The oft-quoted maxim for writers ‘ Write about what you know ‘ is especially relevant to the writing of poetry. Poetry is the distillation of experience, the place where we hone the essence of our soul and the living of our lives.

I was born into Fifties Britain with all the attendant gender inequalities that it brought. When I was a child men knew how to be men and women wore pinnies. I had little respect for what I saw of the first and would never have been seen dead in the second. My early life experiences inspired a passionate commitment to gender issues, a commitment that went on to become a major theme of both my professional, personal and creative life. This is reflected in much of my poetry, where I write mostly about what I know........women’s issues.........and men.