Last August, this website published lifelong writer and longstanding member Linda’s poem, ‘Sunset in the Golden Valley’. This year, you can read her short story – ‘Nice Bike’. Linda has lived in several countries, is an accomplished linguist, and still teaches modern Greek to many students. She has also broadcast programmes for adults and children on local radio and run children’s writing competitions.

Somewhere Else Writers are always eager to encourage people to enjoy writing and reading. Frank McMahon and Iris Anne Lewis are both widely published poets who take part in the ‘Writers in the Library’ group, which welcomes public participants at two pm on the second Monday of each month to the Bingham Library, Cirencester, to read and listen to both poetry and prose, either self-written, or by favourite authors. The event lasts an hour, and no charge is made to attend.

Read ‘Nice Bike’ here.

Iris Anne Lewis was thrilled to be featured in the prestigious Poetry Wales series How I wrote a poem. Interviewed by Jake Dorothy about her poem Inundation, Iris talks about how her poem sweeps through time from the prehistoric to our modern times, and through space to the Netherlands and England. She also discusses the poetic techniques she used to convey her message in the poem.  It explores ‘Doggerland’, the land bridge that linked Britain to Europe in the Stone Age until a massive tsunami formed the North Sea, flooded it, and wiped its inhabitants out of existence. Iris says: ‘It was a great experience to carry out the research needed to write the poem, as it covered geology, archaeology and folk legend. It was also sobering to reflect on the transience of life and human existence within the forces of time and nature.’

You can read the poem and the interview here.

Iris is also celebrating being highly commended for her poem ‘When I think of my mother’ by the judges of the International Welsh Poetry Competition. The biggest and most respected poetry competition in Wales is now in its 19th year and attracted 3,000 entries from 40 countries around the globe.

The guest speaker at Writers in the Library, Cirencester, at 2pm on Monday June 9th is poet Frank McMahon.

Frank was one of the readers at the highly sucessful Cheltenham Poetry Festival this week. His fourth book of poetry, ‘The Canticles of Spring’ was published both in hardback at £15.99 and paperback at £9.99 earlier this year. It is available at Waterstones, other good bookshops, and on Amazon here.

There will be an open mic and refreshments. All welcome! 

The guest writer at Writers in the Library, Cirencester, at 2pm on Monday 12th May is poet David Lukens. David is widely published in magazines and online, and he won the Cheltenham Poetry Festival’s Frosted Fire competition in 2021 for his pamphlet ‘One Brief Wave’.

David lives in Wiltshire and has worked in teaching, business and IT. He is a member of the Brokenborough Poets. His poetry is vivid, insightful and engaged. 

There will be an open mic and refreshments. All welcome!