Blogs

I think this was the first William McIlvanney novel I read. It won the Whitbread Award for Fiction. When McIlvanney was writing the book there were still such a thing as a coalminer. There’s probably a picture of one in the Daily Mail hate archives, the equivalent of a Lascaux cave drawing to remind them what these men that held the country to ransom, the aristocracy of the working-class, trade-union movement, looked like. Coal powered the...

Posted by airyfairy on Fri, 12 May 2017 In a very strong week for poetry, Ralph's 'Addict' really stood out for me. It's a barnstorming performance piece, but even reading it on the page is a visceral experience. Please have a look now if you haven't managed to read it yet: https://www.abctales.com/story/ralph/addict Story of the Week is Rosalie Kempthorne's dreamlike, poignant, wistful 'Dead Men Tell No Tales', one of a field of very strong...

In a very strong week for poetry, Ralph's 'Addict' really stood out for me. It's a barnstorming performance piece, but even reading it on the page is a visceral experience. Please have a look now if you haven't managed to read it yet: https://www.abctales.com/story/ralph/addict Story of the Week is Rosalie Kempthorne's dreamlike, poignant, wistful 'Dead Men Tell No Tales', one of a field of very strong Inspiration Point entries this week. Again...

Huge thanks to everyone who came to our reading night yesterday in London, it was so lovely to see you all, and there were many fabulous performances, some of which we managed to film, and we will hopefully be sharing those with you soon. Special thanks to Mark Say for the organisation and for being a brilliant MC, and to Richard (blightersrock) for the auction which raised a very tidy amount to help keep us going (and I have now got some great...

'The records of the Divorce Court, the annals of the asylums, the dates of the tombstones in the churchyard, all tell us of the severe strain put upon the system of the woman during the change of life.' 1874 JM Fothergill, the Maintenance of Health It's true! But it's not the whole truth and neither is it helpful to the woman of fifty-two whose husband has left her for another woman or a man now that the children are ready for independence and...

Two brilliant pieces this week. Congratulations to elsie katz for her wonderful transcription of her father's piece of life writing 'Shlamek', and to kilb50 for his beautiful poem 'The Wall' https://www.abctales.com/story/elsie-katz/shlamek https://www.abctales.com/story/kilb50/wall The Inspiration Point is here: https://www.abctales.com/inspiration-point-ip - I hope you enjoy it! Lastly, don't forget our Reading Night is coming up next week...

Big thanks to Hudsonmoon for his choices for April: April Picks This poem grabbed me, tossed me in a spin cycle and wouldn’t let go until that wonderful ending. Bravo, longrunninspatula. Spin Cycle by longrunningspatula https://www.abctales.com/story/longrunningspatula/spin-cycle The List touched me in very personal way. It made me sad, but it made me smile, as well. I remember well the tears and laughter in my own life and this piece mirrored...

Nine days to go until our brilliant Reading Night! We have a fabulous line-up of readers and I hope to see lots of you there. All necessary information below, and if you have any further queries do get in touch with mark@abctales.com https://www.abctales.com/blog/insertponceyfrenchnamehere/abctales-readin... Blighters rock will be holding an auction on the night to raise funds for a very good cause (us!) and he's sent me the following to whet...

Yesterday was the Old Git's 91st. So a trip to Maison Schaufeld in North London was a have-to. Not easy, I always have to bypass two relatives that I have known for a very long time. The Old Girl always says 'poor Avram he's so depressed he doesn't want any visitors' and then there is my younger Blister who always makes everything into a competition against me. Last year I had taken time off work to see him, and she had booked him on to a trip...

Hello all, It’s really good to be able to continue with poetry monthly and hopefully get all the wonderful, abc-ers creative juices flowing. This month’s idea is Into the Blue! As usual, interpret the focus in exactly the way you feel like – think blue, May skies (here’s hoping!). Think of things appearing and disappearing. Of blues’ songs. Of horizons opening out. Of mood indigos. Think sadness and freedom. Think all of these things and none of...