Dark Angels Note 129

Dearest Friends—

Welcome back to our weekly Friday Note. 

Observing

This week marks the birthday of Stella Gibbons (5 January 1902 – 19 December 1989), English writer, poet and journalist. During her life, she wrote 25 novels, along with short stories and several volumes of poetry. However, her writing career started in journalism as a reporter and features writer for various papers including the Evening Standard and The Lady. Gibbons' most famous novel was Cold Comfort Farm. Described as a burlesque satire of the rural novel, it found instant success when it was first published in 1930, allowing her to quit her job and write novels for the rest of her life.  It was later adapted into a film in 1995. 

Listening

“Gibbons also once claimed that her idea of hell was having to go shopping for fishing rods in Harrods Department Store with Ernest Hemingway.”Listen to the Lost Ladies of Lit podcast as they discuss Stella Gibbons and her unorthodox Cinderella story, Nightingale Wood. 

Writing

Try taking a favourite fairytale from your childhood and rewriting it for modern times. What parts of the story have held the test of time and what needs turning on its head? 

Sharing

The copywriting workout, Arvon with John Simmons & Will Awdry, 4 February 2023Clear that seasonal fog from your writing brain with a proper copywriting workout. This Arvon Foundation online course is being run by Dark Angels’ co-founder John Simmons with his friend Will Awdry. John’s long wanted to run a course with Will so this one-day online session (Saturday 4th February) brings the two together as a unique opportunity to see the pair of them in action. It will be fast and fun and full of surprises - plus a special guest appearance from the poet Rishi Dastidar on the links between poetry and copywriting.Sign up soon and see you there. Book on the Arvon website. Keep sending us your poems, writings, links and writerly whatnots that you’d like to share with the wider Dark Angels family. 

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Diary

Weekly Tuesday Gatherings
Join us for a reflective hour of reading, writing and communing led by Neil Baker. Everyone is welcome; in fact, invite a friend along. We meet at 7pm UK time. To join us, click here on the night. There’s no need to register in advance and we’ll be using the same link every week from now on. 

Hearts, Inspired, 16-21 June 2023
Join Jamie Jauncey and Richard Pelletier for a 5-day writing retreat on Whidbey Island, in the US Pacific Northwest. We’ll explore writing, creativity and inspiration through guided writing, personal projects and time in nature.Find out more here. 

Be well, keep reading, keep writing and know that we’re always here.

From everyone at Dark Angels  
Photo by Marc Pell on Unsplash