A READING novelist and poet is celebrating the launch of two new books.
Claire Dyer, a novelist, poet and teacher, is celebrating the release of her latest works: a novel and collection of poetry.
The first of the new works is What We Thought We Knew, a novel which follows the residents of three houses in Penwood Heights and explores friendship and loss.
It charts their journeys as Faith, the centre of the group, sees a re-emergence of someone from her past, threatening to sabotage everything.
As well as the novel, Ms Dyer is also marking the release of a new collection of poetry, releasing later this month and published by Two Rivers Press.
Her fourth collection with the publisher, The Adjustments, explores loss, identity, and relationships through a reverse narrative.
Both are set to be launched at an event at Victoria Hall in central Reading on Thursday, April 26.
Speaking ahead of the event, Ms Dyer said: “I really wanted to say thank you to everyone who had supported me during the last few years at the event.
“One is a novel which I actually wrote about 12 years ago, but I spent lockdown updating it and rewriting, before I found a publisher for it.”
She added: “The poetry book is my 4th collection with Two Rivers and it’s a kind of a narrative in reverse.
“It starts from the present, works back through all of the adjustments one makes during a lifetime and ends at the beginning.”
“All of it is story-telling– I always search for the narrative in something while keeping a reader’s experience in mind.
“In that regard, poetry and prose are two sides of the same coin, as long as you leave space for the reader to find themselves in the work too.”
Two Rivers Press is a Reading-based publisher which has been producing print since 1994, focusing on the history of the town, wildlife, and poetry.
It gets its name from the the meeting place of the rivers Thames and Kennet, and champions design and illustration as important elements of their works.
On working with Two Rivers Press, she explained: “They make such lovely books across all of the genres they cover– even regardless of the poems inside, their works are always things of beauty.
“It’s a kind of community service, really, with their books on local history, flora and fauna, politics, influential women, as well as the poetry collections and translations.
“It really provides a service through that breadth of material.”
She also said: “They also embrace the digital age, too, with Riverside, their online platform, but the base of everything they do is the print.
Speaking on her writing process, she said: “Everything is material: even if you’re not writing, everything you experience is banked and may inform something later.
“No experience is ever wasted.”
The author is celebrating the works with a release event at Victoria Hall, from 6.30pm-8.30pm on Thursday, April 25.
