By Aaron Cordy
FINDING a way through trauma and mental health issues takes everyone on a different journey. For Nicole E. Hughes, losing herself in poetry helped make sense of a world that can be crushing at times.
Taking the solace she found in writing poetry, Nicole turned it into a book, Dirt Under My Nails, Poetry in My Head, which she launched at the September GV Writers meeting.
“Poetry kept me alive. The book is not just an expression of art; it’s a coping mechanism that helped me push through the darker times, especially through the medical parts where I couldn’t work. I didn’t do this for me. I’ve done it for everyone else who believes they can’t push through afterwards,” said Nicole.
Nicole has been a mentor and advocate in the mental health space and wants to continue using her platform to help people in regional areas. She launched Dirt Under My Nails, Poetry in My Head, to coincide with September’s suicide prevention and awareness month. She even donated $5 from every copy sold at the GV Writers night.
Rural Pixie Musings is a micropublishing agency founded by Nicole on the philosophy that publishing independently doesn’t mean publishing alone. They help budding writers navigate publishing options in Australia.
You can find copies of Dirt Under My Nails, Poetry in My Head, and learn more about Rural Pixie Musings at www.ruralpixiemusings.com or email Nicole at ruralpixiemusings@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow them on social media.
