Profile for Joanne Hale

My name is Joanne Hale, known as ‘Jo’ by everyone - friends and family (except for my Mum, who still calls me ‘Joanne’ – note the two syllables – ‘Jo’ and ‘anne’ – always got me two smacks whenever I was naughty as a child!!).

I was born in Bristol in May 1970 and have lived in and around there all my life. I married in 1999, which did not work out and ended in divorce less than a year later. I married for the second time in February 2001, to Peter, who I love with all my heart and soul – we truly are soulmates. Unfortunately unable to have children, but have compensated for that by having a menagerie of pets over a period of time. Dogs, cats, rats (!) – (actually, domestic rats are very clean, intelligent and amusing, their characters are like tiny dogs.). We currently have one cat.

I left school in 1986, and worked as a Photographic Assistant as my first job, and I enjoyed it very much because photography is another hobby of mine. I then went on to work as an Administrator, an Accounts Assistant and then an Auxiliary Nurse. I currently work in a local nursing care home for the elderly as a Health Care Assistant.

I have a really good imagination, which can sometimes be a hindrance, but it is what helps me with inspiration to write my poetry, which I do as a form of relaxation and to give pleasure to others that read it. I write about everyday occurrences and events that have either happened to me or to others. I had my first poem published in a magazine when I was 10 years old – since then I have had poems published in a variety of things, library magazines, poetry magazines, and over the past few years, quite a few in anthologies with Forward Press and others.