Wave Silo

"Once upon a time in a place called Wheatley (which means wheat field, and is well named) there was a field of wheat - I tell a lie, there were many..." ' The Naughtiest Thing ' is the timeless tale of a vicar's daughter committing the ultimate transgression in a wheat field. You can read the tale in full on my Substack . This fairytale poem has been published on a centuries-old letterpress as a limited edition broadside of 50 numbered copies, featuring a hand-coloured chaffinch - the namesake of the goblin in the tale. It was (and perhaps a few still are) available exclusively in Glastonbury bookshops. 'The Naughtiest Thing' is a work of fiction and any similarity to any former Prime Ministers or Home Secretaries living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Edit : regrettably, but understandably, the measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 Coronavirus have forced the cancellation of this event. We and Théâtre Volière hope that it will be possible to stage it in happier times. - Through February and March this year, I have been working as part of a group of writers (including my wife, Erica Viola ) with Théâtre Volière  on a set of poems inspired by the traces left behind by Europe's lost empires and cities. Together, these traces of an imagined 'Vanished Kingdom' will conjure a culture that never was, and which yet feels very familiar. Coins, pottery shards, epic poems, spells, curses, folksongs, monolithic stones - our unreal land had none of these. Still, we will describe their ghosts. On Monday 23 March 2020 we'll be performing ' A Vanished Kingdom ' as part of the 2020 Marchland Festival at Canada Water Theatre . A further performance of 'A Vanished Kingdom' will be taking place at the sam