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Posted by airyfairy Hope everybody has had a good week! Story of the Week is another funny, charming and insightful tale from Hudson Moon. We all get The Bothers, and Hudson offers a solution which is guaranteed to work. Until it doesn't. A delightful read for your weekend: The Bothers | ABCtales Poem of the Week is Dynamaso's 'Scratched'. It's beautifully written, slightly unnerving, and will stay with you long after reading: Scratched |...

Both of my choices this week are under-the radar pieces, but I do hope this will give them the reads they deserve - they're both brilliant! Story of the Week goes to The Other Terrence Oblong for his very funny two parter The Feast Problem. Can you imagine what might happen when fine dining (and the Guardian restaurant critic) arrive on Happy Island? Me neither, but it made me laugh out loud when I read Terrence's account, and I hope it does the...

I'm very pleased to announce that Ewan's second Poetry collection is out now and available to order from Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CGG6GMJ7 "Abandoned Flowers" is Ewan Lawrie's second collection of poems. His first, Last Night I Met John Adcock was shortlisted for The Poetry Book Awards 2020. This second collection is an anthology - from the Greek meaning "Gathered Flowers" - of highly personal poetry. It's not about flowers. Here's a...

Our Story and Poem for the month of August have very kindly been picked by Ewan: Picks Of The Month. So many to choose from. Bookmarking likely prospects means you can look through them all near the end of the month. The other method is to create a document noting all the URLs for the ones you’re going to consider when the time comes. Two pages this month. That’s a lot to think about… And a lot to prune away. Of course, there is no way to do...

Posted by Ewan on Fri, 01 Sep 2023 Competition was fierce this week as it has been for all of the month previous. Story of the Week Sean McNulty’s The Bradbury is to his usual very high standard and just pips Jane Hyphen’s ‘ Is That All There Is ’ and The Other Terrence Oblong’s ‘ The Woollen Mill Problem ’ to the accolade. Poem of the Week Turlough’s beautiful and moving ‘ You Never Said ’ is this week’s Poem of the Week. I’d like to mention...

Our site has been overflowing with wonderful pieces this week - thank you so much for posting them, and thank you all for your generosity in leaving comments for others Story of the Week was exceptionally hard to pick today, but in the end I've decided on Jane Hyphen's brilliant 'His Bit of Fluff' Our Poem of the Week goes to skinner_jennifer for her wonderful recollection of a summer childhood in the country Big congratulations to both! https...

Posted by airyfairy This week two pieces in particular lodged in my brain and wouldn't let go. Poem of the Week is onemorething's beautiful and thoughtful 'The Loneliness of a Cuckoo'. We're used to thinking of them as the bad guys of nest-stealing, but this poem contemplates what identity means when you don't have your own place in the world: The Loneliness of a Cuckoo | ABCtales Story of the Week is Mark Say's 'Dinner with Adele'. It's far...

I just wanted to say a very big thank you, firstly to onemorething and Mark Burrow for the organising and the MC-ing, and secondly to all our wonderful readers who gave such brilliant performances - I think it was our best yet! Our first time readers: Di_Hard Turlough Jane Hyphen And also: celticman onemorething marandina hudsonmoon Mark Say Sean Mcnulty Mark Pithie monodemo You are all stars!

Our Story and Poem for the month of July have very kindly been chosen by Mark Say: Poem of the month It’s been a close call in choosing poem of the month, with a handful of works in which a short, sharp choice of words and vivid imagery has been used to strong effect. This characterises my top choice, Healing (for an old mate) by smokejack, a powerful evocation of uncontrolled dark thoughts during the night, and the renewal of an appetite for...

Chosen by Ewan This week’s story of the week is a ‘Of Long Women and Little People’. It’s a splendid slice of whimsy, written in the style of academic writing and as such is as dryly funny as so much of Sean McNulty’s work. Read it here Our poem of the week this week is Under Late Spring Sky by skinner_jennifer, which creates a scene of bucolic beauty for the reader. Read it here This week’s inspiration point can be found here .