Amethyst Review: 'Pleshey'

My latest poem to be published by Amethyst Review is entitled 'Pleshey' and is part of a series of poems on thin places and sacred spaces in Essex called 'Four Essex Trios'. The poem celebrates the Diocesan Retreat House at Pleshey in Essex and the legacy of Evelyn Underhill as a retreat director.

The first poem in the sequence to be written - 'Runwell' - was also published by Amethyst Review and has recently been included in the Amethyst Press anthology, Thin Places and Sacred Spaces, This poem takes the reader on a visit to St Mary's Runwell, while also reflecting on the spirituality of the space plus its history and legends.

The second poem in the sequence to be published is at International Times and is entitled 'Broomfield' Broomfield in Essex became a village of artists following the arrival of Revd John Rutherford in 1930. His daughter, the artist Rosemary Rutherford, also moved with them and made the vicarage a base for her artwork including paintings and stained glass. Then, Gwynneth Holt and Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones moved to Broomfield in 1949 where they shared a large studio in their garden and both achieved high personal success. My poem reviews their stories, work, legacy and motivations. For more on the artists of Broomfield, all of whom are commemorated there with blue plaques, see here, here, here, here and here. I will be giving a talk on 'Rosemary Rutherford's Religious Art' at St Mary with St Leonard Broomfield in November, together with Kathy Rouse (see below).

The final poem in this sequence - 'Bradwell' - will be published shortly.

Amethyst Review is a publication for readers and writers who are interested in creative exploration of spirituality and the sacred. Readers and writers of all religions and none are most welcome. All work published engages in some way with spirituality or the sacred in a spirit of thoughtful and respectful inquiry, rather than proselytizing.

The Editor-in-chief is Sarah Law – poet (mainly), tutor, occasional critic, sometime fiction writer. She has published five poetry collections, the latest of which is 'Thérèse: Poems'. Her novel, Sketches from a Sunlit Heaven is a 2023 Illumination Book Award silver medal winner. She set up Amethyst Review feeling the lack of a UK-based platform for the sharing and readership of new literary writing that engages in some way with spirituality and the sacred.

Four of my poems have appeared in Amethyst Review, in addition to 'Pleshey'. They are: 'Runwell', 'Are/Are Not', 'Attend, attend' and 'Maritain, Green, Beckett and Anderson in conversation down through the ages'. To read my poems published by Stride Magazine, click here, here, here, here, and here. My poem entitled 'The ABC of creativity' is at International Times. It covers attention, beginning and creation and can be read here.

Several of my short stories have also been published by IT including three about Nicola Ravenscroft's EarthAngel sculptures (then called mudcubs), which we exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford in 2022. The first story in the series is 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes'. The second is 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King', and the third is 'The mudcubs and the Wall'. My other short stories to have been published by International Times are 'The Black Rain', a story about the impact of violence in our media, 'The New Dark Ages', a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies, and 'The curious glasses', a story based on the butterfly effect.

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Launch of Thin Places & Sacred Spaces: an anthology of new poetry