Fourth book published by Ludlow poet Diane
A Ludlow poet is taking readers on a "haphazard and unpredictable route" in her new book.
Diane Lyle is releasing her fourth book, Stepping Stones tomorrow Tuesday (May 31) and in common with most of her writing it is about anything and everything which is triggered by a sight or a sound or an emotion.
Her works include A Ludlow Love Affair in 2015 which does have a single theme about the town.
Ms Lyle’s poetry has appeared in various anthologies since 1996.
"I started writing during my time as a mature student, studying English at Royal Holloway College, University of London - inspired by the many of the poets I was required to read and who I then chose to read," she said.
In 2011, she was invited by United Press to be part of their ‘10 of the Best’ initiative and Love Shades, her first book, appeared later that year.
In 2015, she published her second book, A Ludlow Love Affair, a book of her poetry with illustrations from a local artist and from local photographers. Her third book, Patchwork, was published by Austin Macauley in 2020.
Stepping Stones leads the reader on a haphazard and unpredictable route across a landscape of different topics and themes and emotions through its 60 poems.
A quarter of these, which emerged from the first lockdown in 2020, reflect the impact of that time – a personal response exploring a personal emotional turmoil.
The poems appear in alphabetical order, each one a stepping stone to the next, not taking any logical direction or following any defined route – except to take you to the final poem, which leaves the pathway of those stepping stones open to follow another journey, perhaps, or to retrace those steps and ponder.
A spokesperson for publisher Austin Macauley said: "This is an inspirational and assured collection of poems which can be followed via those ‘stepping stones’ in a single read or trodden at random, letting pages open where they will, and offering whichever one of the stepping stones appears.
"It is a book of poems to be picked up again and again, for comfort, for escape, for finding something familiar in an unfamiliar world."
