News and Forthcoming Events 2010

Congratulations to RJ Hansford and Sylvia Oldroyd, who were placed first and second in the Earlyworks Press 2009 Web Poetry Competition.

On Wed 20 Jan, at 7.30pm, Sebastian Hayes will be giving a storytelling performance of “The Island of Gulls” at the Poetry Café, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9BX. In this haunting tale of a beautiful girl born with the webbed feet of a gull, Sebastian Hayes gives us a powerful image of mankind's divided nature. The tale is printed in his collection of folk tales, The Foundling and Other Tales, and he has performed it successfully at 'Willow', East Stour, and in the Earthouse at the Ancient Technology Centre, Wimborne. Tickets at the door £5/ £3 concessions. For further details see www.poetrysociety.org.uk.

On Wed 27 Jan, at 7.30pm, at the same venue, details as above, Brimstone author John Dewey will be reading his translations from the poetry of the Russian Romantic poet Fyodor Tyutchev and speaking about him. Sebastian Hayes will read his translations of the poems of Belle Epoque French poet, Anna de Noailles, and Sarah Lawson will read translations from the Mexican poet Manuel Ulacia.

Early in 2010 we shall be publishing Mirror of the Soul: A life of the Poet Fyodor Tyutchev, by John Dewey, with the author’s verse translations of his poems. We are delighted to have been given the opportunity to bring the work of such a major, but little known, 19th century lyric poet to public attention.

Events Archive

Events 2009  |  Events 2008  |  Events 2007  

Brimstone Events 2009

Continuing our link with Higher Green Farm Arts, Brimstone Press participated in their exhibition at Shaftesbury Arts Centre from 16 to 28 February. This was a wide-ranging and popular exhibition of paintings, photographs, ceramics and jewellery

Saturday 21 February at the Shaftesbury Arts Centre saw the launch of A Box of Chocolates, a collection of short stories from a competition set and judged by celebrated author Fay Weldon - who kindly devoted much of her evening to signing copies of the book. Proceeds from the book will go towards funding the recent extension at the Arts Centre. Brimstone Press, publisher of the book and one of the sponsors of the event, attended to publicise our books and our services.

Read more on news and past events in 2009.

Brimstone Events 2008

Brimstone Press participated in Dorset Art Weeks 2008 in a mixed exhibition at the newly opened Higher Green Farm Arts gallery and workshops at Twyford, near Shaftesbury. Since then we have become part of the wide range of exhibitors whose work is on show in the gallery and shop at Twyford. For further details of the activities hosted at Higher Green Farm Arts please see their website, www.highergreenfarmarts.co.uk. Brimstone Press publications can be purchased there and the gallery is open most days - though it is advisable to telephone 01747 812593 to check on opening times.

Brimstone Press manned a tent at the Dare2 Festival at Tollard Royal (July 12 – 13) and Brimstone author, Sebastian Hayes, gave a Storytelling Performance on each of the days and sang his song The Fugitive (see personal website www.sebastianhayes.co.uk) at the ‘Open Mic’ event. This ‘mini Glastonbury’ festival had an amazing variety of stands, shows and events to cater for all ages and inclinations, ranging from Latin American dance to Circus Skills, Stone Balancing, Football, Clay Making — you name it, Dare2 had it. We look forward to participating in this year’s festival and many thanks to Paddy Seymour for hosting the festival on her family’s land and organizing the week-end (no mean feat).

On Sun 20 July, 2008, in the Earthouse at the Dorset Ancient Technology Centre, Cranborne, Sebastian Hayes gave a rousing performance of his tale The Island of Gulls. It was enthusiastically received by a capacity audience in this, the area’s leading storytelling venue. Medieval musicians and an axe-wielding Viking added atmosphere to a memorable event.
(The story, under the alternative title Amouetta, appears in the Brimstone publication The Foundling and Other Stories).

Brimstone Events 2007

We are pleased to welcome several new members to Brimstone Press, Pam Kelly, Mary Wood, Christopher Irven, the Breach Common Group and Sylvia Oldroyd.

Pam Kelly and Mary Wood received rave reviews in the Blackmore Vale Magazine for their books of poetry, On the Edge and Day Return respectively, for which we compliment them.

Chris Sledge joined our Board of Directors during this year. Chris, the author of the Brimstone title, Internal Memorandum, a novel about life in the corporate world, brings to us, apart from his literary skills, a lifetime’s experience in business and we are very lucky to have him amongst us. One of Chris’s first moves was to get us registered as a Limited Company — you can’t be too careful these days. The Blackmore Vale Magazine printed, in May, a piece about Chris Sledge and his book, Internal Memorandum.

We now span a large and growing field which includes Poetry (Keith Walton, Pam Kelly, Mary Wood, Sylvia Oldroyd), Novel (Keith Walton, Chris Sledge), Drama (Arnold Hinchliffe, Sebastian Hayes), Travel (David Grierson), Philosophy and Religion (Chris Irven, Sebastian Hayes) and Art (Breach Common Group).

Brimstone Directors and Authors have also been hosting and organising a number of local events.

In collaboration with the Slade Gallery in Gillingham, Brimstone co-organised and hosted a joint exhibition with eleven local artists chosen by us (25 May — 10 June). Brimstone Press's work was well publicised and the full range of our titles was available for sale throughout the duration of the exhibition. The event included a private view and a readings evening. We are aiming to set up a similar joint art/literature exhibition as part of Dorset Art Weeks 2008.

Sebastian Hayes, Brimstone Company Secretary, (under his real name Robert Mules) organised a musical evening on 20 June entitled “Gateway to Summer” in the picturesque grounds of Shaftesbury Abbey and in so doing managed to raise some money for the Shaftesbury Westminster Hospital. Many thanks to all the local persons who helped to make this a memorable evening including Keith Davies of the Abbey Trust who was invaluable in helping us with the organisation, the Shaftesbury Silver Band, the U3A Circle Dance Group led by Pam Kelly, the Westminster Nurses who prepared sandwiches and the Bell Street Café which put some of their delicious puddings up for sale. Only the weather left something to be desired but this, sadly, is a typical hazard of outdoor events in this country !

On 13 August Mary Wood launched her first collection of poems Day Return with a Public Reading at one of the regular literary evenings organised by David Caddy (editor of Tears in the Fence magazine) at Huckleberry’s Bookshop, Blandford. Sebastian Hayes and Keith Walton also read from their work.

Brimstone Press participated in the initial launch events of Creative Dorset. This is a Government funded initiative designed to promote economic activity in the creative industries in the county. As a result, we were invited to speak at a seminar entitled "Write to Survive" which was held at Poundbury on 26 September. We shall continue to stay involved with this initiative.

On 30 Sept there was a Private View of Breach: The Art of Commons at Shaftesbury Arts Centre. The exhibition is the response of four artists — a poet, a painter, a photographer and a prose writer — to a Dorset Common over a six month period from the shortest day of the year to the longest. Catherine Simmonds, Rachel Sargent, Justin Orwin and Keith Walton were all there to host a well-attended evening. The exhibition continued to 14 September. It then transferred to Salisbury College (7—21 November) and Gillingham School (21 Nov — 21 Dec), the first outside exhibition to be hung in the new theatre's gallery.

Pam Kelly was asked to judge the Mere Literary Festival’s 2007 Poetry Competition (Local Prize) on Sunday, 14 October, and, apart from her appreciations of the poems she selected, she delivered a stirring speech about the importance of poetry in our lives which was very well received. Her own books of poetry, as well as other Brimstone Press publications, were on show at the Festival and Brimstone Press representatives were available to answer questions about self-publishing and online marketing of books.