Irene G Penman
Irene G Penman
About the author.
Irene lives in Newtonhill, Scotland with her husband and two children. She has long had a knack for writing poetry and has won various awards. Most of her poems stem from being a people watcher and from observing everyday life.
Her inspiration can come from many areas. She can be inspired by anything that can invoke a certain feeling or mood. Sometimes just a simple description can be considered poetic in itself. She has written many poems over the years and her collection of verses includes all types from humerous to sad narratives.
Irene decided to write war poems after discovering some of her ancestors were killed in the Battle of the Somme. She travelled all over Europe visiting graveyards and memorials of the fallen for inspiration, before publishing, 'Where The Poppies Are' to commemorate the 100th anniversary of The Great War. Irene has performed author readings throughout Scotland and is building a following who are now looking forward to her next book.
Due to the success of 'Where The Poppies Are', Irene is now working to compile a selection of her poems for her next book. She feels she would like people to see another side of her and the new set of poems will be a collection of versus that will inspire, make you laugh and cry and will be taken from her desire to capture moments in time and life as she sees it.
Irene discovered nine of her descendants were killed in the Battle of the Somme – as she wrote a book of poetry to commemorate the 100th anniversary and
sought inspiration from trips she and her husband took to France and Belgium for the poems.
Whilst researching for the book, she discovered a number of her ancestors were involved in the battle, as well as having links to the Gordon Highlanders.
The 48 year-old nurse, from Newtonhill, said: “We had been to France a few times on holiday and I really felt the emotional side of things there having had family members being involved in the battle.
“It was really an emotional journey for me and I decided that the best way of dealing with that for me would be to document it in a book.
“So putting down everything I was seeing and feeling was a great and enjoyable process for me.”
She has been delighted with the response the book, Where the Poppies Are, has had locally.
She said: “The whole thing is quite surreal, I have been really taken back by the reaction from people. Working as a nurse, there are posters up in Portlethen Medical Centre, and patients come up to me and say ‘Irene, is that you?’ and they say how fantastic my book is.
“The book was very moving to write, and I did get teary at times because I would really want to immerse myself in it.
PUBLICATIONS
Where The Poppies Are
A selection of poems to commemorate the 100th anniversary of The Battle of The Somme
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