We feature two poems this month, both by Iris Anne Lewis. ‘Swan Song in the Geissenklösterle Cave’ and ‘The White Horse of Uffington’ both appear in Black Bough: Deep Time ( volumes one and two). You can read them on this site by clicking on our Poem of the Month logo.

Frank McMahon has been invited to read at this year’s Cheltenham poetry Festival.The invitation came from the poet and Festival Organiser, Anna Saunders, following work he had done with her on some of his poetry. He is delighted and honoured to be reading at such a prestigious event.The reading will be on-line on July 19th at 7pm. Tickets are available via the festival website: www.cheltenhampoetryfestival.co.uk.” 

More success for Somewhere Else Writers in the most recent competition run by the Gloucestershire Poetry Society. Iris Anne Lewis won third place for her poem ‘Foxfire’, which was based on a Sami legend on the origin of the Northern Lights. Frank McMahon’s poem ‘Citrus’ received an honourable mention.

‘Foxfire’ will be published in the online magazine ‘The Steel Jackdaw’ later this year.

Poem of the Month for March is ‘Harebushes Wood’ by Clare Finnimore.The poem was highly commended in the annual Gloucestershire Writers’ Network Competition 2020, and published in the competition anthology. It is featured in March’s Cirencester Scene along with a profile of Clare and her work. To read it on this site, go to the navigation bar and click the ‘Poem of the Month’ tab.

The Improbable Book Cafe is open for business – serving short stories to brighten your day.

It’s the brainchild of  Somewhere Else member Sophie Livingston who wanted to create somewhere people could go to listen to stories over a cup of coffee.

She said: ‘One of my stories was serialised on Radio Wiltshire and the presenter asked me where people could go to listen to others. I realised I had nowhere to send them. The lockdown has given me time to build this site together with my sister Alice. At the moment, the stories are romantic or comic because I think we all need cheering up – but the idea is that we will build up a library that will suit all tastes.’

Members of the group have stepped in to help with the recording. Each story is divided into five or ten-minute episodes. If you prefer a longer listen, the whole story is also available as a recording on the site or as a downloadable podcast. It’s free to listen and to subscribe if you want to be alerted when new stories appear.

The Improbable Book Cafe can be visited by clicking here

Selwyn Morgan’s wonderful debut novel ‘Going Up Camborne Hill’ is now available on Amazon. It was inspired by a visit to a cemetery in Virginia City, Nevada, an old gold mining town, and has been a labour of love for the Kemble-based writer. The result is a book that spans centuries and continents.

It follows a Cornish mining family’s fortunes from their first experience of Richard Trevithick’s historic, passenger-carrying steam engine at the Camborne Christmas fair in 1801 through to the Second World War.

Selwyn said: ‘I noticed that many of the Nevada cemetery graves were of Cornish tin miners. I’d been researching my ancestry and discovered my middle name ‘Berryman’ was Cornish in origin.

‘The thought struck me; some of the graves in the cemetery could be those of my relations. How did they get there? And how had the different strands of my Cornish family made their way to the present day?’

The novel ingeniously weaves together the lives and loves of one family with the technological and economic changes that impacted entire industries and communities. Extracts – and a chance to win a free copy – are featured in February’s Cirencester Scene. You can also try a taster chapter under ‘Story of the Month’ on this site.

The novel is available to buy here.

The poem for January is: ‘It was As If’ by Frank McMahon. It is one of three Covid-inspired works by Frank featured in an anthology produced by Palewell Press. See our earlier post for details on how to buy it.