Category Archives: Culture

Mindful Pregnancy & Birth: Nurturing Love and Awareness By Riga Forbes

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mindfulness, pregnancy

This is a great book which gives you the inspiration to go through your pregnancy and birth with a mindful approach. As well as advice it also has meditative exercises and insights. A great, helpful book for mothers-to-be. 

Focusing on the entire journey; from pregnancy through to early parenthood, this guide to living mindfully for expectant mothers helps prepare you for birth and improve your wellbeing with the ancient practice of mindfulness. When we talk about making something, it usually refers to creating, manipulating, or forming a material. In pregnancy, our bodies are wrapped up in doing all of these things at once, and on a grand scale. But in the act of making space in ourselves through mindfulness, none of these things apply. In Mindful Pregnancy & Birth we engage in an act of “not doing”. Of not changing, but of simply “being” in the experience of ourselves. Pregnancy is a phase in which to reconcile what has been, with what will become. It is a process, a time of change, and even more so for a first-time mother. It is a recognition of our dreams for the future being in transit, in gestation, in the making.

Mindful Pregnancy & Birth: Nurturing Love and Awareness By Riga Forbes is available here.

The Waterway Girls By Margaret Graham | Recommended Reads

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Frost likes to think we know what we are talking about when we recommend books, and, the fact is: we do. Written by writers and authors, we read hundreds of books every year. So Frost editor Catherine Balavage here to recommend The Waterway Girls By Margaret Graham. You can read the review here. Milly Adams also writes for Frost and we are very proud of that.

THE FIRST NOVEL IN MILLY ADAMS’ BRAND NEW SAGA SERIES. Perfect for fans of Daisy Styles and Nancy Revell. 
War lands them in the same boat. Can they pull together?

October 1943, West London
Nineteen-year-old Polly Holmes is leaving poor bombed London behind to join the war effort on Britain’s canals.

Stepping aboard the Marigold amid pouring rain, there’s lots for Polly to get to grips with. Not least her fellow crew: strong and impetuous Verity, whose bark is worse than her bite, and seasoned skipper Bet.

With her sweetheart away fighting in the RAF and her beloved brother killed in action, there’s plenty of heartache to be healed on the waterway. And as Polly rolls up her sleeves and gets stuck into life on board the narrowboat – making the gruelling journey London up to Birmingham – she will soon discover that a world of new beginnings awaits amid the anguish of the war.

 

 

Chichester’s triple threat… Review: The Norman Conquests

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The Norman Conquests
Chichester Festival Theatre
Until 28 October
Box office: 01243 781312
www.cft.org.uk

Photo by Manuel Harlan

Three interconnecting plays, Alan Ayckbourn’s cleverly conceived trilogy gets the red carpet treatment in this excellent revival. While seeing all three provides the complete story, Ayckbourn wrote each play as a standalone, so you don’t lose out if you’re only in town for an evening. But there are several dates when the marathon triple bill can be seen and, if you possibly can, take your seat for the longer haul.

Fabulously staged (a first for Chichester is the addition of on-stage seating, thus creating a full in-the-round experience); the setting is a rambling country house and garden in Sussex where Annie (Jemima Rooper) lives and looks after her ailing mother. Desperate for some much-needed fun (in the absence of local nice-but-dim vet Tom putting the moves on her), she plans a dirty weekend away with her incorrigible brother-in-law, Norman (Trystan Gravelle). The arrival of her brother Reg (Jonathan Broadbent) and sister-in-law Sarah (Sarah Hadland), followed by eldest sister – Norman’s wife – Ruth (Hattie Ladbury) puts paid to Annie’s plans. The collective convergence also unleashes fall-outs, flirtations and some enthusiastic hurling of home truths.

Taking place over the course of a weekend, in the first play, ‘Table Manners,’ the action takes place in the dining room. In ‘Living Together’ we relocate to the sitting room to see what has been going on in the meantime. Finally we catch up on the outdoors action (and oh boy there’s plenty of it!) in the concluding ‘Round and Round the Garden.’

Making her Chichester debut, Blanche McIntyre directs. Written and set in 1973 (superb design and detail from Simon Higlett), while the period is evident, McIntyre injects a sense of newness; vintage Ayckbourn with a contemporary twist.

Without exception the performances are polished. Delivering beautifully played comedy while highlighting the foibles and struggles of their individual characters, there is a pleasing synchronisation between the actors that aids the flow of the entire trilogy.

Very funny, neatly done and with moments of sharp poignancy, this is a hugely satisfying three-course theatrical feast.

The Chicken Soup Murder by Maria Donovan

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Although Maria Donovan has had great success with her short stories this is her first foray into longer fiction – and I dearly hope this debut novel is swiftly followed by another. It has such warmth and humour – which isn’t bad for a story about murder and death.

Michael lives with his nan in a little town near the sea with its magic hills and the three pebbled dashed semis in a long arc. But everything is turned upside down when the Bulls move in next door and Michael’s magical creative thinking lands him in trouble: why is he the only one who thinks a murder has been committed? Can we believe his story?

As Michael struggles to help himself and the people he cares for to move on, he learns about acceptance and grief, and to what happens to those who are left behind when a loved one dies.

Reading the above you might think that this would be a maudlin, fearful book but its not like that at all. Although Donovan explores the many repercussions of death – on family, friends and neighbours, she has a light touch and paints a varied picture of grief as it is, in its everyday shabbiness and unwashed clothes, in the difficulties of holding on and letting go.

The narrator, eleven-year-old Michael, just about to go up to ‘Big School’, leads the reader through the happenings at the three semis in the street where he lives; his own home where he lives with Nan, Irma the next door neighbour and best-friend Janey and her family at the house on the end.

It would do the novel a great injustice to describe it purely as a murder mystery because it is so much more. It is about what makes a family, what holds it together and how friends and neighbours can be family too. How much they become a part of the very fabric of our lives. I was gripped until the very last sentence.

The Chicken Soup Murder was a finalist for the Dundee International Prize and is published by Seren.

Maria Donovan is a native of Dorset and has strong connections with Wales and Holland. Past career choices include training as a nurse in the Netherlands, busking with music and fire around Europe and nine years as a lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Glamorgan.

www.mariadonovan.com

 

THE BUSINESS OF BOOKS: IN HISTORY WE TRUST – Jane Cable turns her hand to event management

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On Sunday about forty people turned up to an event I organised at a wet and windy Studland Bay and proud doesn’t even begin to cover it. My latest novel, Another You, is set in Studland but that was just the catalyst for Dive into D-Day, run in conjunction with the National Trust.

A number of writer friends have asked in awe how I ‘got in with’ the National Trust. Meaning, I guess, how come they are selling Another You in their shops. Well, to be precise it’s just one shop and therein lies the answer – go local. And write a book they love and so will want to sell.

Towards the end of writing the book, which although a contemporary romance harks back to World War 2, I felt it lacked the colour of what it really would have been like to live in the village in the 1940s. Through Studland History Group I was put in touch with local National Trust ranger Stewart Rainbird who had collected an oral history of the era. A morning spent with him paid huge dividends and when the book was published I send him a copy as a thank you.

In turn he passed the book to the manager of the local NT shop who loved it so contacted me and asked if they could stock it, and would I like to do a signing or some sort of launch event. We met and he commented that the film Dunkirk meant that there was a great deal of interest in WW2, something he’d like to capitalise on given that Studland played a huge part in the preparations for D-Day with Exercise Smash.

Another You opens on the sixtieth anniversary of the first day of Exercise Smash when six men died when their amphibious tanks launched too far out to sea and were lost in the bay. For my main character, Marie, it was the start of everything but for these young men it was the end of their too short lives. Being wartime the whole thing was top secret and for a long while it remained that way – even their families were told nothing about what happened. It was only down to amateur WW2 historian and tank restorer John Pearson that there is a memorial at all.

John had also helped with my research and if there was to be some sort of history day (the event was growing like topsy), he was first on my wish list of speakers. Although he professed to nerves he jumped at the opportunity. As did Stewart Rainbird who volunteered to lead a guided walk – and mentioned that Purbeck Sub Aqua Club were diving the remains of the tanks in preparation for the 75th anniversary of Smash in 2019. When they agreed to put on a photographic display of their finds and talk about their first dive season the day had a definite shape – and a name.

With speakers lined up the National Trust did everything they could to promote it through leaflets, a Facebook promotion and a press release. The media uptake was really good – I’m sure the NT’s name on it helped – but the story of Exercise Smash is so compelling two of the tabloids picked it up. I was in part frustrated and in part amused to see that they ‘improved’ on the story by embellishing facts in a way they had been told wasn’t true, but I guess that’s the way of their world.

But the day itself was amazing. Forty people braved the elements to discover more about Studland’s wartime history and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The National Trust were so pleased they want to do it again. And I sold half a dozen books, which although it wasn’t the point, was still something of a result.

The Crazy Nature of Human Communication: The Importance of Being Mindful of The Moment

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By Dr Rajan Sankaran, author of Dog, Yogi, Banyan Tree

Arriving at the lift of my building one evening, I met a neighbour who was known for his rudeness and for putting others down, while blowing his own trumpet. If someone from the building met him somewhere he would ignore them and walk away with his nose in the air. I tried to be a good neighbour and greeted him in a friendly manner asking him how he was.

When he perfunctorily asked me how I was, I thought it might help bridge some of the gap between us to share something. I said, “the younger of my two sons has gone to the USA to study, and with both my sons gone I feel an emptiness in the house.” Instead of some words of empathy or enquiring what my sons were studying, he pointed out that now my sons had left, the alterations that I had made to my apartment, which he had advised against, were now useless. He went on to mention that the alterations were probably illegal.

I was taken aback by this comment. I had tried to be a good neighbour and this was the response! This thought kept going on in my mind all day. So, when later I met another neighbour who is a friendly person, I told him about the incident. I wanted to share with him my experience of the rudeness and insensitivity of the other man.

Instead of seeing where I was coming from, he immediately was concerned about the plans of my apartment that he said he had seen some time ago. He told me that he was quite sure there was nothing illegal about the changes I had made to the apartment.

Stepping back from these experiences; I observed how the three of us saw the same thing in entirely different ways. I was lonely because my sons were away. I tried to convey this to my neighbour, who wanted to find some way to put me down. Then the second neighbour who heard all this, saw it from a completely different perspective: namely, the legality of the changes in my home.

Though I know somewhere that each one of us has his own perspective and that there is no objective reality, my mindfulness in the above incident made this very clear. Each individual comes from who they are and how they perceive things.

There are so many perceptions in one reality. When we communicate with each other, it is actually each one of us talking to himself. We hardly hear the other one. We are hearing ourselves all the time. It is like an orchestra where each musician is playing his own melody.

By stepping back and becoming a witness to the whole phenomenon, I got an insight into how stuck each one of us is in his own inner pattern of perception. I also realized the crazy nature of human communication.

Dr Rajan Sankaran is an internationally-famed homeopath, spiritual thinker and practitioner of holistic healing. His new book, ‘Dog, Yogi, Banyan Tree’ is an insightful and inspirational chronicle of personal and spiritual self-discovery. It is available now in paperback from Amazon UK, priced £21 and published by Homoeopathic Medical Publishers. For more information visit www.dogyogibanyantree.com

Win a copy of Dog, Yogi, Banyan Tree by Dr Rajan Sankaran

We have three copies of Dog, Yogi, Banyan Tree by Dr Rajan Sankaran, usually priced £21, to give away. To be in with a chance of winning follow frost on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/frostmag, just email frostmagazine@gmail.com with your name and address. The three lucky winners will be notified by 3rd November and will receive their prizes shortly thereafter.

 

Happiness: The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After Out On Audiobook

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Happiness: The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After, the compelling memoir from Heather Harpham about her journey from the bliss of young love, to handling a shock-pregnancy alone, to the earth-dropping learning your new-born has an incurable blood disease – narrated by the author herself. Lyrical, heart-breaking, loving and hopeful, the book has been phenomenally well-received in the US

A shirt-grabbing love story that follows a one-of-a-kind family through twists of fate that require nearly unimaginable choices.

Happiness begins with a charming courtship between hopelessly attracted opposites: Heather, a world-roaming California girl, and Brian, an intellectual, homebody writer, kind and slyly funny but loath to leave his Upper West Side studio. Their magical interlude ends, full stop, when Heather becomes pregnant – Brian is sure he loves her, only he doesn’t want kids.

Heather returns to California to deliver their daughter alone, buoyed by family and friends. Mere hours after Gracie’s arrival, Heather’s bliss is interrupted when a nurse wakes her: ‘Get dressed. Your baby is in trouble.’

This is not how Heather had imagined new motherhood – alone, heartsick, an unexpectedly solo caretaker of a baby who smelled ‘like sliced apples and salted pretzels’ but might be perilously ill.

Brian reappears as Gracie’s condition grows dire; together, Heather and Brian have to decide what they are willing to risk to ensure their girl sees adulthood.

The grace and humour that ripple through Harpham’s writing transform the dross of heartbreak and parental fears into a clear-eyed, warm-hearted view of the world.

Profoundly moving and subtly written, Happiness radiates in many directions – new, romantic love; gratitude for a beautiful, inscrutable world; deep, abiding friendship; the passion a parent has for a child; and the many unlikely ways to build a family. Ultimately, it’s a story about love and happiness in their many crooked configurations.

 

The Happiness audiobook will be available at Audible.co.uk from Thursday 7th September, £18.99.

 

Highlights of National Poetry Day 28 September 2017

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Wakefield: Poetry on the no 59 Bus

Departing from Wakefield Bus station at 11.21 and travelling along the route to Barnsley
Take your seat for a ride of poetic musing, revolutionary songs and live music from The Merrie City to Tarn and back. Jump on board Bus 59 with The Ukulele Lady and her Boy, musician Jacqui Wicks and poet Ralph Dartford, and experience a journey like no other. All you will need is your fare. This event is part of the Hear My Voice Barnsley Project in collaboration with Wakefield Lit Festival, funded by the Barnsley TUC Training Ltd and supported by Stagecoach.

https://www.wakefieldlitfest.org.uk/events/332-national-poetry-day-on-the-no59-bus

 

 

Jill Abram presents Stablemates: A Poetry Salon with Roger McGough, Malika Booker and Kathryn Maris from Penguin Modern Poets

Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0DT

 

 

To celebrate National Poetry Day, we’ll be joined by presenter of BBC Radio 4s Poetry Please Roger McGough, Douglas Caster fellow Malika Booker and Pushcart prize winning Kathryn Maris. The evening will comprise of the poets in conversation with Jill Abram, Director of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen, and reading from their work.

 

http://www.foyles.co.uk/Public/Events/Detail.aspx?eventId=3431

 

 

Poetry Breakfast at L’Escargot

L’Escargot  Restaurant, 48 Greek St, Soho, London W1D 4EF

 

Poet in the City’s legendary Poetry Breakfast is back, with a twist. This year we’re transforming Soho’s iconic L’Escargot into a trove of poetic treasures.  Behind door number 1, you might find yourself sitting down for coffee with 2016 Forward Prize-winner Vahni Capildeo, maybe you’ll be meeting Jo Shapcott, 2011 recipient of the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry; or perhaps you’ll be sharing a croissant with Sabrina Mahfouz, the award-winning poet and playwright behind With a Little Bit of Luck (2016) and literary anthology The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write.

 

http://www.poetinthecity.co.uk/show-event/?pc_event_id=337

 

 

Pop Up Poet Session in Glasgow

Mitchell Library, North St, Glasgow G3 7DN

In celebration of National Poetry Day, live poetry sessions will be held by one of the Pop up Poets from the St Mungo’s Mirrorball. Come along and have a coffee or some lunch and hear some poetry from 11.00am – 1.30pm at the Mitchell Library.

 

Betjeman Poetry Prize

John Betjeman statue,  St. Pancras International Station, London

 

The Betjeman Poetry Prize celebrates the fantastic achievement of this year’s six young finalists at St Pancras International, on the Upper Councourse, by the statue of Sir John Betjeman. Awards presented by the poet Rachel Rooney and the illustrator Chris Riddell, with readings from the young poets. Event starts at 2pm.

 

https://www.betjemanpoetryprize.co.uk/

 

 

Contains Strong Language

Various locations, Hull

 

A major new national spoken word and poetry festival in Hull

 

Starting on National Poetry Day, Thursday 28 September, Contains Strong Language will welcome local, national and international poets, in a celebration of new and existing word craft inspired by our literary city.

 

https://www.hull2017.co.uk/whatson/events/contains-strong-language/