bio

I first discovered I was a poet in my mid-30s.  Living alone with my young daughter, giving myself space, I was delighted by an unexpected outpouring of poems, about my life, my feelings.

I was busy finding out who I was, challenging the norms of my upbringing, doing loads of personal development.  After university I had tried three careers, then “dropped out”.

Ending this valuable time alone, I went back to my partner, had a second daughter, got married.  Following the publication of my collection, One Woman’s Voice, in 1988 by Your Own Stuff Press, and contributions to two anthologies also published by them along with fellow women writers, family life took over.  I developed a new career as a work-winner in the construction industry.  Settled years.  I forgot I was a poet.

Then, after 36 years together, my husband died, three days after my mother.  A difficult week.  Poetry again came to my rescue, as a vital tool to describe emotional events, to understand and express my feelings.

Poetry stayed with me this time, and is now central to my life.  Retired, living alone, I am enjoying a new relationship and lots of wonderful friends, along with grandparenting, involvement with the extended family, yoga, 5-rhythms dance, growing fruit and vegetables, reading, opera.  A full and rich life, the fertile ground from which my poems continue to emerge.

I love sharing them!