Short stories to read in your spare time by Phil Gilvin
Swindon has a thriving Arts Centre, with literature, drama, music, comedy, a reading group and more...
A gem of Swindon, Lower Shaw Farm. Working weekends, walking weekends, writing events, yoga, basket making, and real live animals. Give it a try!
Many good things come out of Lower Shaw Farm - and I don't just mean eggs! Matt Holland, writer and organiser, runs the world-famous (!) Swindon Festival of Literature, held annually in the merry month of May. There's Swindon Scratch Choir for those who love to sing, and the farm is one of the venues used by Swindon's writers.
Swindon has a thriving poetry community. The town has its very own community poet, and poetry events are a regular feature of the Literature Festival. The BlueGate Poets website provides an online meeting place for Swindon's BlueGate Poets and anyone interested in poetry. It has been built as a collection of interactive electronic bulletin boards (known as forums). Currently there are seventeen forums. As a visitor you will be able to peruse and read ten of the forums. When you register with the website, you can contribute to the content by creating topics and posting comments to the forums. BlueGate members who register will be granted access to two private forums for their exclusive use. For a small annual fee, they can elect to become a subscriber and have access to additional online facilities.
More tales - The Adventures of a Strange Mind lead to all sorts of unusual short stories from children's tales to science fiction and erotic too. Find them all for free at Mo Needham's website.
As Christopher Boone, the protagonist of Mark Haddon's Swindon-set The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, would tell you, Swindon starts its literary life with a mention in the Sherlock Holmes story The Boscombe Valley Mystery. (Well, almost - the nineteenth-century writer Richard Jefferies lived near Swindon and his museum still holds literary events today.) But for the hidden, parallel Swindon of Thursday Next, Lola Vavoom and the Elgin Llamas, visit Fforde Grand Central. You won't be disappointed (unless stoped by Danverclones).
If you want to acquire skills and confidence to speak effectively in any situation, then Swindon Speakers Club is the place for you. They welcome total novices and those wanting to brush up their public speaking in an atmosphere of friendly encouragement.
I've always found Writing Magazine and Writers' News good reads. Plenty of advice on how to improve your writing, what's happening in the world of literature and so on. Have a look at the courses available from the Home Study Division.
Keeping traditional music alive in a friendly setting is Swindon Folksingers' Club, who meet every Friday at Milton Road Club.
NEPOTISM CORNER
Tim Gilvin Music - Nice Notes.
Healing and relaxing yoga in Swindon with Liz Gilvin
A song by me, Peace Before You Go