Too many creative people at one point or another can hit a brick wall at times. To many, it’s a sign to look for inspiration and understanding through other pieces of media. This is why Starfish has curated some creative books for creative people.

Goodbye Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto

With Fujimoto on his way to having another one of his works to be adapted for the big screen, the author of the hit manga Chainsaw Man has a huge love for film. The love and passion for movies is his greatest source of creativity. Fujimoto uses that drive in his manga Goodbye Eri as a tool to look and understand what drives someone to follow their passions on what it means to make a work of art. But also making a work of art for who?

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottesa Moshfegh

The hit novel looks at the inherent dangers of burnout and self destruction. The point in which self destruction turns to the destruction of the relationships around us. The novel exploring the ideas of self destruction and hatred are so important to look at especially in the creative space where one’s self can be their own worst critic.

Fleabag By Phoebe Waller Bridge

The play that the show is based on is still one of the best contemporary plays out there that needs to be read. The play when read is like experiencing the diary entry of a person struggling with themselves emotionally, physically and sexually. It’s the idea in which the only perspective we are given is one that is not necessarily a reflection of a good person but rather a person. Flawed but still a person. Waller Bridge makes the audience and reader question how we see ourselves and the people around us. Something many creatives struggle with on the day to day.

Open Throat By Henry Hoke

What if we read a story from the perspective of a Mountain Lion. Interesting? Absolutely! The book's way of describing and exploring how an animal can interact with the world we are so accustomed to. By showing common words written in a phonetically different way, it highlights what this type of work can achieve in a creative medium. The lack of limitations really shows the boundless ability of expression through the medium to inspire others.