A grandmother who had to learn to walk, talk and write again after a major operation has published her first collection at the age of 83. Patricia Hill, from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma, a benign brain tumour, in her fifties, which led to a lengthy recovery. She began writing poetry two years ago.

Her collection, Flight Feathers, features a number of poems about birds, including pheasants, swans and partridges, as well as trips to the Shard and to a Leonard Cohen concert at the 02 Arena. There are also poems about the war, and a family picnic: “Is your journey really necessary? / We thought it was.”

Patricia says in the foreword to her collection: “With a lot of help from other people, particularly my family, and much determination on my part, I have regained a lot of skills … You feel bereaved for your body which can’t do what it did before. But I have persevered.”

Born in Kingston-upon-Thames, Patricia has six children and 14 grandchildren. Her youngest daughter is poet Alison Hill, organiser of the long-running live poetry event, Rhythm & Muse, pictured here with her. Alison said she was proud of her mum’s achievements and glad to have helped the poems “fly from a notebook in a drawer to the printed page”.

All proceeds from her poetry pamphlet go towards the British Acoustic Neuroma Association. Copies can be purchased via alison-hill@blueyonder.co.uk or see www.alisonhillpoetry.com/events.html