Taking a leaf out Emily Dickinson, Judith Wright and Shakespeare’s books, Glen Innes Author Lillian Hardie has released her newest poetry collection in the shape of Weaving the Vine.
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Saturday April 11 saw about 16 avid book lovers enjoy the launch of Weaving the Vine at Knick-Knackery.
“It went really really well, such a good turnout,” Lillian said.
“The feedback was good; I was pleasantly surprised at it all.”
Throughout the years, Lillian has taught courses at TAFE, the University of Wollongong and A level Politics at overseas universities.
Lillian and her husband Bill wrote and published a tourism magazine on the South Coast before moving to Glen three years ago.
“When I retired I said I would write a book,” she said.
“I really wanted to put something together for my grandchildren.”
When moving to Glen, Lillian decided to start a writers group and with the help of the group has further developed her writing style.
“I used it as a way of getting to know people, I just put the notices up and we haven’t looked back,” she said.
“It’s a very supportive group because we are all here to learn.”
Lillian said she likes the writers group because it is fairly small and this makes it more intimate and easier for people to share their ideas around.
“Ideas often come from the group,” she said.
“The poems just come together and sometimes it’s through the working group.” Lillian describes herself as a poet of interior and exterior landscape encompassing people and their relationships.
“I do use a lot of metaphor,” she said.
However, Lillian said there was never consciously a theme to her book.
The book was kept under wraps for a while, as family matters became a higher priority, however Lillian was very excited to finally launch the book.
“It been good fun and a lot of work, but it’s been interesting work,” she said. “I was thrilled to bits when I had it in my hands.” Lillian laughed as she recalled her husband Bill trying to be very supportive with her various frustrations while Weaving the Vine was being produced.
“I wanted it as right as I could make it,” she said.
Lillian has plans to write a second book of poetry, as there were far too many poems to be published this time around.
“I’d say it’s about one tenth of the way completed,” she said.
Grab your copy of Weaving the Vine on sale for $15 at Knick-Knackery, Collins Booksellers Armidale and Crofters Cottage.