Lexical Lockdown poetry anthology captures our "Pandemical Pursuits"

Lexical Lockdown comes subtitled Poems about Binge-Watching, Exercise Mishaps, Fridge-Surfing and Other Pandemical Pursuits – the lockdown creation of Brighton-based Melanie Haagman.
Melanie HaagmanMelanie Haagman
Melanie Haagman

The book is published by The Conrad Press at £9.99, available from Amazon and online at Waterstones.

Melanie, aged 29, explains: “During lockdown I was temporarily out of work and have always used poetry as a way of making sense of uncertain times and difficult situations.

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“I began writing poems about the pandemic and posting them online. They received a lot of positive feedback so I decided to write a poem a day during lockdown.

“Each poem is entitled with the date and outlines breaking news and anything significant that occurred during that day of the lockdown. I feel it captures the circumstances we all faced together in a raw, honest and at times comical way. The book will be a historical keepsake to remind everyone of what we went through and how we got through, with references to Captain Tom Moore, Tik Tok, Piers Morgan and panic-buying etc.

“The more I wrote and posted, the more inspired and determined I was to ensure I wrote a poem each day. It helped me to get through the days that were now rather empty and I was informed it was helping my followers to get through the day too. They said things such as ‘Your poems make my day.’ ‘I look forward to reading your poems every day.’ ‘You are getting me through lockdown.’

“There will hopefully be no sequels as I do not wish for another lockdown anytime soon!”

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Melanie added: “I self-published my first poetry book in 2019, Open Heart Poetry, also available on Amazon. This book focussed more on mental health and my daily battle with obsessive compulsive disorder which attempts to break the stigma attached to OCD.

“I have always loved poetry from a young age. My grandma is a big Pam Ayres fan, so I grew up being exposed to her poetry. It has always been a passion of mine despite long breaks from writing due to work demands. Whenever anything challenging occurs in my life I am automatically back at my laptop trying to make sense of the situation in rhyme.”

See Melanie on Facebook: Girl On The Edge Poetry.