Slipping icily into the festive season...

'The cold never bothered me anyway' trills Frozen's Elsa bravely. Don't mistake me for Elsa. As frost grips leaves (prettily) and windscreens (annoyingly) I strive to muster the stoic resilience of Albert Camus who wrote In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. Good luck with that, then, my less stoic self mutters. But it's beautiful, I concede, that icy clarity of winter sunshine ~ this is how Stourhead looks when half the lake is solid and the grass is a field of tiny sabres.
And now it's December there's no avoiding the beast that lurches toward Bethlehem to be born again as a Retail Festival. Frome had a low-key lights-switch-on event this year: singing in the streets and tree sparkles which all lit up at the right moment ~ the mass 'Ooh!' gasp in response was more of an Oh!' of surprise from Fromies familiar with such events.
There was plenty of good music & other stuff around too: Dexters Extra Breakfast after the festive market at the Grain Bar were followed by the foot-stopping Buffalo Gals, and on Sunday Jazz Jam at the Cornerhouse gave us Simon Sax's lineup of superb performers. And Cafe La Strada is now featuring an exhibition of David Goodman's characteristically lucent eclectic photographs.

First Sunday of the month is Frome Independent market and minus- zero temperatures didn't stop the crowds pouring in. Cerulean skies and sunshine helped, and despite the whole town bordering on gridlock status (especially around hot-drink stalls) there was an upbeat atmosphere.
This month I was on the market myself, spasmodically declaiming poems from Crumbs from a Spinning World outside Hunting Raven Books, along with World Tree Story author Julian Hight who was also selling and signing. Great fun, and lovely feedback from buyers.

Earlier this week I'd met up with Burning Eye Books press officer ~ delightful Jenn Hart, here setting up for a podcast to give my progress report. My idea is a kind of scatter-gun approach to launching, with pop-up events in various locations (Frome Library next Saturday, December 10) and open-mic performances in Poetry Cafes and clubs. "If it isn't any fun, don't do it" D.H.Lawrence said, and he was right.
 So far, I've done spots at events in Bruton and Wells, acquiring after the latter a review in the Wells Journal I shall quote endlessly: Praise ... to Crysse Morrison, whose alphabetical 26 word review of Austen's Pride and Prejudice allied form and function in a way the Bauhaus would have applauded.  So it's a watch-this-space situation, or check my facebook page should you want to know upcoming.

Footnote of the week comes from a marvellous piece in Index: Wiltshire in which a Devises resident yearns fractiously for some of Frome's iconic charm. Oh, blast that funky freewheeling Frome... Here we go again, I swear every news story I hear about Frome is a happy-ending-tale of civic action... 

...not a constant free festival or a hippy commune, Frome is an organised community acting upon issues, often against conformity, to create a distinctiveness and liberal attitude which makes Brighton look like North Korea. Full of facts, and funny too ~ Darren Worrow, you may not be Bauhaus but I enjoyed that very much.

Wishing you rainbows...

We've seen a lot of rain,  though not as much as further north, but there's been amazing sunny days too, so this new year image seems a good one to launch 2016. And for a taste of blue-sky poetry too, take a look at Begin by Brendan Kennelly which ends so exquisitely:

Though we live in a world that dreams of ending,
that always seems about to give in,
something that will not acknowledge conclusion
insists that we forever begin.

The Warminster Writers Circle greeted January in style with their annual festive celebration, at which Alison Clink and I were invited as guests as we've both led sessions for this thriving group. David Dell's huge living-room was completely filled and despite the party atmosphere everyone was impressively attentive as I gave my little intro on the hows & whys of writing short plays before announcing the winners of the winter competition.

Organisers David Dell and Sue Bacon (L & R in the pic) had the inspiration of further enlivening an already lively gathering with readings of the three winning plays, by Bernard Harvey,  Sheelagh Wurr (with me in the pic) and Richard Platts. With roles enthusiastically grabbed ~ here's young Frankie Stein about to be enlisted in the "Warminster School for Boys and Ghouls" ~ all three plays were hugely entertaining and the evening ended with applause and extra helpings of strawberry pavlova.

Frome Writers Collective is an even bigger group - around 70 members in total, though not all of us attend every one of the many events, talks, and trips organised on a regular basis. But an enthusiastic sampling of the membership regularly come along to the Three Swans monthly social meetings, and we started the year with a fascinating focus on writing for radio by Frome FM presenter John Walton. John hosts the monthly magazine show Chapter & Verse and is also interested in producing dramas scripted by local writers. Rosie & I are thrilled that Toxic Cocktails, our last Nevertheless production, has been selected for a radio adaptation - watch, as they say, this space!

Over at Black Swan Arts the new exhibition is a solo show by Alex Faulkner. Not easy viewing, these amazing paintings express the artist's return after a lengthy personal rejection of this medium as 'dishonest' ~ many of these new paintings have 'Kabuki' eyes which follow you around from canvasses & reflections of canvasses ~ and there's a recurrent theme of containment, constraint, and obliteration. Chris Bucklow gave other interesting insights in his talk on Friday evening.

And let's not forget the music... Roots Sessions at the Cheese and Grain, always a great evening, pulled out all the new year stops for a triple-guest event: The Wochynskis, lovely Emma Shoosmith, and the awesome Dexters Extra Breakfast ~ here's Emma ~ while Cordero Lounge in the precinct introduced itself as the new music venue on the block, with a fantastic evening of ska from a superb band: The One Tones. More please!
So here's wishing you all an unprecedentedly creative year ahead ~ well while hopes are still free, why not aim high?

Autumn abundance

An artistic cornucopia in Frome this week, overflowing on Halloween night with witching costumes & happenings in cafes & shops around the town, an amazingly theatrical Haunted House-party (thanks Russ Ellingham, who'll also bring dark glamour to Cheese&Grain on Friday 13th) and a fiendishly good session at the Griffin by Captain Cactus and the spell-binding Screaming Harlots.

Two more of my favourite bands were also playing last week: We Used To Make Things, a brilliant indie-pop band from London, usually 8-strong though totally rocking the Cricket Club with just five. I particularly enjoyed their protest song 'What are we fighting for?' echoing around the flags... And local heroes Dexter's Extra Breakfast took to the busking stage at the Frome Independent penultimate Sunday market of the year. As always, this was a massively busy event offering every kind & colour of craft, costume and comestible. Writers were represented by the enterprising Frome Writers Collective with a stall on the hill and by Julian Hight's book-signing of his World Tree Story at Hunting Raven.

'Words at the Black Swan' always meets in the gallery on the afternoon of the market to explore the current exhibition as poetic inspiration, and the diversity of the Arts Open offered engaging stimulus.
It's well worth a visit but don't expect razor-blade art like the work of Ai Weiwei at the Royal Academy I saw last week ~ a treat from my amazing friend Hazel Carey ~ which sears unforgettably. Here's 'Straight' - comprising 150 tons of steel rebar taken from the site of the earthquake that killed 5,000 children, truth about which the artist believes has been covered up by the Chinese government. Ai Weiwei was arrested & imprisoned for 80 days: he's also made an extensive installation to record the experience, with models of his captors.

So, a week of creativity in town, but as the artistic glitterball of Frome is surrounded by glorious countryside ~ not waxing too lyrical, am I? ~ these mild sunny days brought opportunities to relish the awesome colours of autumn too, in forests parks and gardens. This is the iconic Stourhead view..
I'll end with a quick look ahead: Frome Shop Local next Saturday: nine free performances throughout the town in shops and cafés - cancel everything and come along!

Midwinter Medley

The Midwinter Poetry Cafe was a particularly pleasant one with a great atmosphere and some terrific poems, from open mic readers as well as from our guests local wordsmiths Rick Rycroft and Muriel Lavender, and Karen Woollard & Jill Flanders from the Warminster Poetry People. Rick is a poet 'in love with the ordinary', creating lucent imagery from slugs and half-remembered dream phrase. Muriel showed her impressive versatility as a performer by following her entertaining cautionary santa-saga with some stunning haiku, including several so orally beautiful the full-house audience seemed stunned... Helen Moore read her account of an activist protest entitled #iceclimblive, now published in a collection of 'ambitious poems by women poets' entitled Her Wings Of Glass. And if you'd like to be a founding member of group of serious poets to meet monthly and focus on the craft of editing your work, contact Norman Andrews for full details. Sounds a great idea to me.
It's always good news when Three Corners has a new album, and to launch Singular the band gave a full performance of all ten gorgeous tracks at the Masonic, with a chance to dance during and after.
What more could anyone want? Maybe a portion of  Dexter's Extra Breakfast ~ and we had that as well.



A brilliant Roots Session at the Grain Bar on Wednesday, with Griff Daniels & Nicki Maskell plus guests including velvet-voiced Steve Loudoun, songs ranging from 1950s pop through folk-rock and reggae to soulful blues.  Saturday morning streets jingled to the splendid sounds of Honk Monster, with Pete Gage finishing of a mega-musical week at the Cornerhouse, atmospheric lighting great for dancing but not photo-friendly.

Fromesbury Writers takes our end-of-year meeting seriously, in terms of festivity, and as an additional reason to be merry, Debby Holt has just got a new book deal, so prosecco was essential ~ thanks Jill Miller for donating in absentia, we're toasting you in Spain and wishing you rich writing as well as sunshine.  Frome Writers Collective had their get-together in Divas, and I'll end back at the Cheese&Grain with an art-&-craft market featuring local practitioners: lively images of Frome streets from Fourmakers, quirky pendants by Pukka Jewels (love the vintage camera one) and amazing products from foraged berries & herbs by Wild Things"  ~ that's Kylie and Lauren-Olivia, who developed their business from scratch (or possibly from snatch) through the Edventure apprentice scheme. Who needs Lord Sugar? or any kind of sugar ~ their rosehip chocolate is sweetened entirely with honey.  As BBC Points West so nicely put it in their plug for our local shops "The chaos of Black Friday seems a world away from the streets of Frome.