Grandmother publishes her first book of poetry

Bushman’s River Mouth Grandmother publishes her first book of poetry at the age of 84!

Write-On Publishing of St Francis Bay is thrilled to announce the publication of a beautiful little book of illustrated poems – “Apples from the Soul” – by 84-year-old Bushman’s River Mouth grandmother and artist Wendy Barker.

Wendy, an art teacher and artist of some renown in the Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Port Alfred areas, discovered her talent for poetry when she attended a life skills seminar some years ago.

As Wendy puts it in her “preface” poem, called simply “Apples”, in the book:

“The teacher put a basket of apples on the table and said: ‘Now write a poem about this.’ So I wrote. Then the teacher said; ‘Now write a poem about family and apples.’ And the floodgates opened!”

Wendy says she discovered that she had a lifetime of thoughts and observations that she would like to share, so she has brought some of these thoughts to life in the form of poems about the past, present, family and life in this her first little book of poems. However, her talents do not end there – being an artist, she has whimsically and lovingly illustrated each poem in soft watercolours and crayon,  in a beautifully naive style which matches her poetry perfectly.

Her poems range from some very personal and deep thoughts about her family and aspects of her long and very full life, to her feelings about everyday things like trees, summer rain, birds, listening to music and even “To Oprah”! They are utterly charming, and some are very thought-provoking.

This is definitely a book to keep by your bedside and read again and again when the mood takes you.

Wendy will be launching her book at 10am on Friday, September 21st at, appropriately, the Red Apple Emporium restaurant and art gallery in Bushman’s River Mouth.

Wendy’s book may be ordered from Write-On Publishing’s Online Store at www.writeonpublishing.co.za/the-store

Books may also be purchased at various outlets in Kenton-On-Sea and Bushman’s River Mouth, and  at Fogarty’s Bookshop in Walmer, Port Elizabeth.