Poetry Reading: Fiona Sampson, 16th November

Saturday 16th November, 2019

6.30 for 7pm till 9pm at the Meeting House, 43 St Giles

Free admission + fundraising collection for the Garden Room & Quaker Centre + refreshments

On Saturday the 16th of November, Fiona Sampson will read from her forthcoming collection: COME DOWN (Little, Brown, 2020), an exploration of belonging to place & to a family.

Fiona is a leading British poet and writer. She has published in 37 languages including many books of poetry,  studies of poetry and its many forms of making and a critically acclaimed biography In Search of Mary Shelley (2018). This was a Radio 4 Book of the Week in January 2018. Fiona has won numerous awards. Her collections include Common Prayer  (2007), Rough Music (2010), and The Catch (2016).  She is a prolific broadcaster and critic, and now Professor of Poetry at the University of Roehampton. Among her recent books, The Spectator called her exploration of Limestone Country (2017) ‘bewitching’, and it was a Guardian book of the year and a Daily Telegraph and Evening Standard Pick of the summer.

SEA CHANGES by Marina Jenkyns

22nd November, 2019

4pm and 7pm at Oxford Quaker Meeting House, 43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW

Tickets: £10, £8 concession; buy on the door or by searching “Sea Changes in Oxford” on http://www.eventbrite.com

Following on from its successful debut at the 2019 Camden Fringe, Sea Changes returns to the stage at the Friends Meeting House in Oxford.

Sea Changes tells the stories of three very different women who each offer an opportunity to identify with women’s experience of loss. Their interwoven monologues reveal their stories showing how to move on when tragedy strikes, less through the concept of ‘closure’ but rather through living with their losses and so becoming more fully themselves.

To accompany the Oxford performances, join the playwright, director and cast for a free Q&A at 5pm to reflect on the themes of the play and to discuss the creative team’s approach to bringing these stories to life.

Building Understanding and Tolerance in a Divided Society

Berks & Oxon Regional Meeting

Saturday 26 October 2019

Reading Quaker Meeting House

11:00 (coffee etc. at 10.30) to about 16:00

‘In what ways are you involved in the work of reconciliation between individuals, groups and nations?’  – Advices and queries, 32

Quakers strive for the peaceful resolution of conflict. This applies as much to our everyday lives as it does to the wider national and international scene.

All are welcome to this Regional Meeting where

  • The morning speaker will be Oliver Robertson, General Secretary of Quaker Peace & Social Witness, who will give the keynote address on the theme of the day.
  • Martin and Robyn Appleton of Reading Meeting will facilitate sessions based on the themes that emerged from the “What Can We Do?” initiative at Reading Meeting in 2017/18. The meeting will use spiritual practices of attention, to explore, in a workshop setting, how we might open our eyes to the other through opening our eyes to ourselves. We will have two [1]workshops which will draw on different methods of building relationship used in faith communities, by political leaders and by international artists.
  • The workshop will end with a review of the day led by Martin & Robyn
  • Friends in the Region have the opportunity to get to know each other better.

Please bring a packed lunch.  Reading Quaker Meeting House (2 Church Street, Reading RG1 2SB) is half a mile from Reading station. Car parking is available in the street for disabled badge holders. Recommended public car park: Saxon Court, Letcombe Street, RG1 2SQ; or, on street metered parking in London Street nearby).

Directions at https://midthamesquakers.org.uk/reading-quakers/                 

Enquiries to John Crosfield, clerk of arrangements committee,

tel. 0749 337 0030, e-mail johnecrosfield@gmail.com

Provision for children’s activities will be made, but please let the clerk of arrangements committee know by 12 Octoberof any children intending to attend, including their ages, so that the Friends volunteering to provide such activities can prepare.

[1] Friends, one of the exercises will invite you to remove your shoes, so you may like to come with unholey socks.

Poetry Reading: Philip Gross & Lesley Saunders

In the series POEMS IN THE QUAKER MEETING HOUSE
@ 43 St Giles  Oxford
free admission +  a collection + refreshments 
@ 6.30 for 7pm till 9pm on Sat. October 12th

Philip Gross and Lesley Saunders will read from their book A PART OF THE MAIN: A CONVERSATION (Mulfran, 2019), a dialogic poem, even an improvisation, born of the difficult feelings and public discord arising from the events of 2016. Philip is a Quaker as well as a T.S.Eliot prize winner and author of 20 collections of poems. Lesley is author of several books of poetry, most recently Nominy-Dominy  (Two Rivers Press, 2018). She is a creative collaborator with many other ‘makers’ of  different art forms. Lesley and Philip first met through a collaborative poetry venture A Game of Consequences in which 26 poets were invited to share their thoughts and feelings about living in a nuclear age.