O brave new world...

These are difficult days for an arts blogger to keep politics out of the local picture, and I realise my red slip does show from time to time. This may be another of those times. Starting with a visit to 

Salisbury's International Arts Festival to hear Mark Steel, not doing stand-up but confined to an armchair interview by an LBC presenter, sadly no James O'Brien. From the opening question ('How do you manage to swear on stage and be a dad?') to his finale ('Satire is dead' - a familiar quip but an odd way to end a chat with a satirist) the interrogation was heavy-handed though Mark was excellent, conveying conviction as well as wit and good humour, and admitting 'the terrible thing is this awful feeling of lingering hope.'

Back to neutral topics:

Frome's monthly Independent Market mustered the usual crowds despite desultory sunshine, with the usual cornucopia of edibles, quaffables, and esoteric buyables, with lots of activities for the children. Music is always a strong feature:
This month we had lively trad/folk from Lost Revellers on the busking stage, folk/rock ballads from Partners in Crime at the Archangel, and Jazz Jam at the Cornerhouse to round off the day. That's how a market should sound!

Warminster Community Radio's grooving Monday afternoon host Kowalski invited me on to his show to talk about upcoming events in the writing world so I'll end this short post with a look ahead to the rest of this month for me: Words at the Black Swan writing workshops restarting on 19th with a free drop-in from 3.00-4.30, a guest spot at Chippfest on 24th, and three days of Time Walk shows in different locations for schools in Somerset. Fingers crossed I'm back to full-strength functioning for them all... smiley face!

And in the meantime, here's what Frome is doing tonight at the Silk Mill...