AN eighty-year-old poet has published his fourth volume of poems since he began writing in 1965.

John Jarrett, a self-described “professional poet but an amateur artist”, celebrated the release of his new collection, ‘Myth and Ritual Poems Volume Four’, at the High Street Nigerian restaurant ‘Our Embassy’ on Friday, August 8.

Having begun writing at the age of 20, the author said he believes poetry is the only thing that has been a constant in his life and that his latest volume is “the culmination of [his] life’s work.”

Myth and Ritual Poems Volume Four contains 264 pages of poems from the years 2018 to 2025, with subject matter ranging from the war on Gaza, nature, relationships, and, of course, myths and rituals.

John added: “There is sequences of poems in the form of letters written as sonnets to my daughter, my ex-wife, and about Hermas, an early Christian whose book, The Shepperd, didn't get included in the Bible we have today.”

Having moved from Kent to Holcombe Rogus in the 1980s, John began the Wellington poetry club in 1982. Five years on, in 1987, the poet then moved to Taunton and continued to write poetry, curating a number of anthologies, and even writing short stories for children.

More recently, John returned to Wellington full-time, moving to Mantle Street in 2016.

Over the course of his life, John has released several hand bound books, including a limited-edition copy of the Wellington Poetry Club: Collected Anthologies from 1993, as well as printed copies of his books ‘Jesus - The Man with the Split Personality’, and ‘When the Sun Shone: Poems for Ann’, among others.

His most recent work ‘Myths Ritual Poems Volume Four’ was self-published and printed under John’s own imprint Blaxland TAN.

The book is now available to purchase online now.