Story Cafe regular Pauline highlights what’s been happening at Story Cafe in August and September.
The Story Cafe is back to almost normal at long last. We can bring our lunch (though not share food). The big brown teapot circulates again and we can socialise once more. Old friends return and are greeted fondly, new faces are here as well and greeted warmly. And then Wendy welcomes us and the Story Cafe begins again to weave its magic.
August 18th – Story Cafe Special: Daughters, Wives, Resilient Lives: poems from the long table
The group of four poets, Kathryn Metcalfe, Mairi Murphy, Morag Smith and Lesley Traynor have been meeting regularly since 2018 in person and on line, supporting and encouraging each other. The end result is this powerful and inspiring anthology celebrating the lives of their working class mothers and grandmothers. The readings evinced questions and a lively discussion and I am sure that, like me, all those present remembered the hard work, ingenuity, dedication, sadness and joys of their own mothers, aunts and grandmothers. Resilient women indeed and worthy of celebration by the generations following on from them. My copy of the anthology has already been well thumbed and poems shared with friends.
August 26th – Dervla Murphy and women cyclists
Dervla Murphy who died earlier this year aged 90 was an amazing traveller and cyclist – fearless, intrepid and fiercely independent. Her books, starting with “Full Tilt”, her cycle ride, with “Roz” her trusty cycle, from Dunkirk to India in the 60s is full of incident, humour and sometimes danger. Always travelling alone, she experienced the lives of the peoples she met throughout her long lifetime. Her descriptions of personalities, the landscape and the places she visited are vivid and immediate. Wendy read extracts from a Guardian interview with her in 2018 and I read extracts from “Full Tilt”. After a break for more chat and tea Wendy read from “Queens of Pain” by Isabel Best describing the exploits of cyclists Beryl Burton and Alfonsina Strada. As a finale, Gerry shared with us “Beryl” a song by O’Hooley and Tidow, a perfect ending to a fascinating Story Cafe!
September 1 – Story Cafe Special: Bubbles by Laura Bissell: reflections on becoming Mother
Laura Bissell is a writer, performer and academic whose daughter, Autumn, was born in late 2018. Wendy introduced Laura and their conversation led Laura to describe her feelings and experience as a first time mother, illustrating her replies with readings from her book “Bubbles” which was published last year. Her and her family’s life, like everyone’s, was dramatically changed by the pandemic and her readings showed how their lives were altered with lockdown. Autumn’s obsession with bubbles – her wonderment at their magic beautifully described, as was Laura’s realisation that blowing bubbles could be a dangerous action spreading the virus! Interesting contributions and questions followed. I very much look forward to reading this timely, fascinating memoir.
All these books are available for loan from the Library.
See you next time for more tea, chat, stories and poems!
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