeland of the Mtis. In addition to his solo work, Greg also performs and records with skins & bones garage-pop duo Too Soon Monsoon.