Gill Barr’s debut collection A Wide River Divides Us (published by Cinnamon Press this August) opens with acute recollections of a troubled childhood in 1970s Derry/Londonderry, evoking the child’s experience as violence escalates in the streets around her.
In a compelling fifty-year leap the poet leaves behind the city of her youth, sweeping into an expansive future, where she reckons with the past and with her self. The arc of this poetry collection is tremendous, ambitious, wide – what strikes most is its sheer vitality and variety. An accomplished and distinctive collection.
Gill holds an MA in Creative Writing from Queen’s University, Belfast and received an award for her poetry from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in 2024. Her poems have appeared in a wide range of publications and she was our East Coker Competition Judge in 2021.

Julie and Andrew Haylock of Sandhurst Garden Design will give a talk on how they design gardens taking their inspiration from nature, art and poetry.

Jim Potts, OBE worked for the British Council for 35 years and served in many different countries in many different roles including Cultural Attaché and Director in Prague and Stockholm, film-maker and TV producer in Ethiopia and Kenya, Regional Director in Northern Greece and cultural relations practitioner in Australia, where he served as Director of the British Council Director, based in Sydney.

Jim studied English Literature at Oxford University (Wadham College) and Film-Making at Bristol University. In the course of his career he has made educational and documentary films and written several books and has lectured on Greek and English poetry.

He began writing poetry as a teenager in Castle Cary and his poetry often reflects the different countries and cultures he has encountered in his life.

He has published three collections of poetry, one volume of short stories and a cultural history of the Ionian Islands and Epirus.   The latest collection of poetry is Words on the Table

This will be one of our popular ‘Audio-visual’ meetings

Come with a few poems to read or just come and listen and enjoy the poetry.

Always popular, our open evenings seem to produce a very varied selection of interesting poetry. There is no theme – just anything that you feel will interest the group.

Do Lyrics and Poetry overlap? Are Lyrics poems set to music?
Heather Murphy, will present this varied evening of poetry and music featuring the lyrics of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell.

Following a short presentation on the Sonnet as a poetic form, this will be a themed Open Meeting.

The Sonnet has been a popular form for many poets from Shakespeare to Jamaican poet Claude McKay of the Harlem renaissance poets.

So bring some of your favourite sonnets or better still, write a sonnet for the occasion.

Or just come and listen and enjoy the poetry.

Trevor Pearce takes us on a poetic journey through the words of some of the poets who have lived, or are living, in the Counties of Somerset or Dorset.

There is a wealth of great poetry here – and this will also be one of our popular ‘audio – visual’ meetings.

A light hearted meeting – Just bring a pencil and enjoy the evening.

Mince pies, music and even some poetry I expect………..