In his own words, Robert Elliott has “come a long way” with his poetry – a fair statement from the Maguiresbridge writer who wrote his first poem during a spoken word event in Enniskillen in 2017, and now, only five years later, has published a total of 68 poems in his debut book, ‘The Colebrooke Collection’.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter about how he was inspired to write his first poem while he was attending The Thing Itself poetry, spoken word and song night in Enniskillen, Robert said: “Watching everyone get up, hearing the applause, I don’t know what happened but I just picked up a spare pen and a wee flyer and started doing my own.

“They [the event’s organisers] were kind enough to let me get up, and from then I haven’t been able to shut it off,” he continued, noting that at that time he had just got into the Open University to do English Literature and Creative Writing.

“Talk about serendipity!” he added.

Commenting on how he felt after writing his first poem, and performing it to a live audience on the same night, he said: “[The poem] was not very good – in fact, I heard the applause and it was more about, ‘This guy never did anything before like this – well done, you did that on the spot’.

“[Even though] the poem wasn’t my best, it shows that I’ve come a long way,” he added.

Since then, Robert has been experimenting with the written and spoken word. He has performed his work in numerous venues in Fermanagh and has had his work published in newspapers, including The Impartial Reporter, and anthology works.

Topics

His poems cover various topics ranging from his personal experiences to fantasy and everything in between.

“I’ve surprised myself with what has inspired me and what I can write about.

“I’ve written about monsters, I’ve written about gods, I’ve written about robots. Whatever I think could be written about, I go for it.

“Some of my poetry can even be a little bit dark, but poetry can be dark,” he said, going on to reference the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe as an example.

Writing numerous poems on these varying themes, Robert has collated 68 to create ‘The Colebrooke Collection’.

Explaining his choice of title for his first book, Robert explained: “It seems fitting because not only does it mention my roots to Maguiresbridge and Fermanagh, as the Colebrooke River runs through it, [it is also apt due to] the amount of times I’ve sat by the river for solitude and privacy, hearing it babbling by, doing its own thing while I’m doing my own thing writing.

“There is a poem named after the Colebrooke [in the book] and there are several based on and inspired by that river, but the [poem that is called] Colebrooke – that’s one of my early ones,” said Robert.

Special poem

Highlighting one particularly special poem that is featured in the collection, Robert explained why it is so: “It’s special because it has a dedication. It is dedicated to those who do what they love. Even though they’ll never be the best at it, they will never give up.”

‘The Colebrooke Collection’ was officially launched on Friday, November 4 at Lisnaskea Library and Enniskillen Library.

Explaining what it means to him to now have his poetry published in his own book, Robert said: “Whenever the books came to my house, it felt like 200 of my children came into the world all at once. I was so overwhelmed.

“The happiness was just so much,” he told this newspaper.

 

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