Coun Mota Singh encapsulates themes of love, loss, poverty and immigration in his book of Punjabi poems, Scattered Pearls.

The accidental poet was persuaded to publish the collection by friend and published author Satpal Singh Dulku of Nuneaton, who published two works at the same time.

Coun Singh draws his inspiration from the Arabic ghazal, which bears similarities to the sonnet. He said: “I love poetry. You write when you’re in love or fed up, and I was fed up when I first came to England. I had no money and I faced discrimination.

“I was not keen to publish, though I have always loved writing. I wrote one of those poems in 1955! It was Dulku who saw my work and took it to India to be published.”

Writing not only about his experiences as an immigrant, he also channels his personal grief. He said: “I wrote a third of that poetry after my wife died four years ago.

“I was embarrassed to have this published, but strangely it has also encouraged me to continue writing. This book will not be for sale – I intend to give it to friends and libraries for people to read.”