‘Turning’: Publication of my Poetry ebook

Each and every person have strategies to help them cope with challenging times. For me, you won’t be surprised to hear that it’s always been writing, for as long as I can remember: journalling, short stories, poems, haiku, fragments of words, even full length books.

Last year (2019) I wrote a series of nine poems during an incredibly tough time. For around fifteen years, I have struggled with chronic insomnia and the anxiety and depression this can bring when it is sustained. It has been quite a journey and I am charting it in greater detail in a non-fiction book that I am currently seeking agent representation for.

I wrote these poems for myself, often in the small hours of the morning around 4am (a time that American writer James Baldwin has called ‘a devastating hour’.) I never had the slightest intention of publishing them, but here in the first year of a brave new decade as we all stare into uncertain futures, I asked myself the question for the first time: Why not? Why not share them, especially if they have the potential to resonate with somebody else.

It’s not easy to share such vulnerabilities, but I think it’s important we do just that; we all have our own struggles and can often feel very alone with them. So this is my part in that, a few poems offering up my vulnerabilities and charting a painful, convoluted journey that has, I believe, taught me more about myself than anything else in my life.

I wanted to keep this book free, but when publishing on Amazon you have to set a minimum price. If you don’t have an e-reader and would like to read it, please just send me a message and I will happily forward you the pdf. In the meantime, I am investigating mental health charities that I can donate any proceeds from this ebook towards. I will keep you posted.

Thank you for reading this, and if you know of anyone out there who suffers with chronic insomnia, please do forward this to them or tell them about my book.

Click here to see Turning: A Collection of Poems.