Pauline shares what’s been inspiring us at Story Cafe….
Wendy always has the knack of choosing just the right pieces to share with us in Story Cafe and it is always a pleasure to share the reading with her. This Story Cafe was no exception and after Wendy welcomed us, we read pieces from A velocity of being: letters to a young reader edited by Maria Popova and Claudia Bedrick, which also has some brilliant artwork which Wendy included in the our photocopies.
Between us we read Dear Young Friend by Krista Tippett where she writes that “to be a reader is…form of friendship”, Instructions Included by Dona Ann McAdams, Dear Young Reader by Robin Wall Kimmerer, My Dear Reader by Sarah Lewis, followed by poems by Martina Evans, Rita Dove and Lorraine Mariner (which reminded Val of her time working in a mobile library as a student).
We finished the first half with In the Library by Taghad Allahham, Silence in the Library by Kate Fox and this short poem by Imtiaz Dharker
Reader
You come to the books
to take you away, but they
open to welcome you home
and you stay
After the break we shared poetry in celebration of National Poetry Day, which was started in 1994 by William Sieghart who also founded the Forward Prize for Poetry. Wendy had picked poems by some of her favourite poets which she wanted to share with us: Arbour and The Garden by Kathleen Jamie, August (which evoked memories of brambles and making jam) and Sleeping in the Garden by Mary Oliver and we finished with Advice to Myself by Louise Erdrich.
