Origins

POETRY

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This debut poetry collection comes from a writer born before World War II. Though not deeply affected by the war itself, she grew up during a time of hardship for much of Europe. A lifelong sense of not quite belonging in the many places she lived as a child eventually led her to settle in Suffolk, where she found her first true sense of home.

Her love of poetry was sparked by a schoolteacher and nurtured by her father, who enjoyed playful verse like The Hunting of the Snark.

Today, we are fortunate to live in an age of easy communication and travel, where rural life no longer means isolation. Suffolk, with its thriving poetry scene, has provided her with both inspiration and community.

This collection reflects a life shaped by place, memory, and human connection. Some poems explore landscapes like the King’s Forest, while others bring to life people and moments from her past, such as Granny and Rhos-on-Sea. The collection concludes with a medley of light-hearted poems, crafted to bring a smile to the reader’s face.

Rosemary Paul was born in Belgium in the 1930s. When war was declared, her family returned to the UK where they had no home, so they kept moving. She was educated at a small private school, a crammer, and then the University of Cambridge. She worked briefly in publishing and then brought up a family of four and practised as a speech and language therapist.

In her retirement, she has been drawn to poetry and the community of poets in Suffolk. She is not prolific but commits to paper as poems occur in her head! She has also experimented with form, writing three villanelles, two sonnets and a sestina.