EMILY Maguire is a mixture of being a romantic poet, Buddhist, musician and Indiana Jones as she like the cinema professor of archaeology as she hates snakes as much as he does.

There is more to Emily than you would imagine. She has battled against mental illness including bipolar disorder.

But even thought she has been through a lot she believes she is one of the luckiest people she knows and feels as an individual - a human being ‘she is work in progress’.

As a singer-songwriter, poet, composer, multi-instrumentalist and mental health advocate, Emily’s five albums and three books have established her as a true talent.

To celebrate the publication of her third book ‘Meditation Mind’, a collection of poems inspired by her Buddhist practice, Emily is performing some very intimate gigs in bookshops and Buddhist centres across the country.

Emily said: “Songwriting to me has been incredibly helpful.

"It has been away of allowing me to express my deep feelings and I have exorcised them (feelings) as I used them to in a positive way.

"I feel I have been on the right path and it has all had a positive effect.

“The best effect for me has been the amazing email I have had from people saying how my songs have helped them and kept them going during a dark time.

"It has been wonderful to communicate with them and this has been really important.”

Her gig in Taunton will take place at Brendon Books (Old Brewery Buildings, Bath Place) at 6.30pm on Thursday, November 8.

The evening will be a mix of poetry readings and acoustic songs on guitar accompanied by her husband Christian Dunham on double-bass.

She first wrote poems every day for 18 months while he has tennis elbow in both her arms.

She explained she had no memory of writing them and what is published in the book is what they looked like when she found them.

There is a Q&A following the performance.

Tickets £7.50, available at emilymaguire.com