“It first started off with a poem,” she said.

“I was laying awake one night, it was a full moon and the energy was keeping me awake. 

“All of these words started coming to me and it ended up being a poem in its entirety.” 

The Milton woman was swept away by her poem and busily jotted it down. 

For the last year the Ms Kierzkowski has worked with Harbour Publishing House to produce her debut novel, The Gatherer. 

The book opens with Ms Kierzkowski’s poem and proceeds to break down the poem line-by-line, coupled with a craft activity for readers to make. 

“I thought I would write a book that stripped away each line of the book and provide creative prompts for people to unlock the creativity that’s within them,” she said. 

Ms Kierzkowski has taught art workshops for a number of years and said she often finds people hide their creativity. 

“It’s almost like people are afraid to let their creativity out, or embarrassed,” she said. “I wanted to make something that made people feel it was accessible for them to live a creative life.” 

Ms Kierzkowski said the book provided an outlet for people to recharge and relax. 

“As a child I was always gathering things, making things and being creative; it was very relaxing,” she said. 

“I wanted to share with people that it’s okay to have things that are handmade, heartfelt and a little imperfect.”