Our Telltales Resolution night on 27 January saw a capacity audience at Dolly’s, listening to a wonderful array of writers in all genres.

“Dear Telltales”, came the first words, as Sarah Perry opened the evening with her thoughtful and entertaining letter of reflections on the art of the New Year’s Resolution. Gareth Edwards, an artist in paint and in poetry and a new reader at Telltales, brought us words that evoked many images, “a stained and glossed world of colour”, being a particularly memorable line from one piece. From Sarah Valmai Jones, a regular reader at Telltales, we heard the powerful new poems from her Resolutions trilogy, picking up and updating us on subjects from previous work. To round off the first half, Heather Hosking, another Telltales regular reader, took us on a vivid and richly detailed journey to Spain, ending on the festive note “In the east, a bright star was shining”.

The second half began with Abigail Wyatt reading poignant poems inspired by current events: “a dozen clever strangers have died”, she read, evoking the massacre at Charlie Hebdo. Genevra Fletcher‘s Survival switched between present and past, in a spellbinding story of great resolve, recounting a wartime journey across Europe. Carole Inman brought good news of a forthcoming book and shared beautiful autobiographical poems of love and loss. Ending the evening with a trio of Resolution poems was Caroline Liddington, who bade farewall to three “old friends”, holding the audience intrigued and in suspense each time.

Thank you again to everyone who read and look forward to seeing you next time!