No apologies for the fact that Story of the Week is actually a series. Stephen Thom's marvellous 'Pins' goes from strength to strength. The first beautifully written part will draw you in to the story - follow the links to the subsequent parts and you'll find yourself somewhere you never expected to be: https://www.abctales.com/story/stephen-thom/pins-1-0 Poem of the Week is Ralph's 'Nineteen and the Mermaids'. A touch of mystery, a hint of...

I haven’t moved, everyone I know is still the same, the only differences I experience are from my book club, reading something the others will never try. And last week it was something poignant, another Oscar Wide because why not? A Woman Of No Importance. That’s it, that’s the title. The premise in a nutshell, well I’ll admit it’s not easy to put a button on it, the title already alludes to a woman’s journey, singling out one character in...

Diana Wilson got allocated one of the new builds in Trafalgar Street, 2003-4. She was much the same age as Ricky Ross, Deacon Blue, and Dignity has become a bit of a naff-classic. In those days of the late 1950s a Daily Record cost 2d, now it cost 85p. You could buy a bungalow in Great Western Road and have change from £125. Black-and-white telly, but not for all. Most couldn’t afford it, even with Radio Rentals. Crowds flocked to new X-Ray...

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/blue-is-the-warmest-colour Wow, Mary Whitehouse, this was a sizzler. To think back in the 1970s I used to get red faced watching The Sweeney , when they showed a bit of tit. This would have been a swift case of spontaneous combustion and my charred remains found glued to the false leather settee. Whoopee, finally, a blue movie on the telly, but I’m too old for it now! But if you cut away the nudity, which I...

I started a book club-- Readers Red BC. "Let's start with a classic!" a member suggests. I thought perfect, I'm already behind on my Goodreads challenge for the year-- they keep reminding me--I'm in desperate need to vary my book selection which probably has contributed to my stagnation and maybe reading with people will help me get out of the slump that happens when I start a new book eager to get to the end, only for the feeling to wither,...

One thing about this glitch in our history is that it's given us tme to reflect. The two picks for this week are excellent aids to our own mullings. Story of the week goes to Error_404's deeply poignant, Memory Lake: https://www.abctales.com/story/error404/memory-lake Poem of the week goes to littleditty's inventive prose poem, This Year's Walk: https://www.abctales.com/story/littleditty/years-walk08 Here's the Inspiration Point: https://www...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p08dqp3w/the-salisbury-poisonings-... Before Covid-19, the coronavirus, Salisbury was briefly in lockdown in the winter of 2018 after two Russian agents poisoned former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal (Wayne Swann) who worked for MI6 (allegedly) and his daughter, Yulia Skripal (Jill Winternitz) with polonium, a highly toxic and deadly nerve agent. This might have been a hard sell. Now we’re au...

fiona and kenny (keemo) bannatyne Shakespeare’s Caesar : The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves… I briefly thought about Keemo when lockdown began. Needing, in effect, new lungs, he was the highest-risk category. Then I forgot about him. Life gets in the way. Now I’ve found out he’s dead. I’ll remember him for his kindness. After Robert’s death he brought Mary flowers. He attended the funeral with his wife and we had a...

Annest Gwilym (2020) What the Owl Taught Me. I don’t usually review poetry. I’ll tackle pretty much anything else—fiction, factual biography, drama, documentaries, comedy, by which I mean politics and economics— with an insouciant swagger and the hope nobody will ask too many searching questions. Poetry leaves me too exposed as a fuck-wit. No-nothing. One of those dreams where you running around your old school naked and everyone else is...

Thank you again for so much wonderful writing this week. There's been some intensely personal pieces, some commentary on the world, some beautiful pieces of nature writing, some marvellous escapism. Welcome to all those who have just joined us, and to old friends who have returned. Our Story of the Week is the latest chapter of Sooz006's 'Break The Child'. This stands alone brilliantly, but if you haven't read the preceding chapters, please...