Finistere by Elizabeth Speller

This is the Pointe du Raz,
this place is Finistere,
the fall, the undertow, the earth's end where
my father's face is bones beneath the feathers of his blown back hair.
Tears in his mica eyes, spray on his skin
here on the Pointe du raz the salted man leans in
to the force of wind and the rough, wet air.
Keep blowing east to landfall, wind
from sea to earth, from dark beyond
the razor's edge of Finistere;
keep him keep all my safety here.

Poet of the Month: Elizabeth Speller

Cyprus Well Stories was invited to the Bridport Prize 2008 celebrations and we had a wonderful time. The anthology of winners is brilliant, and is available now at www.bridportprize.org.uk.

One poem really stood out for us personally, and that was 'Finistere' by Elizabeth Speller. In fact we think it's beautiful, so Elizabeth is our Poet of the Month for December.

Elizabeth Speller lives in Gloucestershire. She reads Classics as a mature student at Lucy Cavendish Colledge, Cambridge University, and held a Hosking Houses Residency in 2008. She has written for publications as diverse as The Big Issue, New Statesman, Sunday Times, Independent, Financial Times and Vogue, has published four non-fiction books and her poetry appears in anthologies. She used her own words with those of Milton and Shakespeare in a libretto, 'Farewell', composed by Michael Berkeley and commissioned by Paul McCartney for his wife, Linda. This year she has been a winner in both the Ledbury and Bridport prizes. Her first novel, Death of an Unknown Warrior will be published by Virago in 2009.

We hope you like this poem as much as we do, and we'd like to thank Frances and Lindsay and all at the Bridport Prize and Bridport Arts Centre for looking after us so well!

Add a bit of Cornish to your day

If you enjoyed Richard's poem and are interested to find out more about the Cornish Language, visit www.magakernow.com, the internet home of the Cornish Language Partnership. There you can learn some new expressions, take advantage of an online translation service, play games, listen to newscasts and podcasts and music and watch film clips.

Cornish is the Celtic language of Cornwall and is recognised as a minority language under the Council of Europe's Charter for Regional or Minority languages. It's closely related to welsh and Breton, and more distantly to Irish, scots Gaelic and Manx. As well as being visible in place names around Cornwall it is also a thriving community language, with an increasing number of people learning and using it.

An Err by Richard Gendall

Pa rama gorah truz war an garrak luz,
Po war an vidhan laz, po war an vor,
po war an dreath eu golhez gen an moer,
mi or tel era vi a saval
kenz leb rig saval liaz aral,
hag arta sir vedn guil andelha.
An stynner, ev auedh,
a pallaz der an doar,
ky vova an kenza
diougel na el boaz
dho voza an dyuetha
vedn tedna anal enna.

Na huath an err,
kodhez doar adhor an ebbarn,
kan, glan, ilin ytava,
ha guelaz i lanuthder pa rama,
yeinder an mena a transformia
leb era vi a kerraz,
serten eu dro vi an kenza,
try vedham an dyuetha,
rag skon pyb vollan a vedh kellez,
tedhez dho vez, trailiez do dhour,
ha gyndzha kenefra ol ez gureez
gennam war i enap flour.

The Snow by Richard Gendall

When I set foot upon hoary rock
or on the green meadow, or upon the road,
or on the sand that by the sea is washed,
I know I stand
where many others formerly have stood
and surely will do so again.
The miner, he too,
digging through the ground,
though he may be the first
surely cannot be the last
to draw breath here.

Yet the snow,
from out the sky fallen to the ground,
glistening white, clean, pure there it is,
and when its cleanness I see
transforming the bleakness of the hill
whereon I walk,
it is certain that I am the first,
that I shall also be the last,
for every flake will soon be lost,
melted away, turned into water,
with every trace that's made
by me on its matchless face.

Poet of the Month: Richard Gendall

Richard Gendall was born in 1924. He was first introduced to his native Cornish language when he was four years old. After serving during the war, he took a degree in modern languages. At University, he started work on reversing Nance's 1938 Cornish-English dictionary and produced the new English-Cornish dictionary in 1952. He launched the magazine Hedhyu in 1955 and in 1966 initiated and named the Cornish Language Board.

In 1984 he turned to the study of Modern Cornish in earnest, publishing Laugh and Learn Traditional Cornish in 1987, An Curnoack Hethow in 1992, and A Practical Dictionary of Modern Cornish in 1997. He is currently rewriting his Practical Dictionary, based on the large amount of new material that has recently come to light.

Somehow, he also finds the time to write poetry and we are delighted Richard Gendall is the Cyprus Well Poet of the Month for November.

A further selection of Richard's work is published in Nothing Broken: Recent Poetry in Cornish, edited by Tim Saunders and published by Francis Boutle. The Language of Our Forefathers, with accompanying CD is now available from www.robbiewright.com.

Arts Council England Support

Arts & Books are delighted to announce further support for the building of the new literature agency from Arts Council England, South West. Fittingly, this announcement will be made tomorrow evening at the annual Charles Causley celebration in Eagle House Hotel, Launceston.

Assistance from Arts Council England will enable Arts & Books to begin the process of establishing an independent Board of Trustees for the new agency, and to start fund raising for the activities planned. The support also allows Arts & Books to work alongside Charles Causley Trust towards the joint aim of locating the agency in offices in Charles Causley's house at Cyprus Well.

We will be recruiting a Board of Trustees early in 2009 and fund raising preparation begins immediately.

The new agency will enable and nurture literature activity in the South west of England. It is founded on the simple belief that literature activity should be accessible to all. It will be a new, idealistic, passionate and devoted supporter of the Literature Sector. Its aim is to benefit and grow literature activity in every community, accessible to everyone. Awards schemes will be available for non-profit organisations to fund events, Literature Development Workers, and Writing Residencies.