Happy 2016!!!

I'm back! After being quite away for some time, I'm definitely back and ready to start 2016 with a bang!

For now, I'd like to share what I've been thankful for in my writing journey in the last year.

1.) Getting published in different magazines in the UK, USA, and South East Asia.
2.) Being a part of Writing West Midlands Room 204
3.) Having prize-winning poems in The Yellow Book,  I was invited to attend a recognition at Westminster Palace
4.) Having been published in The Poetry of Staffordshire, along side Dame Carol Ann Duffy and Jean Sprackland
5.) Attending The Writer's Toolkit conference
6.) Able to meet more poets and writers and perform at different venues
7.) Able to embark on a new project supported by Arts Council England, Blakenhall Writers Anthology, with the help of Cherry Doyle and Kuli Kohli.

I'm glad of what I've achieved in 2015 but I am happier to start 2016 with more goals and aspirations. I will never give up until I achieve them all!

:-)

The Yellow Book Poetry Prize Presentation

On the way to the Westminster Palace

 

On the 24th of June, I was invited to attend the prize presentation of The Yellow Book at Westminster Palace.

It was a great  event which highlights the importance of our mental health and well-being.

My two works, Paper Plane & Morning Run are prize-winning poems. I love supporting projects like this. Here are the reasons why:

• Simple but Meaningful - The poems in The Yellow Book are simple but meaningful. I aim for my poems to be accessible not only to poetry readers/writers but also to everybody. What I've observed so far is that most contemporary poets write well-crafted but complicated poetry. When I say complicated, I mean most of them use difficult, non-day to day words. I call them "big words". Those that may read sophisticated to the eyes of poets but certainly will bore everyone else. For example, when I ask my partner or friends (who don't normally write/read poems) to look at modern poems, they corrugate their brows as they confess that they don't understand them. Now, how come? Shouldn't poetry be accessible to everybody - whether they be poets or not? I believe that simplicity is what will make poetry everlasting. If we are gonna make our readers look up a word at the dictionary at every stanza, how can we expect poetry to survive in the future? As a poet, I aim not to only impress my fellow poets but my fellow human beings as a whole.

  

  With two of the judges Helen Ivory (left) and Lydia Towsey (right)

  
  
  

• Good Purpose - The Yellow Book will be distributed to GP Surgeries, hospitals, as well as prisons. The poems in it are meant to give hope. Poetry should serve a purpose and as a nurse and a student counsellor, I am just glad that my poems will be able to get the chance to inspire and give hope to others.

To get your free copy of the book, click HERE. You will need to pay for postage and packaging though.

On the balcony of Westminster Palace with The Yellow Book in which 2 of my poems have been published
 

Poetry prize-presentation at the House of Lords

I'm so excited to receive my invitation to the House of Lords for the prize-presentation of The Yellow Book. My partner receives an invitation too. Apparently you can't go into the Palace of Westminster without an invitation.

I'm really excited! I'd never really been invited to prestigious places like this... until now :-)

To read more information about this creative project by Rethink Your Mind, click HERE

Have you ordered your copy of The Yellow Book yet?

Pre-order your free* copy of The Yellow Book - a beautiful project by Rethink Your Mind that supports positive mental health.

This is also where my two poems, Morning Run and Paper Plane, will appear as prize-winning entries in their Poetry & Art Competition last March.

The Yellow Book also includes:

• Wellbeing material
• Recovery material from The Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London
• Recovery material from The Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Recovery material from The NHS Confederation MHN
• Signposting to National organisations and charities of support
• 48 pages of positive artwork and poetry from the project
• Forewords from prominant figures including Professor Lord Patel of Bradford OBE
• A page from each member of the artwork and poetry panel

Stephen Fry also supported the project by tweeting during call for submissions and congratulating the winners of the competition. This book will be truly a very informative and charming creation that will delight normal readers as well as poetry fanatics.

*The book is free but you will need to pay for postage & packaging of £3.00.

It will be an ideal gift to someone you know who needs a little bit of 'uplifting' poems and artworks. It is also a good self-help guide when you're having a bad day. Or better yet, if you're working in a healthcare setting (whether it be mental or medical), you can even donate the book to that organisation for the clients to read. So c'mon, support this beautiful project and order your copies HERE


Cheers,
Roma
xx