Literary
Objects
FIRST COLLECTION OF POETRY
by Nikki Wilsworth
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The concept of these literary objects was for me to find a way to move my writing beyond the digital form to a tangible, physical asset. The collection is a series of poems and prose etched into reclaimed brass and presented as limited-edition literary objects, together with a book and print work.
All the words, fonts and layouts are depicted in the same format across mediums.
WHEN bridges the relationship between
language, material, memory and transformation.
It turns out - I have lots of when’s.
Poetry etched in Brass. Contemplative objects
Brass carries the evidence of life: scratches, abrasions, dents, oxidation and patina. Rather than concealing and re-shining all these imperfections, the idea is to embrace them. They mirror the marks accumulated through living, our environment and personal journey of transformation.
Original letterpress embossing, pressed individually
Limited Edition of 100 numbered copies
A6 Postcard size
Digitally signed
Unframed
ZAR250.-
Hand crafted, traditional print & binding
First Edition of 20 signed & numbered books
Second Edition of 100 signed books
Made by original print press
ZAR 650.-
Bespoke
Objects
Select a poem or prose from the collection and a reclaimed brass plate you prefer.
Placement and fonts are copyright and cannot be adjusted.
All works are limited to 5 in a series.
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Crafted in contemplation.
All these works of poetry involve imagination and original idea.
They were crafted in contemplation.
Each item is part of a limited body of work produced in 2026, that is certified as authentic.
No two pieces are identical, just as no two lives experience the world in the same way.
WHEN become a significant
anchor for me.
I found it somewhere between facing my own dark pain and a winter night. Somewhere between frustration and joy, somewhere between my search for meaning and finding resolution in my life.
It turns out - I have lots of when’s.
This collection is made up of 9 poems and prose.
Written over the last five years, inspired in a moment by what I see, what I feel and invariably what I need to reconcile. I have written them often in a matter of hours, some over just two days.
““The brass becomes a metaphor for life itself...“
We are shaped by the relentless consequence of change: loss, grief, love, illness, growth and time. Like brass, we tarnish emotionally, mentally, physically. Like brass, we can also be restored.
— NIKKI WiLSWORTH
“I had been feeling so burnt out with my content and literally one session with Athena changed everything.
I'm baby organic authentic skateboard microdosing waistcoat, vinyl sartorial. Bodega boys street art four dollar toast.
— JEN OLMSTEAD
when
Before when, something is
and then was.
When is a point of departure
I wrote this in 2021, my desk facing the window. It was the time when I realised my story was worth telling. This prose is particualrly powerful when you read it.
arboretum refuge
Burdened by hope and
Frustrated by grief
In need of sleep
I thought about this piece in my mind while sitting on a log in the forest... I was on my way home overwhelmed with so many thoughts and feelings of her departure and my own grief.
a sage sea
... seperated from a sentient sky by a deliberate boundry of perspective in navy blue
I wrote this in my mind, when walking in the breeze on the beach.
Plettenberg Bay
I had left London for countryside respite. Between the station and my friend’s house is a forest...
I walked through many times in 2024.
Overwhelmed by the realisation my mother was terminally ill, the days caring for her became weeks, the weeks - months, I sat in this forest to reconcile the inevitable.
Aboretum Refuge - Haselmere, Surrey
