A MENTAL health nurse who penned more than 60 poems in the aftermath of George Michael’s death will see them published at the end of this month.
Victoria Rowe has always loved the pop legend who found fame with Wham! in the 1980s. She was so shocked by his death on Christmas Day in 2016, that she was up most of the night writing down the poems.
They have now been collated into a book called ‘We Too Have Died’ which will be published on May 31.
Victoria, 55, of Top Fold, Ardsley, said: “It’s almost as if that night I was compelled to write this poetry.
“When I went into work and told people I had been writing these poems, they joked that I needed assessing.
“I really don’t know where the poetry came from, I think I was just so shocked it triggered all these feelings. I think that night I wrote about four or five, within 40 days I had written 40 and then went on to write 60-plus.
“I’ve always liked everything about George. I thought he was sexy, loved his songs and his lyrics and I loved him in Wham!”
Following his death, Victoria went to George’s house in Goring-on-Thames on New Year’s Eve 2016 and was filmed by local news reporters reading part of a eulogy. She has also visited to celebrate the star’s birthday and is set to visit again in June to sign books.
But sadly, the pair never met. Victoria said she had always intended to go to a concert but couldn’t afford to when her children were younger. By the time they were grown, she could find nobody to go with her.
She said: “That’s always a big regret.”
Victoria has also written poems about the Grenfell Tower, the Manchester Arena terror attack and last weekend’s royal wedding.
Victoria sent her poems about George to a number of publishers, not thinking much of it, and to her surprise was offered two contracts. The poetry has also gone down well with fans on social media.
We Too Have Died will be released by Olympia at the end of this month. It has been pre-ordered around the world in countries such as Australia, American and Sri Lanka.
A second book of poetry called My Eventful Life is about Victoria’s life and is in production and will be published by Olympia. A third book about mental health may be published with Austin Macauley.
