Weaving Emotion Into Verse: The Poetic Journey of Gloria Maloney

I had the pleasure of catching up with previous magazine contributor, Gloria Maloney. She is a poet from the United Kingdom (UK), living in Essex. Her life experiences have brought her to where she is today, where she writes creative prose and poetry. Her early years were spent daydreaming, escaping into fantasy books, and enjoying long walks in the countryside with her parents, who instilled in her a love of nature. It is this gift they gave her that has carried her through life’s twists and turns.

During her youth, she played the oboe in the London School’s Symphony Orchestra. She now has arthritis in her wrists, so the oboe has been replaced with the recorder, which, to her delight, is much appreciated by her local folk club. Playing gives her great pleasure and is a conduit for releasing her emotions, bringing her to a place of serenity. Her enduring love of music and nature is often reflected in her poetry.

After completing a City and Guilds course at Merton Technical College, she went to work for T W Howarth in London as a musical instrument repairer specializing in woodwind instruments. Tragically, her husband died at the age of 33. She found herself bereft, with two small boys to raise, aged ten and six. She started to write a private journal, pouring out her loss and grief. Through this process, she learned not to be afraid to write down her emotions. No matter how painful, the process delivered a truly cathartic effect.

It was during lockdown in 2020 that she decided to retire and took up the pen to fulfill her dream of writing poetry and prose. In 2021, she was honoured with first prize in the Pen to Print Poetry Competition. She has since been published in various online and print magazines, including The London Garden Society, Autumn Voices, and Pen to Print. In 2022 and this year, 2025, she was a Judge for Pen to Print’s Poetry Competition.

Her work is also included in several anthologies, such as “Home Soil” (2025), “Green Ink Poetry” (2024), eBook “Illuminated Sheep” by Northumberland Library (2023), “Out of Excuses” by Quaker Arts (2023), volume 7 of the “The Barn Owl Trust” (2023), and “The London Wildlife Trust” (2021).

Here's what Gloria had to say when I interviewed her.

Q: Tell us about the piece you shared with Three Panels Press (3PP), “Divine Revelation of God.” Where did it begin, and how did it evolve?

A: I attended an online workshop by 3PP with the opportunity to submit a poem for them to consider publishing in their 04 magazine issue titled “The Women.” I was captivated by the beautiful statue of St. Teresa, sculpted by Bernini in the 17th Century. I was intrigued by her life, hence my poem came to fruition.

Q: What draws you to writing in your current form or genre? Have you experimented with others?

A: I have written a few poems in Villanelle, sonnet, and nonet form, but I enjoy the freedom of writing free form, without any constraints.

Q: How do you balance the personal with the universal in your writing?

A: My poetry comes from my heart. Feelings and emotions woven into poems, with a common thread that connects us to the rich texture of life.

Q: Do you have a writing practice or routine? Or is it more spontaneous and intuitive?

A: I love communing with nature. Taking walks in the countryside often stirs the first nugget of an idea for a poem.

Q: What do you like to read? And how does reading shape your writing?

A: I read widely, poetry, historical novels, and non-fiction. This mixture gives me inspiration for creating my poems. It can often be as simple as an object in a story that sparks my creativity, or looking at a poem from a different perspective, then writing my response.

Q: What’s a question, emotion, or idea you find yourself returning to in your writing?

A: A lot of my poetry is about loss, redemption, and the resilience of the human spirit.

Q: What’s something you're currently working on, dreaming about, or unsure how to write, yet?

A: I am presently working on an anthology that looks at how we respond to the environment around us. My anthology is still in its embryonic stage. My idea comes from viewing collage paintings by the Scottish artist Colin Brown.

Q: Why are art and its history important?

A: Art is a portal. It shows us a portion of history, often set in a historical event, capturing the lives of people in different times. How the past has shaped and evolved over the

centuries to the present day. I like to think the people of the past have put down the first

building blocks for us to carry on the task to keep building a better world.

Q: Do you think of yourself more as a storyteller, an observer, a documentarian, or something else entirely?

A: I view myself as an observer of nature and human emotions, which I then weave into poems that often tell a story.

Q: Do you ever write with a specific person or audience in mind, or is it more internal?

I think it is internal, but with a common theme in many people’s lives that they can connect to.

It was wonderful interviewing and learning more about Gloria. While she is not on social media, I recommend you read her work in Issue 04: The Women.