LIFE is coming together for local writer Penelope Hart.

Her play, Nando and Brando, was staged last December at The Rose Theatre, in Kidderminster, and her poem - Futurism art exhibition - was selected for this year's national poetry anthology.

She moved to Herefordshire from Italy two years ago, having grown up in North Wales, and has found time to concentrate on her writing - her two children having grown up and left home.

A member of the new playwrights' group at The Courtyard, and a former member of The Swan Playwrights Initiative, she has really enjoyed the collaborative writing process.

"It got me in touch with writing again."

At the moment she is working hard to earn her living as a writer.

"The anthology offers a wonderful opportunity for people all over Britain to get published," she said.

"I've always written poetry, but it's nice to see something in print."

Her winning entry was inspired by a visit to an exhibition of futurism paintings in Rome.

"I just found it bleak - I just didn't like it all," she explained.

"Sitting in the caf afterwards, I thought - this I do like! And just grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down my thoughts."

"The colours of the art are in the poem, but it's really about liking where I am now. I enjoy being in the present."