A keen poet who discovered her literary talent after retiring from her job
as a physiotherapist has emerged a double winner in a poetry competition.
Maureen Dennis, who lives in Taplow, came third and fourth at the Poetry
Raw evening held at the Firestation Arts Centre in St Leonard's Road,
Windsor on Thursday (August 4), beating 70 other entrants.
One of her poems was a comic one called
Tea Trolley while the other was a touching
reflection on old age called
Alone. Maureen said: 'You could say mine
is a classic example of how to make good use of your retirement. I had
always been told I was literary so I started attending a writing group
in Henley which insisted everyone write something for each session.'
Maureen is a born traveller who has been all over the Middle East and
done volunteer work in Bosnia, Swaziland, Peru and Switzerland, helping
in the slums of the Andes where everyone seemed to be HIV positive. Her
poem
Alone, about an old lady dying alone among the ancient possessions in
her home, was based on experiences closer to home, people she saw while
working as a physiotherapist in West London. The Poetry Raw evening
was held to announce the winners of a poetry competition run jointly by
the Royal Borough in conjunction with
Beat magazine and the Firestation
itself. Maureen said she was amazed to have two poems picked as winners,
saying: 'I like poems people can understand, to keep my feet firmly on
the ground.'
Contributed by Steve Scott, a reporter from the Maidenhead Advertiser.
