GASP!: A collection of musings and reflections from the heart on the sometimes choppy voyage of life

“wonderful gifts of insight, empathy and compassion”
PAM RHODES

Prayer is a strange thing. Simple yet profound. How does it work? We don’t know. But God hears and loves us to talk to Him and to sit in His presence. Even in the darkness of night, when all the world seems to rest but you, there is a cry from the heart to a listening and understanding Father.

GASP! is a fervent and arresting response to a fast-changing world, the joy of creation and connection, and the goodness found in people. The poems ask pertinent and hard questions about life, relationships, suffering and inequality. Some of these questions are answered, while others remain mysterious, complex and concerning...

Hilary has wonderful gifts of insight, empathy and compassion, all expressed in a way that challenges reactions, prods the conscience, feels the pain and encircles the reader with heavenly comfort.

Pam Rhodes, journalist, presenter, writer and speaker

Hilary Jane Hughes combines meticulous, painterly observation and questioning contemplation … to stimulate heightened engagement with the subjects that interest her. … Above all, this is attentive writing, and Hughes’ descriptions and meditations train a parallel attentiveness in the reader paying it attention.

John Moss, The Reader

Thank you for the honour and privilege of being amongst the first to read your new collection. Your writing is so vivid and expressive and truthful and honest. I have been right there in the storms and in the grip of the polar vortex; you have brought to life people and places I have never met or been to before.

Susan Walkington, poet and worship leader

The overriding impression I get from what I have read in this work, is the careful honesty that exposes and unwraps deep and staggeringly painful themes. There is a maturity within the material in “People” that was promised in your previous publication but which is now flourishing. There are some brutal, shocking moments which leave me breathless, but, nearly always, there is a resolution. Those that lack it, perhaps point to labours yet awaiting?

Elizabeth Ali, poet

What a privilege it has been to read your work! I have been transported to so many different places without moving from my chair! The poems are so evocative; I “saw” what is actually there, but also saw what is beyond—contained in the very essence of the place itself, as each poem took its shape, came into being—places still continuing to be shaped and continuing to speak to those who visit.

Sue Whalley, worship leader and writer

About the Author

Hilary Jane Hughes is an established poet. Born in Essex, she suffered abuse within the family during childhood, but found hope after becoming a Christian in her teenage years. Later, having struggled with infertility, anxiety and insomnia—and sometimes her faith—Hilary turned to writing.

Hilary is a teacher and lives in North Yorkshire. She is married to Mike, and has two children and two grandchildren. She supports projects in Thailand and Vietnam, where she travels regularly.