Blairgowrie writer takes poetic licence
BLAIRGOWRIE – In acknowledgement of her achievement, Writers 2000 presented local writer, Carol Anne Nelson with the Carpenter Cup.
Tenacity and courage have landed a local poet an award.
Carol Anne Nelson won the Carpenter Cup, a trophy given to writers who are part of Writers 2000, an interest group for people who have a passion for writing as their acknowledgement of her being a published poet.
Nelson said she has always had a soft spot for the written word. She considered a career in journalism but reckoned it would not be suited to her personality as she found she was at times too shy to interact with people.
Although she loves writing poetry she knows there isn’t much of a following for this form of literary work. So she also tries her hand at writing short fiction and nonfiction stories.
“I have not been adventurous enough to write a novel as yet,” she said.
Nelson said she quite enjoyed writing while she was in school, but after not doing as well as she had hoped by the end matric, her father refused to fund tertiary education, thus putting a halt to her literary dreams.
It was only after her son’s death about eight years ago that she decided she needed to express herself. She shared that his death devasted her and she knew she would have to grieve.
“I needed an outlet after his death and so the writing started up again and later I joined Writers 2000.”
This is the wordsmith’s first poem to be published in a quarterly anthology. She jokingly added that should anyone ask about her profession, she can now say she is a published poet.
Nelson explained that writing can be quite lonely as one sits by themselves and is often left to their own thoughts. She explained that poetry is less about the fame and money, and more about the honour and art behind it.
Last year Nelson won first and second place in the annual Writers 2000 competition.
She believes the more encouragement she gets, the less lazy she is inclined to be, as it is very easy for her to lose confidence in her self.
She encouraged others to push for their success and not allow themselves to become despondent due to rejection.
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