J.K. Rowling said “the stories we love best live in us forever." Here's 50 Literary Tattoos!
Back piece owner, Valentina Tagliabue, “Valen” from Milan, Italy, knows the feeling of what it’s like to be wrapped up in word in a January 2014 interview on Contrarwise.org “The tattoo took me about eighteen hours, divided into three days plus one more afternoon to redo some letters. The font is called “Litos Script”. Tony of Atomic Garden-Milan, my tattoo artist, whom I sincerely thank for this great work.”
She describes her reasoning behind inking the entirety of Annabel Lee, (photo below) one of Edgar Allan Poe’s timeless works: “Why did I want the entire poem on me? Because my first love in this life is Poetry; because when I met the brilliant works of Poe – his novels but especially his poems – they burned my soul so deeply that I wanted a sign of this feeling forever engraved also on my body. The whole text, because you never should break a poem in half or more: all, or nothing.” It is this impression that makes people feel compelled to make literature permanent with the deeply rooted, constantly evolving art of tattooing. Inspiration catches like sparks in a dry field, soon there’s sure to be a wildfire. Inspiration breeds inspiration. Art inspires artists, and some of that inspiration shows up in ink.
She describes her reasoning behind inking the entirety of Annabel Lee, (photo below) one of Edgar Allan Poe’s timeless works: “Why did I want the entire poem on me? Because my first love in this life is Poetry; because when I met the brilliant works of Poe – his novels but especially his poems – they burned my soul so deeply that I wanted a sign of this feeling forever engraved also on my body. The whole text, because you never should break a poem in half or more: all, or nothing.” It is this impression that makes people feel compelled to make literature permanent with the deeply rooted, constantly evolving art of tattooing. Inspiration catches like sparks in a dry field, soon there’s sure to be a wildfire. Inspiration breeds inspiration. Art inspires artists, and some of that inspiration shows up in ink.
This list of literary tattoos is full of word lovers who’ve held onto the lessons of The Giving Tree they heard as a child, or perhaps it was a the poem Bluebird heard in a college course that riveted the spine. Whatever the cause, a feeling like that may fade over time, but it’ll always be there, just like a tattoo. The tattoos below are well-crafted products of inspirational blaze. Found on Pinterest.com, Tattoolit.com, Flavorwire.com, and Literary Tattoos for Bookworms by Eva Talmadge and Justin Taylor; here are 50 great examples.
Creative take on author Jamie Craig's quote; “That moment when you finish a book, look around, and realize that everyone is just carrying on with their lives as though you didn't just experience emotional trauma at the hands of a paperback.” Very true for the readers out there.
Part of a quote by Charles Bukowski that reads; "My dear,Find what you love and let it kill you. Let it drain you of your all. Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness. Let it kill you and let it devour your remains. For all things will kill you, both slowly and fastly, but it’s much better to be killed by a lover.~ Falsely yours”
