Springtime - almost!

Having written last time about a bookshop called "Snowdrop" - I've now seen my first actual snowdrop of the year, which has cheered me considerably! I know that we really shouldn't complain when the poor folk of Somerset are still inundated with flood water and in a really bad way, but the endless rain of recent weeks has been so depressing that even a hint of spring makes the spirit soar.

And this year there's so much to look forward to in the spring - almost wall to wall poetry to start with. The Cheltenham Poetry Festival runs from March 28th to April 6th. but there will be a preview weekend preceeding it at which Picaresque will be performing on March 22nd - we're preparing for that at the moment and I'm also putting together a poetry appreciation presentation to give at five elderly care facilities over the festival period as part of an outreach programme. The week running up to Easter sees a four day poetry course run by Kim Moore in Cumbria and the weekend after Easter is the Much Wenlock Poetry Festival in Shropshire - always a great weekend.

But I must mention a fantastic evening last week - advertised as "A gothic fairytale for a winter night". Jennie Farley gave a superb reading of her verse narrative "Shadow Play" at Deepspace Arts Centre in Charlton Kings complete with sound effects and shadow puppets. The weather outside was foul but it was more than worth braving it to enter into the nursery world she so convincingly (and chillingly!) created.