NORTH Belfast MLA Gerry Kelly has published a book of poetry, spanning over forty years of putting pen to paper.
‘Inside and Out’ features over 100 poems written by the Falls Road native during his time in jail in the 1970s and his release from prison pre-1989.
Gerry Kelly was born in Belfast in 1953 and reared in a family of eleven children. When the conflict began in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he joined the Irish Republican Army and was imprisoned on a number of occasions, escaping from jail twice. He also endured a prolonged hunger strike while in prison in England when he was 20 years of age.
On his release in 1989 he joined Sinn Féin and became part of their negotiating team leading to the Good Friday Agreement, followed by the Saint Andrew's Agreement and later the Hillsborough Agreement.
He was elected as an MLA in 1998 and has been returned as an MLA in all successive elections since.
Speaking to the North Belfast News, Gerry said: “Some poems are personal and some are political.
“There is a wide range of stuff featuring hunger strikes and jail, grief and loss, love, joy and everything across the spectrum.
“I remember writing poetry for the first time in secondary school. I have always had an interest in poetry.
“I would still read a lot of poetry and have always got something out of it. You can read it for a few minutes or a couple of hours and come back to it.
“When I started writing when I was in jail, poetry was like therapy to me. There were so many highs and lows in there."
Gerry says he hopes people can take something from the book, which may relate to them personally.
“There is a saying that ‘poetry is the escape valve in every human being’.
“It was a bit of a lockdown project which I took the time to pull everything together into a poetry book.
“If you read a poem and it can connect with you and your experiences, then I am happy for people to take whatever they can out of it.
“I think there is poetry in everyone. I didn’t start writing poetry to publish it but it is just the way it has worked out.”
‘Inside and Out’ by Gerry Kelly is priced at £10 and is available from An Fhuiseog/The Lark, 55 Falls Road, Belfast, BT12 4PD.
You can also purchase the book online here.
