Women Writers of the Year 2013
United Press, £7.99

He drags her lifeless body, her bloodied battered shell Back into the darkness and here begins the hell.’ The unforgettable crimes of the Yorkshire Ripper more than 30 years ago influence one of a number of poems by Sam Brown.

The Bradford mum-of-two began writing in February last year when a relative was taken ill. She initially used her craft as a form of therapy, but has since then expanded, drawing on past and current events – including the Ripper years – as inspiration.

Her poem ‘Ripper’, is a disturbing account of an attack. ‘Sick to the bone, to the stomach and beyond, now he had her close in a deathly, unbreakable bond’ she writes, in verses that expose the true horror of the crimes.

The collection, contained in the book ‘Women Writers of the Year 2013’, contains thought-provoking verse based on everyday observations.

In ‘Absorbing the Abnormal’, she writes: ‘How much does a smile actually cost?/You’d think it was an astronomical amount/Do you fire the same cutting grimace at everyone?/Oh that I very much doubt!’ And she will strike a chord with many with the words, ‘Listen to the monotony of the “he said” “she said”/Absorb, digest and vomit the same old gossip...Dread,dread, dread,’ contained in the poem ‘School Run.’ Sam also tackles bullying, in ‘Girl 13’: ‘She was always the target, the “different” at school/Damaged by the taunts, the names...why so cruel!?/She’d huddle in the corners of the darkest of rooms/trying to work out why they had to continue to wound.’ And disillusionment with the world – how life threatens the beauty of innocence, is expressed in ‘As I Watch her Sleep’: ‘As she lays in her bed taking deep comfortable breaths, in and out, in and out/I feel guilty, almost responsible for the things she’ll find out.’ The poems are among a collection by 20 women from across the UK. They are accompanied by photographs and a short profile of each writer.

Sam’s poetry has given her an outlet that takes her away from everyday domestic life of a busy mum.

“Sometimes you get stuck in the role of mum and it is good for the children to see you as something else,” she says.

Sam is thrilled to see her work in print. “I’m a great believer in following your dreams and always urge my partner, children and anyone close to me to do the same.”