Falling fourth in the line of her family’s generations of writers, sophomore Tatiana Shrayer writes with her own identity.

Tatiana Shrayer had a book published at the age of 13 and she has a new book on the way. While inspired by her family, she has found a way to stand out from them and make her own unique poetic voice.

Tatiana Shrayer said her family history with writing initially propelled her into trying it for herself. But then she has strayed from their path of subjects and now writes about contemporary issues impacting young people like herself through the lens of poetry.

Nevertheless, Tatiana Shrayer’s first poems were about locations, such as a family trip to Santiago, Chile. She took up the task of writing by herself and crafted her first piece of individual work.

“I really just liked writing because it was a way to write down my thoughts,” Tatiana Shrayer said.

Her first publication was at seven years old when she came in second place at a poetry competition with the organization Stone Soup. Tatiana Shrayer said, since then, writing has served as a connection to herself and her family.

“That’s the way I connect, not only with myself, but also with [my father] and my grandfather,” Tatiana Shrayer said.

Her poem, “The Jewish Graveyard,” describes her experience washing the graves of her family’s buried relatives with her father in Russia. Tatiana Shrayer said that, while still having to do with a place, this poem was a slight shift towards writing about her experience being Jewish.

Tatiana Shrayer said, especially in the material for an upcoming collection, her Judaism has become a large part of her writing.

“I think I’ve connected more with being Jewish. I’m older now, so I understand what’s going on in the world better than I did then,” Tatiana Shrayer said.

Her friend Daisy Huang, who has read some of Tatiana Shrayer’s poetry, said she felt a pull to the writing of the poems.

“She knows what she wants to say,” Huang said. “I really liked how she was so expressive, but with so little words.”

Tatiana Shrayer said her father, Maxim D. Shrayer, a writer and professor at Boston College, is surprised by her maturity and ability to put difficult times and experiences into poetry.

“[Her poems are] becoming more confessional and revealing. So I think we read them with a sense of awe, and discovery,” Maxim Shrayer said.

Tatiana Shrayer said that she hopes to have her newest novel published around next year. It will include new types of poems, as well as a new lens for her to express herself within the words.

Maxim Shrayer described her new individualized style as being related to more personal experiences and in contemporary settings.

“The [poems] are more analytical and concerned with the inner psyche and emotions. I think they’re more about the life of a teenager, and various emotional struggles,” Maxim Shrayer said. “[In this new book], most of the poems are actually set in Boston and in New England, and they’re more kind of looking inward than looking outward.”