POETRY is one of humankind’s greatest achievements. Our great poets dig deep into their souls to mine rich seams of words that can stir a limitless range of emotions. They are a force of nature. And Victoria Burman is among their number.

Victoria’s poetry can be powerful, tender, inspirational, barbed, soothing, and, above all else, simply laugh-out-loud funny.

Outwardly shy and retiring, few outside Victoria’s own circle of friends knew of her talents. So we are indebted to fellow Hickathrift poet Andrew Stephen for spotting her potential and persuading her to add to our growing collection of fine books.

Soon afterwards, Victoria herself spotted the latent talent of artist Sharon Langley, whose quirky and distinctive style made her the perfect choice for the illustrations in their first book, Uplifting Odes, our best-selling title over Christmas 2025.

Although Victoria had been delighting friends with her verses for many years, this is the first time her poems have appeared in print. The Hickathrift Press was delighted to be the vehicle she chose for her publishing debut.

Much of her humorous rhyming verse is in the style of Pam Ayres, but much funnier and, indeed, cleverer. If, like us, you love the outstanding observational wit of the late, great Victoria Wood, youwill adore Victoria Burman’s astute verses.

 

Victoria says: “Have you ever come across one of those annoying people who regularly sees the funny side of the human condition?  Well I think I’m probably one of them. Wikipedia defines the human condition as: “the characteristics and key events of human life, including birth, learning, emotion, aspiration, reason, morality, conflict, and death.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I can safely be invited to a funeral without collapsing into fits of laughter or falling into the grave – I’m fully conversant with appropriate behaviour, but by and large, human beings and the things they get up to, whether by accident or design, are excruciatingly entertaining and I just have an outlook on life that compels me to contemplate the bizarre.

“It’s probably some sort of syndrome, although I’ve never been tested and let’s face it, we all occasionally touch base with our inner psychopath when the supermarket manager decides to invoke yet another change to the layout of the store, making it impossible to find your favourite yoggit. What’s wrong with these people and why are there so many different ways of spelling yoghurt, yogut, yo-gourt? Drives me mad.

 

“As a shy and introspective child, I didn’t properly start to notice the funny side of life until I’d slipped into adulthood; in fact it’s only really in the last decade or so that I’ve actually joined up the dots and started to put pen to paper. This was mainly to amuse myself, but I started to get requests to write poems for various events, as part of the “entertainment” at black tie dinners and wotnot. I was encouraged by positive feedback, the laughter and applause and amazed that people would catch on to my wavelength.

“This first edition of what I would loosely describe as poetry, was been diligently compiled by the David Phillips, the founder of The Hickathrift Press.  For me, it’s been a long time coming and not something I would’ve pursued, had it not been for David’s enthusiasm and encouragement, but after careful consideration, he has reached the conclusion that I’m not a danger to the reading public.

“Obviously, there have been a lot of things throughout my life that have influenced the content and style of my writing.  I’ve had a lot of challenges, both emotional, material and physical  – don’t get me started on all the surgeries, suffice to say, when supine, I could easily pass for a road map.  All these highs and lows have contributed to an almost hysterical stoicism; in fact if my upper lip were any stiffer, I’d have a most impressive speech impediment.  The point being, laughter truly is the best medicine –  allegedly it is capable of:

• ·       Boosting the immune system
• ·       Relaxing muscles
• ·       Aiding circulation
• ·       Protecting against heart disease
• ·       Lowering anxiety
• ·       Releasing tension
• ·       Improving mood
• ·       Fostering resilience
• ·       Acting as a natural anti-depressant
• ·       Improving cardiovascular health

I just hope it works for you!”

Victoria’s poetry is guaranteed to put a smile on anyone’s face. So please treat yourself to a copy of Uplifting Odes. The paperback copy costs just £9.99 and is a click away on Amazon. Buy it, read it, enjoy it and laugh a lot.

To show you’ve enjoyed it, please leave an honest review and tell your friends all about Victoria. The world deserves to know.

 

STOP PRESS!

Victoria and her friend, artist and collaborator, Sharon Langley, are currently working on two new books – a follow-up to Uplifting Odes and the first in a series of illustrated children’s books. We’ll be keeping you posted, so keep checking out this website and the Hickathrift Facebookpage.