A WOMAN who used to write poetry before going blind will have her work showcased.

Mel Knights, 83, had to stop writing because of a degenerative condition which made her lose her sight.

But the Hitchin Elmside Care Home resident has never lost her love of the art, prompting the British Schools Museum to organise an event to read out her poetry.

She said: “I wrote for years; it started when I was teaching my younger sister how to read and write.

“Anything and everything I have written will be read out, really. Some were poems for children using my grandchildren to write.

“The most recent that I was really pleased with was how I’m not quite the same as I was – I had a purpose in life, people used to come to me for things, advice, now I can’t do any of that.”

Mel stopped writing poetry two years ago, just after she had moved to Elmside.

“It was while my sight was going,” she said.

“I couldn’t keep going, but this [event] will be lovely.”

The poetry reading will be held today (Friday) at 2.30pm at the Queen Street museum.