Art, books, & music (with a sea breeze ending)

Writers in this area will know that Frome's very active writers' collective has its own book brand for indie authors: Silver Crow supports publication-ready works in every genre, from children's to murder-mystery,  poetry to memoir, and with ten titles now the time seemed right to stage a celebration. FWC& in fact did this literally, at the Merlin Theatre, with a fascinating  evening of readings by the authors, ably introduced by writer and public speaker Joffre White.
Here's Ed Green, reading from 'It Leaves Me The Same', his moving account of the life and letters of his great-uncle, called from the family farm to die in the Somme.

Music now, and a great Roots session at the Grain Bar on Wednesday with an exceptionally talented double bill of musician/song-writers. 'The Billy Shinbone Show' brought us 'deviant skiffle manglings & disco-punk-rock-blues of Somerset multi-instrumentalist' - and Billy's support act was also brilliant, as Jamie R Hawkins shared original songs with Phil Cooper on Cahon.

'The Young Open' at Black Swan Arts is always one of the most vibrant exhibition of the year, and last weekend saw the opening of this collection, chosen by the committee and offering prizes in three categories: 8-11, 12-15, and 16-19. Nearly three hundred youngsters entered, with 409 art works submitted from which 166 will be on display int he galleries until the end of April.There's great energy in this diverse collection, though the curating makes some difficult to view fully - a disappointing number of glass-covered images are opposite windows and so suffer from reflections.
But it's well worth a look - and do add your favourite to the Peoples' Choice too. Here's the moody portrait of 'Orla' by Astrid Rogers which was the 12-15 winner. Appreciation to all the young people who entered, congratulations to the lucky 13 given the 'winners' and 'commended' tags, and thanks to the sponsors Ellenbray, Studio Prints, Postscript, Inspired, and Frome Community Lottery. Words at the Black Swan met on Monday to create poetic responses to imagery that especially intrigued them: I found Is That It? by Poppy Thomas interestingly provocative.

There was a music over the weekend too, with a busking day on Saturday throughout the town, and the usual weekend events but your correspondent defaulted here by swapping Frome for a family rendezvous on the coast.  Consider the evidence below, as I rest my case: