Author and poet Frank McMahon, will be reading at two upcoming events in September.

On-line at the Gloucestershire Poetry Society’s Crafty Crows on September 4th at 7pm; free entry and open mic via GPS website.

In person at Buzzwords, Exmouth Arms,Cheltenham, on September 8th, 7pm start. Includes open mic and creative writing spot.

Frank will be reading from his latest book, The Light will Always Return.”

Congratulations to Graham Bruce Fletcher who will be featured reading his poem ‘Misheard Lyrics’ on BBC Upload with Adam Crowther this week!

The poem will be broadcast on Thursday evening between 6-8pm on BBC Radio Bristol, BBC Radio Gloucestershire, BBC Radio Somerset and BBC Radio Wiltshire! You can hear it again on Saturday evening on BBC Radio Bristol, BBC Radio Gloucestershire, BBC Radio Somerset and BBC Radio Wiltshire between 6-8pm. You can listen on your radio or via the free BBC Sounds app.

Congratulations, too, to Frank McMahon, whose poem ‘Reverberations’ was runner-up in the annual Gloucestershire Writers Network Competition. Frank will be reading his poem at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Sunday, October 13.

This month’s featured work is an ekphrastic prose poem based on the 1942 painting ‘Nighthawks’ by American artist Edward Hopper.

Alan is a Derbyshire lad, though not so “lad” anymore, who moved south before joining the group in November 2022. He’s often inspired by reading international fiction translated into English as a means of discovering other worlds. He prefers to focus on short stories and poetry and a recent piece was longlisted in this year’s Fish Short Memoir Prize. He works on his writing, music and art from his home in Kempsford where he lives with his wife and cat. He accepts being third in line in a list of priorities. 

He views prose poetry as being akin to the old game of pinning the tail on the donkey.

You can read the prose poem here.

The BBC will be broadcasting ‘In Memorium’ by Frank McMahon this Saturday as part of its BBC Upload programme.

Frank’s reading of the poem will feature in Adam Crowther’s programme between 6-8pm and will be broadcast on BBC Radio Gloucestershire, BBC Radio Wiltshire, BBC Radio Somerset and BBC Radio Bristol. You can listen on your radio or via the free BBC Sounds app.

There will be a chance to hear Frank read more of his work at Cirencester Library this Monday when he is a guest speaker at Writers in the Library from 2-3pm.

It is with great sadness that we have to announce the deaths of two long-time members of our writing group. As a founder member, Steve Goldblatt contributed hugely to its ethos and success. His wit, enthusiasm and pertinent, pithy comments were always a delight, as were his rare but hilarious written descriptions of his life. Steve died suddenly in Spain. In the same week, we heard that veteran member Jim Moeller had died after a long illness. His was a life devoted to literature, both as a teacher and as a skilled and subtle writer of long and short-form fiction. Listening to Jim read his work in his gentle, wry, American voice was one of the great pleasures of belonging to the group. We shall miss them both hugely. You can listen to Graham Bruce Fletcher’s interview with Jim about his life and work here.

Iris Anne Lewis was a guest reader at the Cheltenham Poetry Festival alongside Derek Healey and Isabel Galleymore. Something Old, Something New featured Gloucestershire poets, each of whom read a selection of their own work plus a poem from a Gloucestershire poet from the past. Iris’s set included poems on the theme of mothers and daughters, the Faroe Islands and her home village, Kempsford. She finished by reading a poem by William Hayward, who served in the Boer War. His poignant poem Kempsford Bells tells how he longed to hear the sound of Kempsford church bells when he was far away from home.

Iris said: ‘It was a lovely experience to be reading to a packed audience at the prestigious Cheltenham Poetry Festival and to listen to Derek and Isabel’s talented work.’

Fish Publishing, based in County Cork, Ireland, have been running prestigious annual writing competitions which have drawn international attention for many years now. Winners’ work appears in its annual anthology. Somewhere Else member Alan Passey’s work appeared in the 2020 Anthology, and he was Longlisted this year in the Short Memoir Prize with his piece “Luigi and The President” about the loss of a childhood friend on the same night that JFK was assassinated.

“I was reflecting on how the adults around us at the time were distracted by this great world event when to us children, the great smaller world, our small world, event was the loss of Luigi,” Alan said, “Fish have a great reputation, and I was delighted to make the first cut, at least.”

‘Luigi ..’ is currently submitted for possible publication but as an appetiser you can read a shorter memoir piece on Alan’s blog here.

This month’s poet is Frank McMahon. His poem “Emperor Akhbar Seeks Ultimate Truth” is available to read here.

It is one of the poems featured in Frank’s third collection, ‘The Light Will Always Return,’ which will be launched on April 17th.

There are shadows in the book: loss, environmental concerns, conflict, but the abiding theme is hope and optimism. 

Frank said: ‘These essential qualities of living are present around us but also need to be generated by our resilience and willingness to work towards protection and restoration.’

“The Light Will Always Return” published by Tim Saunders Publications will be available in paperback, hardback and as an e-book from Waterstones, Amazon and other bookshops.