Long Day’s Journey

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This month’s short story by Dave Walklett is based on a real experience.

In the early 1980s, Dave and his fiancée travelled to Germany to spend Christmas with his parents — his father was in the RAF. They were due to travel by coach but, somehow, they lost the information about where to board the coach in London.

‘On the morning of our departure, my fiancée was very ill. I, however, was determined to go and so we embarked on a trans-European adventure. We caught the train to Dover, the Hovercraft across to Ostend, and then the train to our destination.

‘When we arrived at the Air Force Base, I had no idea where my parents actually lived; I had never been before, and they had only recently moved.

‘I have been trying to find a way of telling the story ever since and am still trying to find an effective way of doing so.’

Dave, who is currently studying for an MA in Creative Writing with the Open University, has chosen to write the story as a thriller. You can read his story here.

The Power of Ritual

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This month’s poem, by Tina Baker, was inspired by overhearing a woman saddened by the dwindling number of Christmas cards she received each year. It is a poem for those who still love the tradition and ritual of sending and receiving them, especially the elderly.

Tina’s work often focusses on memories, and the power they have, whether good or bad. She also writes short stories and was surprised and delighted to be short listed for the Stroud Short Story competition in 2020. Another love is play writing and one of her plays, a comedy, has been aired on Corinium Radio. On the back burner is a completed novel awaiting its fourth redraft.

When she is not reading or writing, Tina spends her time walking in the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside and trying to tame her garden.
To read Tina’s poem, ‘Relics’ go here, or click on the ‘Poem of the Month’ logo on our website.

Winter Star

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This month’s poem The Star in the East was written in response to a painting of a winter scene at dusk. Writer Iris Anne Lewis said: ‘I was struck by the ambiguity of the light in the sky – was it the sun or the moon? – and tried to convey this by coining the word ‘sun-moon-light’. I continued to make use of hyphenation between words to convey the sense of otherness that imbued the painting – the snow-gilded path leading into the distance, the strangely compelling trees and the feeling that something lay beyond the confines of the painting.’

Kim Harvey in Palette Poetry said of the poem:

I admire this sturdy micropoem with its creative use of hyphenation/compounding to describe the winter sky and how the East Star looms, a bright light always present but hidden beyond the horizon. The way Lewis ends the poem by describing the star as shining “ox-blood-bright” simultaneously brings to mind pagan ritual and the ox and lambs beside the Christ child in the crèche. This poem is so lovely and compact, yet somehow all-encompassing. To find out more about Palette Poetry click here.

The Star in the East was first published in Black Bough Poetry Christmas and Winter Anthology Volume 1. To read the poem click here or on the Poem of the Month logo on our website. The illustration is by Michael Sykes.

Black Bough Poetry

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Black Bough Poetry has brought out another super anthology full of exquisite micro poems (ten lines or fewer), all with a Christmas or Winter theme. Iris Anne Lewis is delighted that her poem Childermas is included in the anthology which features over sixty writers from across the world. It is beautifully illustrated with distinctive woodcut art by Emma Bissonnet and would make an excellent small Christmas gift for a poetry-loving friend. You can order copies from their website here.

Secrets of Crime

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Crime novelist Debbie Young revealed the secrets of her success at an evening hosted by Wotton Writers Group this month. Debbie, who organises of the Hawkesbury Upton literature festival each April, is the author of the seven Sophie Sayers village mysteries and the St Bride’s School series of funny-feel-good books. Members of Somewhere Else were warmly welcomed by the Wotton Group who had invited us to join them for the evening in North Nibley Village Hall. You can find out more about Debbie’s writing life – and her books here.

Indigo Dreams

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Frank McMahon was delighted to learn that his poem, The Stag, had won second place in the Indigo Dreams competition, Wild Nature.The poem will feature in an anthology of other prize-winning poems in 2022. Indigo Dreams is a successful indie publisher, with three magazines and collections from individual posts. You can find out more about them here.