Our final video for Arachneversary, Jennifer A McGowan talks about her poetry collection With Paper for Feet – covering Shakespeare, myth and fairytales, 16th century witchcraft and much more, with readings.
Cherry Potts talks (to Ness Owen, briefly) about the most ambitious Solstice Shorts Festival ever – Dusk – A Wave of Words Across the UK travelling at the Speed of Dark as dusk fell, to twelve sites from Ellon in Aberdeenshire, to Redruth in Cornwall on the shortest day of the year.
You can buy the book from our webshop
use code ARACHNEVERSARY to claim a diiscount in August only.
Check out our series bulk buy offers
Solstice Shorts Festival Founder Cherry Potts talks about the 2nd and 3rd festivals and the book that resulted, Shortest Day, Longest Night. Features music by Ian Kennedy & Sarah Lloyd, Annalie Wilson, Vocal Chords, Zac Gvirtman, and stories/poems by Mario Duarte, Tim Cremin, Bob Beagrie, Sarah Evans, performed by Ray Newe, Saul Reichlin and Katy Darby. BSL interpretation by Martin Fox-Roberts and Paul Michaels
You can buy Shortest Day, Longest Night from our Webshop.
Use the discount code (for August only) ARACHNEVERSARY
or have a poke around in the special offers for bulk buy series options.
In case you missed the live announcement yesterday, here are the successful submissions for this year’s Solstice Shorts Festival, which will be held on 21st (or possibly 22nd) of December. It’s a leap year. We have to decide how pedantic we will be.
A Corona virus influenced theme of TYMES GOE BY TURNES, the stories, poems and songs are in response to the poem by sixteenth century poet, Robert Southwell.
Poems
C L Hearnden, 179cm
Claire Booker, Piano Lessons, and Bringing in the Fruit
Elinor Brooks, Sir Thomas Wyatt’s Cat
Jane Aldous, Sirius
Julian Bishop, Slow Burn
Karen Ankers, In Dark
Katie Margaret Hall, New Orleans To Vancouver
Kelly Davis, The Saddest Birdes a Season Find to Sing
Laila Sumpton, Cronos
Lynn White, In the Rocks
Ness Owen, Beach Clean
S.B. Merrow, For Ellen
Sean Carney, A Memory Forgotten
Stories
Brooke Stanicki, A Felled Tree
Jackie Taylor, Rewilding
Jane Mclaughlin, Sketchbook
Keely O’Shaughnessy, When Naked Plants Renew
Linda McMullen, Deep Blue Sea
Margaret Crompton, Turner’s World of Twirls
Neil Lawrence, Return
Patience Mackarness, Roots
Pippa Gladhill, Twelve Point Plan
Songs
Kevan Taplin, Dancing with The Green Man (In 4:4 Time)
Rebecca Askew, Times Go by Turns
Sharon Lazibyrd Martin, Sea of Fortune
We don’t yet know quite what form the festival will take, we have to assume for now that it will be on line, but possibly live and from multiple sites. We are still investigating venues etc. against it being possible to have a physical performance and audience, or at the very least making the videos as exciting as possible.
Arachne editor, and Solstice Shorts Festival founder, Cherry Potts, talks about the original idea, the epic first season, and the book, Solstice Shorts:Sixteen Stories About Time. Plus an announcement about the 2020 festival, Tymes Goe By Turnes.
You can buy Sixteen Stories, and other Solstice Shorts anthologies from our Webshop.
For a discount, use the code ARACHNEVERSARY at the checkout.
We also have special bulk buy offers on Solstice Shorts books in the special offers section
As part of our Eighth anniversary celebrations, Poet Emma Lee talks about her collection The Significance of a Dress, and the impact of Covid-19 on the launch.
You can buy a copy of the book from our webshop. To get a discount throughout August, use the code ARACHNEVERSARY at the checkout.
As part of our Eighth Anniversary Celebrations (The Arachneversary) editors Rosamund Davies, Cherry Potts and Kam Rehal discuss the ideas behind Story Cities and the process for choosing the stories, with reading snippets from Rosamund and Cherry plus Annabel Banks, Nic Vine, Maja Bodenstein. We drift off into current projects and writing in lockdown too.
You can buy a copy of the book from our webshop, discounted throughout August with the code ARACHNEVERSARY.
The second half of our Eighth Anniversary extravaganza, so big we had to load it in two parts! (if you missed part one it is here)
You can buy the book from our website, (or a bookshop, but we see more of the money if you buy direct, and if I’m feeling generous, you might get a random badge too)
We are also having a sale (this book not included) Add ARACHNEVERSARY at checkout to get your discount and check out the special offers button too.
If you want an ebook your usual supplier will have it, We recommend Hive for ePub.
This half features
Emma Lee – Moonlight is Web Coloured (Poem)
Carolyn Robertson – Sicarius (story)
Stella Wulf – Femmes Fatales (poem)
David Mathews – Stowaway (Story)
Joanne L M Williams – Gifted (poem)
Marcel Hirshman performing Natalie Rowe‘s ‘If You Kill a Spider the Rain Will Come’, in BSL (Poem)
Math Jones as Robert the Bruce (Monologue)
Phoebe Demeger – Clearing Out the Shed (Story, followed by BSL translation by Marcel Hirshman.)
Chukwudi Onwere as Anansi (monologue)
Seth Crook – The Matter of the Metta (Poem followed by BSL Translation by Marcel Hirshman)
Hugh Findlay – Spider Haiku (poem)
Elizabeth Hopkinson – Web of Life (story)
with introductions by head Arachnid, Cherry Potts
cover design by Karen Boissonneault-Gauthier used repeatedly!
dancing spider gif created from photo by Martha Nance
It’s here – weeks of planning, recording, editing, uploading (and a bit of cursing) and finally we have an online book launch for No Spider Harmed in The Making of This Book.
(You may not be able to hear it but thousands of spiders are twanging their webs and stamping their feet in celebration.)
You can buy the book from our website, (or a bookshop, but we see more of the money if you buy direct, and if I’m feeling generous, you might get a random badge too)
We are also having a sale (this book not included) Add ARACHNEVERSARY at checkout to get your discount and check out the special offers button too.
If you want an ebook your usual supplier will have it, We recommend Hive for ePub.
The file for the launch ended up being so HUGE I had to split it, so there is a brief interval and the other half is at 9.02pm* BST. Just time for a comfort break or to refill your glass.
*on here it’s 2 minutes later than on YouTube to give the file a chance to go live for the premiere, they have this really annoying countdown!)
First half features
introduction by head Arachnid, Cherry Potts with BSL translation by Marcel Hirshman.
Kate Foley– Spin
A. Katherine Black – Even People who’d been Accidentally Turned into Giant Murderous Mutant Spiders (extract)
Greg Page as Incy Wincy
Daniel Olivieri Revenge One JSTOR article at a time
Jackie Taylor – Goodbye Spider
Carrie Cohen as Ms Muffet
KT Wagner – Across the Void
Marcel Hirshman performing Jennifer Rood‘s Spider Queen, in BSL
cover design Karen Boissonneault-Gauthier used repeatedly! Dancing spider gif created from photo by Martha Nance
It’s nearly here – weeks of planning, recording, editing, uploading … You may not be able to hear it but thousands of spiders are twanging their webs and stamping their feet in celebration. Join us on this Saturday, 8/8/2020 8pm….
You can buy the book from our website, (or a bookshop, but we see more of the money if you buy direct, and if I’m feeling generous, you might get a random badge too)
We are also having a sale (this book not included).
Add ARACHNEVERSARY at checkout to get your discount and check out the special offers button too.
If you want an ebook your usual supplier will have it, We recommend Hive for ePub.
The file for the launch ended up being so HUGE I had to split it, so there is a brief interval and the other half is at 9.02pm* BST. Just time for a comfort break or to refill your glass.
Where and when to find Part 1
You Tube https://youtu.be/40BHRD1GID0 (8pm)
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ArachnePress/videos/983508885447541/ (8pm)
Website https://wp.me/p2dpP2-5vK (8.02 to give YouTube a chance to get going – the files are too big to load directly)
Introduction by Cherry with BSL translation by Marcel Hirshman.
Kate Foley- Spin (Poem)
A. Katherine Black – Even People who’d been Accidentally Turned into Giant Murderous Mutant Spiders (story extract)
Greg Page as Incy Wincy (Monologue)
Daniel Olivieri Revenge. One JSTOR article at a time (Story)
Jackie Taylor – Goodbye Spider (Story)
Carrie Cohen as Ms Muffet (monologue)
KT Wagner – Across the Void (story)
Marcel Hirshman performing Jennifer Rood’s Spider Queen, in BSL (poem)
Where and When to find Part 2:
You Tube https://youtu.be/9uV5wjgY5SE (9pm)
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ArachnePress/videos/303396004197939/ (8.50)
Website https://wp.me/p2dpP2-5vV (9.02)
Emma Lee – Moonlight is Web Coloured (Poem)
Carolyn Robertson – Sicarius (story)
Stella Wulf – Femmes Fatales (poem)
David Mathews – Stowaway (Story)
Joanne LM Williams – Gifted (poem)
Marcel Hirshman performing Natalie Rowe’s ‘If You Kill a Spider the Rain Will Come’, in BSL (Poem)
Math Jones as Robert the Bruce (Monologue)
Phoebe Demeger – Clearing Out the Shed (Story, followed by BSL translation by Marcel Hirshman
Chukwudi Onwere as Anansi (monologue)
Seth Crook – The Matter of the Metta (Poem followed by BSL Translation by Marcel Hirshman)
Hugh Findlay – Spider Haiku (poem)
Elizabeth Hopkinson – Web of Life (story)
cover design by Karen Boissonneault-Gauthier used repeatedly! Dancing spider gif created from photo by Martha Nance
