User:Julie Dunkley

Julie M Dunkley writer and poet, was raised in Kingstanding Birmingham West Midlands. Born in 15th January 1967 to Charles Eric Dunkley and Irene Bellamy both from Birmingham. Julie is the youngest of six children.

She went to Kingsthorne infants and junior school and Kings Rise senior school. When she left school at 16 in 1983 she then went on a training scheme at Wellhead Lane Perry Barr. This was run by Brooklynn Technical college. Her first placement was at a hair salon called Tracy Janes Great Barr. After two months of working there she was signed up as an apprentice, trainee hairdresser. In 1984 Julie went to The Food and Domestic Arts College in Birmingham now known as City College, where she completed her two year hairdressing training in 1966. That year the salon that she worked at changes hands and was renamed Harvey's Hair Studio. This was a much more modern salon. In 1987 Julie did a colouring diploma at Clynol Hair Studios Bond Street London. That same year her father died of cancer.

The following year in 1988 Julie got married on 3rd September 1988 at Birmingham Registry Office. Julie and her husband to be had already moved to a place in Kettlebrook Tamworth Staffordshire. They went on to have their first child Daniel in 1989 and a further three more children David in 1990, Leanne in 1991 and Sarah in 1993. Julie divorced her husband in 1999 after 10 years of marriage. Julie lived in Tamworth until 2007, when she moved to Bordesley Green in Birmingham and then back to Kingstanding where she was raised and is currently living with her two sons.

In 2010 Julie was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had successful treatment to cure this. In 2011 she joined a local writers group and met up with them once a month to read poems that the group had written. It wasn't until 2014 that Julie had her first attempt at self publishing on Lulu.com. The very first book that she published was Twenty Poems for Girls, then Twenty Poems for Boys and Twenty Poems for Children.

The following year Julie self published with Createspace owned by Amazon.