Editor Cherry Potts talks about Departures, an anthology of short fiction and poetry, and the events that inspired it – The Story Sessions, the live literature event that ran for three years. Complete with archive footage from the story sessions, and video from the launch of the book.
This book is available from our Webshop,
and you can get a discount throughout August if you add the code ARACHNEVERSARY at the checkout.
Reading from Story Sessions Anthology, Departures, VG Lee reads an extract from her story Alpaca Moonlight.
You can buy Departures and all other Arachne books from our webshop, we will post them out to you.
Preorder No Spider Harmed… – out 8th August for our eighth anniversary!
If you would prefer eBooks, all our books are available from your usual retailer, now VAT free! We recommend Hive for ePub.
clever cover by Kevin Threlfall
We are in the countdown to Departures lift off! We have the books (preorder a copy here). We have the venue. We have the invitations!
We have readings from Carolyn Eden, David Mathews, Barbara Renel, Liam Hogan, Joan Taylor-Rowan, Oscar Windsor-Smith and Gloria Sanders, and maybe more.
Join us to celebrate at Brockley Brewery, 31 Harcourt Road, Brockley, SE4 2AJ
Nearest station Brockley. Buses 171, 172 stop almost on the corner.
21st November 2019, 7 for 7.30. There will be cake, and beer. Everything free (apart from the beer.) Everyone welcome, please RSVP so that we know who is coming.
I’m just getting to grips with the report for the Arts Council who kindly assisted us with the costs of the last few books and associated book tour, plus Solstice Shorts Festival 2016: Shortest Day, and The Story Sessions, so I’ve been looking back through the feedback – 136 people went to the trouble of giving us written feedback, for which we are VERY grateful! We invited people to describe themselves in 3 words (some used more, but really it doesn’t matter) and tell us what they thought of the event.
Here’s what some of them had to say – these are just my out-and-out favourite comments, there were many more. Eclectic was the favourite adjective!
| Foraging/ WITH PAPER FOR FEET launch | 2 excellent poets, 2 different styles, and evening of magical words. Long live poems and their publishers! | Fairly succinct really |
| Foraging/ WITH PAPER FOR FEET launch | Narrative weave of Jennifer McGowan’s poems, succinct beauty in the smallness of Joy Howard’s | Life-swept poet therapist |
| Foraging/ WITH PAPER FOR FEET launch | I delighted in Jennifer’s spirited and evocative readings of her work. She brings new life to words. I’d never heard Chinese spoken while reading the phonetic version before. | Middle-aged stressed editor |
| Foraging/ WITH PAPER FOR FEET launch | Stories as poetry, poetry as stories, in a spiritual home of poets (Keats House Library) | Necessarily evil author |
| Happy Ending NOT Guaranteed burley F | The informality was initially relaxing, followed by a well-rehearsed & performed reading. Very personal and enjoyable way to spend the evening – like being in a living room full of engaging and inspirational minds | Under-worked London writer |
| Happy Ending NOT Guaranteed burley F | Beautifully dark and comedic frivolity | Undervalued London actor |
| HAPPY ENDING NOT GUARANTEED Greenwich | Very interesting evening writer/actor great and well-spoken you should continue your good work of bringing up and coming authors together and giving them a voice | Maybe upcoming writer |
| HAPPY ENDING NOT GUARANTEED Greenwich | Good variety of style in the stories, actor interpretation was excellent, dynamic energetic author reading | Fascinated fiction fan |
| HAPPY ENDING NOT GUARANTEED Greenwich | Makes me think when passing statues in the streets … what if …? | Energetic, creative, idealistic |
| HAPPY ENDING NOT GUARANTEED launch | Very well organised enjoyable program with diversified activities. I really appreciated all the marketing material | New horizon explorer |
| Happy Ending NOT Guaranteed launch | It’s events like these that make me think that maybe there IS a point to North London | Hairy bee enthusiast |
| Happy Ending NOT Guaranteed launch | Nothing’s sacred, great venue, great writer, great narrative | Travelled, gypsy, overheated |
| Happy Ending NOT Guaranteed Lewisham | Enjoyably hanging darkly in a cloud of suspense | Overthinking underpaid scientist |
| Happy Ending NOT Guaranteed Lewisham | Made me tingly, a bit like the Dr Who theme did when I was a kid. Hide behind my hands, but can’t wait for more | Dreaming London lady |
| Happy Ending NOT Guaranteed Lewisham | Not heard of Arachne Press before, but will look out for them from now on. A fascinating assortment of short stories brimming with otherworldliness and simmering spasms of evil blessed with reliving streaks of humour. Full of weird and wonderful reverberations as it should be. | Bebop jazz poet |
| Happy Ending NOT Guaranteed Oxford | Intimate, salon-like. As if I’d stumbled into an invitation only séance peopled by the spirits of Victorian huckster and exotic beasts | earnest, quotidian, boring
|
| Liberty Greenstead | The ay the storytellers involved us, brought us into the atmosphere of their narration | Quietly persistent |
| Liberty Greenstead | A joyous evening to delight
the listeners on this Burns’ night with ne’er a haggis no’ dram in sight a joyous evening to enthrall all right. |
pernickety political poet |
| Liberty Greenstead | Exciting expedition into previously uncharted area of poetry and short story reading ‘poetry to the ears!’ | retired bored housefrau |
| Liberty Housmans | 1st time experiencing, so didn’t know what to expect, but enjoyed the live experience of an author reading their own work | Lover of Ares |
| night write | such a new and beautiful experience, who would have thought that writing in darkness revealed such gifts | Restless London photographer |
| SHORTEST DAY, LONGEST NIGHT Bath | Live, loud & varied, an eclectic mix of poems & prose that veered from tragic to whimsical. | Bath writer in need of sleep |
| SHORTEST DAY, LONGEST NIGHT Bath | Bookish whirlwind of tales & poems that provide thought-provoking insight into the writers minds | Intensely formidable critic |
| SHORTEST DAY, LONGEST NIGHT Bath | Entertaining varied & imaginative programme ranged from contemporary issues to timeless stories and poems vividly performed, Evoked a warm response from the audience | M&M |
| SHORTEST DAY, LONGEST NIGHT Bath | Completely gripping, never thought such a mix could be entertaining. The very high quality of the writing made it so | Barmy Bath Bivalve |
| SHORTEST DAY, LONGEST NIGHT Bath | An excellent evening with an inspiring mix of poems & Stories. Poignant, witty, intelligent work supported by the incomparable Cherry Potts who does such crucial work in supporting and developing opportunities for writers. A big shout out for Arachne Press!! | Enthusiastic Bathite |
| SHORTEST DAY, LONGEST NIGHT Lewisham | beautiful eclectic mixture of styles completely inspiring if slightly unsettling at times, in a good way | Londoner by choice |
| SHORTEST DAY, LONGEST NIGHT Lewisham | A thrilling eclectic mix of humour dark reality and myth | Arbitrator/writer |
| Solstice Shorts Festival | Excellent evening of song & Storytelling. Intriguing short stories that made you wonder laugh & Cry Definitely an experience to savour and repeat. Next Summer Maybe? | Hopeful mother of twins |
| Solstice Shorts Festival | Huge variety of work, great introduction to an international set of writers. Loved the music and actors great work. Wassailing was such a wonderful touch! | Poetry loving librarian |
| Solstice Shorts Festival | Wonderful variety of writing and composition suitably short to match the daylight today. Always a joy to hear new writing performed | Broken armed poet |
| With Paper for Feet Lewisham | Quality and humour of stories and poems, engaging performance, erudite, clever, lighthearted, accessible fun, quirky. Thank you! | Frantically busy fan |
| With Paper for Feet Lewisham | Witchy, feisty, a brilliant way to celebrate International Women’s Day | Inspired every time! |
| WITH PAPER FOR FEET Oxford | Compelling narratives from a poet who gives her work and her audience the respect and pleasure of a lively direct performance. | Poetry reading regular |
| WITH PAPER FOR FEET Oxford | Fine writing well-read and artistically presented | Reader engineer listener |
| WITH PAPER FOR FEET Oxford | The poet is not only a fantastic poet, but a first class performer of her work. Very worth going out on a rainy night | P.S. |
| WITH PAPER FOR FEET Oxford | Visual, curious, mythical, resonant | Poetical psychologist |
| Story Sessions | A place to hear good fiction and more, practice with other writers, It’s always good to perform your work to an audience I encourage you to go along and listen, or perform | Ever learning writer |
| Story Sessions | Relaxing entertaining and intense in the best way | Fox loving optimist |
Final section of the videos from The Story Sessions on Wednesday, and the Liam Hogan Happy Ending NOT Guaranteed set which had a decidedly immortal theme to it:
Time the Devourer, read by Annalie Wilson
Internet Dating for Immortals, read by Liam
and
the final take on Bad Day, with a little music from Annalie to top and tail it.
These are the final posts, from the final Story Session of the season.
We’ve made the decision to retire the Story Sessions as a regular thing – and it will only stick its nose out into the light (and inevitable rain – have we EVER done a session when it didn’t rain?) as part of festivals and if asked for – it is regretably too much work for far too little return even when part-funded by those nice people at the Arts Council (Thank you ACE, really). There are other things to get busy with. So Festival organisers – if you ask us, we will put together more sessions, but if you don’t, this is your lot!
Thanks to The Brockley Deli for hosting this season.
Math Jones show case today.
Math contributed a long narrative poem to our anthology The Other Side of Sleep, and has been an enthusiastic Story-sessioneer this season. His final contribution is a four-part skim of the 50 pieces that make his Knotsman Sequence.
There is something about The Story Sessions, and Brockley, that makes it rain, and it came down stair rods last night. Actors and authors arrived dripping. But that didn’t stop us having some fun. I’m going to post the videos in three segments, starting with three videos from a disparate group of writers:
The Cretan Labyrinth Series Three by Becky Pinder read by Annalie Wilson (Annalie started before I got the video turned on, but the audio recorder was running so I’ve recovered the beginning, just be patient with the lack of picture!)
In Those Days They Used Lined Paper by Donald Hiscock
and
More Bread by Sally Connors read by Annalie Wilson
Tomorrow I will post Math Jones’ Knotsman sequence, and on Saturday, the final outing from Liam Hogan, Happy Ending NOT Guaranteed tour.
The final Story Sessions of the season approaches – 17th May at The Brockley Deli 14a Brockley Cross, SE4 1BE
We have stories from Liam Hogan headlining, with two different takes on the incredibly long-lived: Internet Dating for Immortals, and Time the Devourer which will be read by resident actor and musician, Annalie Wilson.
Supporting Liam we have Math Jones reading part (possibly all? Still to discuss) of his exquisite Knotsman sequence.
and Donald Hiscock, who is coming up from Portsmouth to read In Those Days They Used Lined Paper
Sally Connors (More Bread) and Becky Pinder (Cretan Labyrinth Series 3) will also be read Annalie.
We will, as usual, have music from Annalie, and of course, we have our Flash from the Floor – you join in with your own fantastical tale, in 100 words or less! No dragon stories yet, so something on those lines would be popular (with me!).
The poems not caught on camera…
Joy Howard‘s Melangell and the Hare,
Olympus Inc and Living to Tell the Tale (explicit language warning!)
All these and more available in Foraging
and Zoe Brigley Thompson‘s Letter to Leda on Getting Married
all read by Cherry Potts
Jennifer A McGowan retells tales pretty much non-stop in her poetry. Here are her takes on Fairy Tales, the Bible, Shakespeare, Nigerian Folk Tales and Greek Mythology. These and more are available in With Paper for Feet
Jennifer is reading at Words & Ears in Bradford on Avon on 30th March, and Buzzwords in Cheltenham on 30th April.