Stephen Buttigieg
Words – Written and Spoken
About the Author
Born in the UK, Stephen Buttigieg moved to the island of Malta at the age of ten. He now lives in Belgium. Steve, as he prefers to be known, has coached basketball internationally and now works in administration.
Steve likes to call himself a “born again poet”. He used to write poems prolifically till the age of 21 then stopped after a traumatic experience – he lost one of his poems. Over thirty years later, he started dabbling in poetry writing again. Forced into lockdown, he found that writing was a good way to keep his sanity and in February 2021 he started an Instagram page dedicated to his poetry using the handle @thoughts_by_steve. He was overwhelmed by the encouragement he received from the online community and has since taken to writing every free moment he has.
After participating in two anthologies: The Dream Gods -A Pantheon of Unknowns (Editor: Cassie Fielding) published in 2021 and In the Company of Poets (Editor: Valerie Lorraine) launched in December of 2022 he began the process of putting together his own poetry collection.
In his poetry Steve questions humanity, highlights social issues and ponders the effect we are having on our planet. Being a father and a coach he often wonders what kind of world we are going to leave for generations to come. However, interspersed with poems that contemplate life, there are those that speak of emotions, delve into fantastic stories or simply discuss, “If Ducks had Elbows”.
You can discover more about Steve’s poetry, his approach to writing and his outlook on life in his blog. He will often feature other poets and artists since he believes it is important that creative persons should support each other.
About the Book
Old & UnWise – A Haphazard Collection of Poetry and Thought, Stephen Buttigieg’s first solo book, was published in March 2024. The book contains over 170 poems and thoughts totalling 242 pages of poetry which cover a multitude of themes and styles.
He originally began to write in free verse but has since delved into rhyming poetry and the use of classical forms. He likes to let the poem dictate its own flow and style, whether it rhymes or takes a known form, and loves the excitement of discovery while writing.
All the same he has been known to take on a challenge or a prompt, albeit putting his own spin on it. When he was challenged to write his first sonnet he accepted the challenge and wrote one of his most political pieces in Urban Sonnet.
Most of Steve’s poems have a message, often touching on social justice, the environment and equality, some of which can be very hard hitting. However, Steve also enjoys writing whimsical pieces and you will find some of these sprinkled around the book. His more philosophical poems musing about existence, science and religion ask questions most people ask themselves at some point in time. Then there are the poems which touch on relationships, love and hate, desperation and solitude, emotions that are tied in with our everyday lives.
Each of these themes is tackled in different ways, sometimes dark and sometimes dusted with a sense of humour. The poems are not separated according to theme, so each page may bring its own surprise, whether the book is written cover to cover, or opened at a random page.
Now that Old & UnWise – A Haphazard Collection of Poetry and Thought has been published, Steve is planning a sequel and hopes it does not take him another 58 years to get it done.
If you would like to obtain an author signed copy please click on the button below to request more information by email. Details of the total cost, including postage and packaging and the shipping date will be sent accordingly.
If the button does not work in your browser just send an email to thoughts.by.steve@gmail.com
Also found on other Amazon sites
Can also be ordered on most other online platforms or your local independent book shop
ISBN: 9789918007356
Blurb
What “If Ducks had Elbows?” This collection of poems both asks and answers questions about life as experienced by a fifty-something father, husband and coach. It questions humanity, highlights social issues and ponders human impact on our planet. Old and UnWise moves from light to darkness and everywhere in between as the poet invites the reader into the ambiguous world that exists between his ears.
About this page
You may ask why has it taken me close to sixty years to publish my first poetry book. That is a good question. I suppose I could dedicate a lot of time and space in answering, but I would rather look to the future, share some of my work, whether spoken or written, and hopefully inspire others not to wait so long to share theirs. If you would like to learn more about my journey, and that of other creatives who I have got to know along the way, please subscribe below to be the first to know about any updates on this page. You may also follow the links found on this page to go to my blog.
“You live and learn. At any rate, you live.”
DOUGLAS ADAMS, MOSTLY HARMLESS
Stephen Buttigieg - Words 