Many Romero has written many articles for The Tranny Guide over the years. She has articles in the 10th & 11th editions and in the 12th edition she has written her Personal Profile. Now she has published her very own arty booklet - The Great Make-Over.

The Great Make-Over - Limited Edition Artwork Book
Three groups of artists were invited to respond to the shifting sand that is Liverpool city centre through a set of Good Diversions, re-routing our senses away from everyday life. Curated by Alan Dunn for Bluecoat Arts Centre, the three projects included Mandy Romero's Great Make-Over, seen here, were commissioned by Liverpool Culture Company in response to their City In Transition programme.

Here is a sample of one of the poems in the book:

Hallway City Sounds
Pause at the street door
leaving the flat was easy but this is the point of no return
Do I have a choice?
I chose the foundation, the eye-liner, mascara, blusher, lipstick,
dress, shoes, bag, coat
I chose to come this far
but any moment now other people call the shots
They charge the fares, set the rules, own the property, regulate the streets
sometimes very rich, sometimes very poor, always powerful,
they are the water in which I must try to swim, or at least
float to survive,
aren't they?
A kind of breathlessness

Light a cigarette

New fronts, blank windows, no-one at home I know, but
maybe watching
Spaces, crowded with faces, one face, waiting to see me, spaces
like the wasteground I crossed as a kid

Take a deep breath

There's no going back, there's no coming back, as I left
if I'm lucky, of course
To come back unchanged would be defeat
I must remember
that I am many years in the making
No bricked-up face, no penetrating stare can take away from
me the art of my life
and the dressing-table and bathroom miror will always be
where I conclude the business of the day
New tables, new mirrors

People I know went through this door
many never to return
Stacey, Tracey, Tania, Maria, Ria, Jade, Honey, Mary, Emma, Jenny, Jo
Gone behind the windows, lost in the crowd

or come back, see, they come back, changed

The Street-door, then the street

The playing is over, I go to meet them - this is for now.

For more details on this booklet:
Website: http://www.mandygirl.net
Bluecoat Arts Centre project information: Tel 0151 709 5297.