CELEBRATING SIXTY YEARS OF COMPOSING POETRY It was sixty years ago when I wrote my first four lines of a poem in English. This was called The Fireplace. I was thirteen years of age and a second year student of The English School in my hometown Morphou, Cyprus. The composition of poetry is an art where words construct sentences, verses using metaphors and symbols, which in turn are based on imagination, facts, and life experiences. A poem does not have to rhyme and yet it can be a stanza, a canto to a loved one, an ode to a hero, a sarcastic remark to emphasise the importance of a point made, an elegy composed to explain feelings arranged as a work of art. What prose can explain in three hundred pages, a poem (as a masterpiece) can express in one single page; with more meaning, using larger-than-life pictures describing timeless classic scenes, memorable events and bringing immortality to life itself.

Jennings decides to build huts out of reeds and branches. He and Darbishire are thrilled with them. They include a patented ventilating shaft, a special drainage canal and a pontoon suspension bridge! Things go horribly wrong when he is put in charge of Elmer, the treasured goldfish, and even worse when the Head visits. Gruesome hornswoggler!

ROSE PETALS: --- My pretty little Liz with your blue eyes, And your soft little hands holding the rose; Red, velvety and sweetly scented it may be, Beware though of its prickly little thorns. --- Mummy told me that holding the stem tight And looking at the petals I can make wishes, Thirty of them, and for every wish I pull one And in time, all of my wishes become true. --- My lovely, adorable and innocent small Liz Hold the rose tight, and keep your wishes secret, If that is what mummy said, that is what you do, Your mummy was right, wishes do come true. --- I picked and chose my first petal and wished For the angels not to come and take you away, As they called on my mum and took her away, My next wish is for us to stay together, for ever. --- My sweet and delightful Liz, this is my pledge, Always to be near you, and help you grow up Into a pretty, an attractive lady as your mum was So hold onto that rose, pick a petal a day and wish.

In addition to his many remarkable paintings and drawings, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) left behind a fascinating and voluminous body of correspondence. This highly accessible book includes a broad selection of 265 letters, from a total of 820 in existence, that focus on Van Gogh’s relentless quest to find his destiny, a search that led him to become an artist; the close bond with his brother Theo; his fraught relationship with his father; his innate yearning for recognition; and his great love of art and literature. The correspondence not only offers detailed insights into Van Gogh’s complex inner life, but also re-creates the world in which he lived and the artistic avant-garde that was taking hold in Paris. The letters are accompanied by a general introduction, historic family photographs, and reproductions of 87 actual pages of letters that contain sketches by Van Gogh. Selected from the critically acclaimed 6-volume set of letters published by the Van Gogh Museum in 2009, Ever Yours is the essential book on Van Gogh’s letters, which every art and literature lover needs to own.

This anthology gathers a broad selection of Russian folktales, legends, and anecdotes, and includes helpful features that make them more accessible and engaging for English-language readers. Editor Jack V. Haney has selected some of the best tales from his seven-volume "Complete Russian Folktale" collection and added examples of anecdotes and the long 'serial tales' told in the far north.The 114 tales included here represent every genre found in the Russian tradition. They date from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries and come from all geographic regions of the Russian-speaking world. The collection is enhanced by a detailed introduction to the folktale and its types, brief introductions to each grouping of tales, head notes with interesting background for individual tales, and a glossary explaining Russian terms.