A poet with a medical condition that causes pain all over her body is finally set to release a “philosophy-based” poetry collection that she has been working on for seven years.

Kirstin Maguire, who lives in Clayhall, Redbridge, was diagnosed with fibromyalgia at the age of 13, which is a debilitating rheumatic condition that causes pain all over the body.

In 1997, she fell over in the playground at school and landed on the bottom of her spine.

She experienced persistent back ache for a couple of years and gradually started to spread throughout the rest of her body.

However, the 31-year-old says the pain passes in waves and writing has given her a sense of purpose that distracts from daily life.

Kirstin experimented with visual forms of self-expression in the debut poetry collection, Sketch A Day Poetry, which was released in February 2016 and later in December, she published Poetry Press: This Was 2016, a chapbook based on current affairs over the last year.

At the time of releasing the collection, she said: “We all carry something painful in our lives- mine happens to manifest physically- but the important factor is how we use that experience in influencing our social context.

“In an increasingly open and compassionate society, there is a lot we can achieve. Social change starts at home.”

This week Kirstin has been celebrating landing a deal with Alba Publishing, who will release her new full poetry collection Twilight Scrawls.

After working on the philosophy-based collection for seven years, Kirstin is currently on the final draft and the book is expected to be out in June.

Her new work will integrate both ancient and modern perceptions of wisdom, art and science from eastern and western cultures.

The poems get progressively darker throughout and will explore the ultimate nature of consciousness and the world views that connect people all over the world.

Upon hearing the news, Kirstin admitted: “Now the time has come, it feels particularly special and strange to part with this book because a part of me doesn’t actually believe I’ll ever be fully finished with it.

“I set out to write Twilight Scrawls in my mid-twenties, about seven years ago. It was my first formal writing project.

“At the time, I ambitiously imagined it would probably take a few months and that would be my debut poetry collection.”

Between now and the summer, Kirstin will be writing a series of blog posts and updates about her new collection of poetry.

To keep up with the latest news, visit: kmaguirepoetry.com/blog/twilight-scrawls-is-officially-in-production