AN ANDOVER man has released his debut poetry collection, titled My Life In Pieces.
Andrew Horner, 39, who lives in Saxon Fields, is known for his work as a voice-over artist.
Having worked in the voice-over industry since 2014, Andrew has lent his voice to numerous high-profile projects, including BAFTA-winning computer game Divinity Original Sin 2 and various characters in Samsung's VR game Augmented Empire.
He has also done voice-overs for Emirates, Carlsberg and First Direct and the Northern Ballet.
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Andrew has now expanded his creative repertoire with this latest venture, delving into the world of poetry.
Inspired by the events of the Covid lockdowns, Andrew took to writing poetry as a means of creative expression.
“When the world went crazy, art kept me sane,” Andrew said.
“I started writing poetry during lockdown as there was more time given to being creative. Seeing the world changing dramatically I knew I wanted to write about a lot of the problems in this world and create thought provoking pieces that make the reader think on such matters, as well as creating relatable pieces that delve into the darker side we all try to ignore.”
Andrew hopes his book may be inspiration for young writers and poets in Hampshire.
He added: “I want it to be a reminder that it’s ok to follow your creative dreams and passions. As well as creating important conversations around topics that are rarely discussed in our everyday lives, I hope the book inspires men in particular to open up about how they’re feeling on the inside and not being afraid to do so.”
My Life in Pieces is available through major retailers such as Amazon, Waterstones, and Barnes & Noble.
He continues to create poetry for his Instagram page @TalesoftheNook.
The artwork for My Life in Pieces was done by his friend Michael Felton at @Squarespecs.
Andrew said he aims to use his pen and poetry to break down the stigmas on mental health, suicide awareness and other difficult topics, society is still uncomfortable with.
He is currently working on his second book due for release this year Drunk on Lies, Sober on Truth.
Andrew also has a spoken word album out called Strong Enough To Break which is eight tracks that delve into the complexities of the human condition.
His words are accompanied by stunning scores by Tomás Almeida from Eleven Tales Music. This project is available under the name Creative Tales on Spotify, Amazon music, Bandcamp iTunes.
Andrew has had book signing events in Andover at Coffee One and Coffee78.
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Cllr Iris Andersen, who attended the event at Coffee78, said the book was “a splendid piece of work” and “very inspirational”.
“You can't put it down once you start reading it,” she added.
Andrew he has a third book signing event scheduled at The Lights on Monday, March 18 called Poetry Drop In where he will be reading some of his latest works.
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