Hello. We can hardly believe it’s March! February seemed to speed by. We took a trip to Avebury at the end of the month which was wonderful even if we got very soggy, and we bumped into some members along the way. A real treat!
I begin this month’s newsletter with a slightly strange and sad announcement that Matthew, the co-founder of Stone Club, is currently having some treatment in hospital. It has been a difficult time to say the least but we are SO grateful for all the members, friends and family that have helped us out whether that be with keeping events up and running or with offers of lifts or by lighting candles or touching stones. We feel entirely blessed to have such an amazing community of people surrounding us, and just know that when Matthew is out and about again we have so many brilliant things planned!
I have also set up a gofundme page for anyone who would like to offer practical support, Matthew is unable to work currently and any amount of money (big or small) is an incredible help. You can find the page here.
In more positive news. Tomorrow our programme at the ICA takes place. Its a bumper day and there are still a few tickets left.
Amongst our guests will be Gwenno, Justin Hopper, Annebella Pollen, Jeremy Deller and Hettie Judah. Justin’s talk will also be up later as an episode of his excellent podcast Uncanny Landscapes. We’d also like to say a huge thank you to Carl Gosling, of the brilliant Real Magic Books, for stepping in to host the proceedings. We know he will do a fabulous job.
You can nab a ticket here
COMPETITION
We have two copies of our current book of the month, Natural Burial Ground by Will Burns.
We’ve been following the work of Will Burns for some time now. From first hearing him read with such humour, grace, humility and a quiet confidence at a Rough Trade Books night, a night packed with talent and Will shone through with his poems which transported us all as he took us with him on a journey through America.
Here we have a beautiful new collection from Will. This is the most Stone Club of poetry books, referencing as it does ancient sites, nature, a sense of adventure and the power and presence of the land itself, alongside the many more human concerns. We are particularily fond of the poems influenced by and or about the Scilly Isles and their many ancient sites. We visited the Scillies for the first time last summer and Will has managed to capture their magic & mystery and their atmosphere.
Here’s what Will’s publisher Little Brown has to say;
“In his beautiful, evocative new collection, Natural Burial Ground, Will Burns explores his deep interest in place and the natural world to excavate the emotional impact of grief and loss. Natural Burial Ground is by turns melancholy and musical, haunting and deeply empathetic, a collection that wrestles with the scope and heft of elegy, while retaining the poet's world-weary humour and range of imagery.
There is throughout a sense of 'home' as unsettled, or unsettling - the landscapes of the Home Counties and of the Channel Islands - the very concept of islands themselves, becoming changed, haunted, in the wake of human experience.
Time seeps into the soil of Natural Burial Ground. Reckoning with profound grief, and a country rife with 'Restrictions, recriminations . . .' - the poet finds the past visible everywhere on these grounds, where places come loaded with meaning across time - the deep past of archaeology, the weight of the personal-present, the reticent, uncertain future.
In poems alive with familiar wildlife and the communities they move among - seabirds on the wing, the fishermen's daily catch - Natural Burial Ground speaks to our connections to landscapes, to family, the impact of climate change, pop music, wildlife and history.”
To enter simply tell reply to this email with your membership number. A winner with be drawn at 6pm on March 21st, and a winner notified shortly afterward.
Stone of the Month: Cuckoo Stone
We took a little detour on our way back from Avebury via the Cuckoo Stone. It sits in the field opposite Durrington Walls. It was ‘discovered’ by Richard Colt-Hoare in 1810, and it often gets forgotten these days in relation to its more towering neighbours. Woodhenge is in the field just in front of it, and the Cuckoo Stone is a little tucked away. It is easy enough to find though, and well worth it if you are visiting Stonehenge and want to explore the wider landscape.
We’ve got a few new t-shirts up on ever press including the I LOVE STONES t-shirt which I know a few people were after. You can find them all here.
We recently joined member no 2082, Philip Carr-Gomm for his podcast Tea with a Druid, it was a great pleasure to chat with Philip, and give a short meditation at the end.
Thank you once again for your support during this strange time. Do send us your adventures to stones for the Your Stones page of the website, we love hearing about what you’ve got up to, and don't forget to check out our monthly book, film and record recommendations on the website.
Lally
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