Writing, Poems, Musings, by Writer, Poet and Mer Girl, Kelly Louise Marshall

A bit about me…

My name is Kelly Louise Marshall, I am a writer, poet & Mer Girl, based in Cornwall, UK. I live close to the rugged north coast, where the Atlantic Ocean meets our shores and the next stop is New York City. I find living here, has bought out the inner mermaid in me, and I spend as much time on the beach, with my toes in the sand, and salt in my hair, as is humanly feasible.

I grew up as a working-class girl, from a working class family, on a council estate in the South East of England. My family all hailed from South East London, so I also spent a lot of time visiting them. Because of those ties, I was definitely influenced by more urban, poetic art forms, such as hip hop, growing up.

Throughout everything, writing was something I always just did. I never stopped to ask why, there was no one around me who wrote, but I always wrote poems, from around the age of seven. In my teens I moved on to song lyrics and song writing, and even recorded a few songs for a demo tape.

I continued to write throughout my whole life. Writing saw me through some of my darkest times, such as when I was very ill in my early twenties. I would write about all of my experiences, throughout my life, but I never tried to get anything published. I think it just felt alien to someone who was from a working-class background. Where would I even begin?

However, one day, I decided I would like to gain more confidence in my chosen form of expression, to pursue my long suppressed dream of being a writer. So I under took a BA (Hons) degree and in 2018, I graduated from The Open University with a 2:1 in English Literature & Creative Writing. Something I was very proud to achieve, as I was the first woman on either side of my family to attend University.

Studying writing at that level, gave me confidence in what I could achieve, and since graduating I have had a few pieces published. I have also self-published, and l am working on my second draft of my first novel, as well as currently compiling and getting ready to put my first collection of poetry out into the stratosphere.

In 2021, I also founded my own company Write 2 Heal, where I facilitate online Writing for Wellbeing Workshops. The idea is to give the healing benefit of arts based activities and wellbeing tools to everyone. To make it accessible to all, and to allow everyone to experience the joy of creating just for creativity’s sake, and who knows where that may lead?

I will keep you updated as I go along, and will add some pieces of writing here. You can also follow me over on Instagram here or for news of my writing workshops and events here

Watch this space…

Kelly (AKA Mer Girl)