Norah Hamill grew up during the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland and witnessed the violence of terrorism. She has also worked with women who have been subject to domestic violence.

With such a background perhaps it’s not surprising that her new poetry collection, Mango 11’s, looks at how women suffer and are victimised in communities under stress. The booklet takes its title from an atrocity in India on May 29 when two female cousins were hanged from a mango tree - punishment for going to the toilet in an open field. Sparking an international outcry, the incident highlighted the culture of rape and honour killings in the Asian sub-continent.

Her poetry collection has been sponsored and published by the White Ribbon Campaign, a charity that works to end male violence towards women, and is based in Hebden Bridge.

Norah, 42, is a woman of many parts. After an upbringing in Belfast she arrived in England intending to study but ended up having two children, a son who is now 19, and a daughter, who is 20.

She says that the difficulties she has faced in her own life have given her an empathy with the vulnerable and marginalised.

Over the years she has variously worked with refugees, victims of domestic violence and those campaigning for a more sustainable, environmentally-friendly future.

She helped to found the Space to Grow venture, a cafe in Huddersfield that became a focal point for asylum seekers. She has been part of Amnesty International’s campaign to encourage women to get an education, and is a member of One Billion Rising, a global movement to end violence towards women. And now she is establishing herself as a spoken word artist.

Mango 11s by Norah Hamill

Norah, who studied for a degree in politics and media at the University of Huddersfield as a mature student, says her childhood and subsequent experiences shaped her adult life. “Your security is eroded and it makes you more vulnerable,” she explained. “And a culture of violence like during The Troubles means that there is a disrespect for life. I was brought up in a war situation. I saw my neighbours killed. I think that our experiences can help us to relate to other people going through similar circumstances.”

Norah will be giving readings from Mango 11’s at the Marsden open mic event, November 26, 9pm, Marsden Liberal Club; and at the Hot Banana open mic event, Holmfirth Picturedrome’s Box Office bar, on November 27 at 8pm.

She will also be working with established poet Rose Condo to bring an all-female line-up to Coffee Evolution on Sunday, November 30, at 7pm. Men are welcome and a collection towards Huddersfield Women’s Centre and One Billion Women Rising will be made.

Mango 11’s can be obtained from Support to Recovery at the Packhorse centre, price £4.

Proceeds of sales will go to the White Ribbon Campaign.