A WOMAN'S experience of racism in west Dorset is the theme of a new poetry film.

Writer and poet Louisa Adjoa Parker, who used to live in Lyme Regis, has made the short film. In it she reads her new piece Dear White West Country People.

The poem was first written during the summer when the Black Lives Matter movement was spreading globally.

The film was funded by the South West Creative Technology Network, which also funded the first phase of Louisa's Where are you really from? project, which tells the stories of black and Asian rural life.

Louisa, who lived in Lyme Regis with her three children for nearly two decades, has made a name for herself through writing about rural racism and other forms of inequality. She writes poetry, fiction, articles, and ethnically diverse history, is a sought-after speaker and also works as an equality, diversity and inclusion consultant, providing training to various organisations. Her short story collection, Stay With Me, which includes several stories set in Lyme Regis, is to be published later this month by Colenso Books.

Louisa said: "I felt empowered to write this poem during the summer, when suddenly all my white friends were talking about racism for the first time. It’s really about saying the things I’ve long wanted to say, to the white people I love, who live in a part of the world I love.

"I think the problem is, that if you’re a white person living in Dorset or the south west, you might not be aware of what life can be like for those of us with African or Asian heritage. Racism is rife, but often goes unchallenged. I hope the poem will make people curious, and to want to find out more about black and brown people’s rural lives."

The text was published in The Clearing, a journal, by Dorset nature publisher Little Toller Books.

To find out more about Louisa’s work visit her website www.louisaadjoaparker.com