Poet and author Irene Latham spoke at the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library Saturday March 12 at 2:30 p.m.

Latham had a brief book signing before discussing her newest collection of poetry “The Color of Lost Rooms.”

Her newest collection of poetry focuses mainly on women, art, history and other poetry.

“‘The Color of Lost Rooms’ redefines poetry,” Latham said. “My mission was to make the poetry for the people.”

The poems in this collection were inspired by works of art, famous and not so famous people as well as her own family.

To open up her presentation she read a few quotes that inspired her to be a poet. Some of these quotes were by people like Don Marquis, Anne Shreve, Robert Graves, Mary Cassatt and even one from the movie “The Dead Poets Society.”

Irene is not only a writer but a fulltime mom, and she does the accounting for her family business, Latham’s Hair Clinic.

“Writing is a passion,” Latham said. “I can’t not write, for better or for worse.”

The advice she would give to aspiring writers as well as others who write is, “Live a life worth writing about. Have experiences, go places and have adventures.”

“Poetry is like a cat that comes and sits in your lap to be petted but then leaves when they no longer need you,” Latham said. “Prose, on the other hand, is like a dog: it comes for petting but stays around needing more attention than the cat does.”

Latham’s books can be found at her website www.irenelatham.com and they can be autographed when ordered. Her next book, which will be out in 2012, is titled “Don’t Feed the Boy.”