February’s Stories and Poems

For February’s Monthly Stories and Poems we are bringing together two things that make up a big part of life – work and love. Quite often, one can affect the other, with the ideal being that we can find fulfilment and happiness in both, and that they can be in harmony.

Featured from The Reader Bookshelf this month is a piece from Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie. There is plenty of Wonder to be found in this collection, and we are really looking forward to welcoming Kathleen Jamie to The Reader at Calderstones this month for a special event exploring the Reader Bookshelf.

Love can take many forms, it can come unexpectedly and bring many complexities along with feelings that can be intense or quieter. This month’s selection of stories and extracts explore different types of love, and how love sits alongside other aspects of an individual’s life. Where does love fit in? Does it always? What can we do when our emotions get the better of us? What about the times when love comes into conflict with work, or other hopes and ambitions we hold? It’s a big area, with lots to explore across different periods of time and settings.

February’s stories and poems are:

A Reflection by Kathleen Jamie – from Surfacing

Particulars of a Twilight Walk (extract from Far from the Madding Crowd) by Thomas Hardy

The Birthday Cake by Daniel Lyons

A world we knew nothing of (extract from The Life of Rebecca Jones) by Angharad Price, translated by Lloyd Jones

What you want to become (extract from The Girl with the Louding Voice) by Abi Daré

Both love and work can be linked with many emotions, some of which can be driving forces behind why we might choose to prize either work or love in our lives. This month’s poetry choices explore these accompanying feelings, giving us a chance to think about what it means to love, or to believe in the work we do. From longing and remembering, feeling joy, knowing what you don’t want and having a sense of duty, there are many different paths offered in reading these poems.

The Heart’s Journey XI by Siegfried Sassoon

Messenger by Mary Oliver

Waking by Kalidasa, translated by W.S. Merwin and J. Moussaieff Masson

Find Work by Rhina P. Espaillat

Not that one by Meena Kandasamy

If you're a Reader Leader head to the Online Community Hub to download this month's selection.