AN AUTHOR has completed her first book, a collection of poetry based on her own experiences – which confront issues such as depression, infertility, cultural taboos, and racism.

Harmeet Kaur Bharya, 31, of Hillersdon, Wexham, told the Observer how writing had been of great comfort to her in the difficult times of her life.

Mrs Bharya said: "I have experienced anxiety and depression, and through my writing I try to express how that feels, physically as well as mentally. The second part of my book is about fertility. It's only more recently that we have been hearing about women having problems with fertility, and I have met many on my journey. I had one child, but am struggling to conceive another one - it is something that can happen at any point in a woman's life. In my community, some people don't think about what they are saying and can put a lot of pressure on you

"The third part of the book is about how I changed myself, such as the self-helping techniques I used. It's about thinking about what you say and how you speak, and how you can help others. And why you shouldn't be afraid of asking for help.

"This last part of the book is love poems – because everyone likes those."

Mrs Bharya has been writing since she was 16, and created her collection through all her existing work - the anthology took only six months to put together.

Mrs Bharya said: "I started writing to deal with the pain I was in, and found that writing came to me naturally. My father died when I was young, but he found some of my poetry one day and told me how it was good enough to be published. That stuck with me, and inspired me to get it all printed."

Mrs Bharya's book, "Poetic Secrets: A British Brown Beauty's Perspective", is available from most online retailers, including Amazon.