Two FDU Professors Explore Love Through Poetry and Artwork

An open binder and lined page with notes and pens scattered.

(Photo: George Cochrane)

The Book of Love

Longtime friends and professors David Daniel and George Cochrane have put pen to paper together for the first time, collaborating on an illustrated volume of poetry.

“I wanted to try to express the various ways that love manifests in all of our lives, exploring domestic love — life with kids and spouses — and also specific and surprising acts of love. But I also wanted to explore how mixed it is with sadness and loss,” says Daniel, professor of creative writing and director of the MA in Creative Writing and Literature for Educators.

The cover of a book.

Daniel initially approached Cochrane, professor of fine arts and studio arts, with 30 poems in hand, asking him to create artwork to accompany the words. The men worked closely with one another for a year, engaging in conversation nearly every day to brainstorm.

The resulting artwork doesn’t simply complement the poetry, but rather enhances the verse, until one cannot exist without the other.

“Watching George engage with the poems and watching his vision develop was mind-blowing. I learned so much from George, about how art is made; about the history of materials, tools and techniques; about how graphic novels work; and about the language of comics and art.”

The resulting book, What Love Is: Book I, debuted in July 2024. Nirala Publications published the volume and it’s available from Amazon or for order from your local bookstore.

Throughout the summer, Daniel and Cochrane promoted What Love Is at events in New England, New York and California.

This fall, they’ll appear at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, Tenn., in October.

“I’ve often said to David that I feel like I’ve been preparing for this project for my whole creative life, and that the threads that make the fabric of What Love Is can be found in my previous and ongoing work,” says Cochrane. Specifically, there are echoes of the techniques, inspiration, themes and styles found in his illuminated manuscript of Dante’s Divine Comedy and his in-progress graphic novel Long Time Gone.

Daniel and Cochrane are working on What Love Is: Book II now and will also collaborate on a young adult graphic novel called The Newcomers.