The Common Press is proud to host the launch of 'Menopause: The Anthology' and a poetry evening on November 22nd, from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Join the editors and contributors Cherry Potts, Clare Starling, Jane McLaughlin, Mary Mulholland, Lucy Lasasso, Catherine Pestano, and JP Seabright for this special event. There will also be an opportunity to take the stage during the open mic.
Is menopause really all about hot flushes, empty nests, and HRT? Forty-three writers challenge the clichés in poetry and short fiction. The subject of Menopause is just beginning to break the barrier of taboo and become a mainstream discussion point, but that discussion has until now been very serious, medical, and, we would argue, heterosexual and white. This anthology of poems and short fiction aims to address that, with wild and wonderful writing from humour and anger, relief and distress, by women who have experienced menopause, whether naturally or as a result of surgery;
with a healthy dose of views from the global majority and the lesbian, bisexual, and trans communities.
This anthology was published on Menopause Day, 18th October 2023. A date when all (post)menopausal women should celebrate their last period since we never actually know when it happened. Memorial or celebration, you choose, but there will be cake.
‘By turns furious, funny, passionate, elegant, eloquent, sometimes all of these things at once,
but always intimate and incisive, this is an amazing collection from a wonderfully diverse
range of voices. It absolutely exemplifies what the arts can do to communicate personal
experience in a highly political and socially impactful way. I LOVE IT!- Joanna Brewis, Professor at The Open University and menopause at work researcher
Schedule
- Doors open from 6:30 pm via The Common Press entrance
- 7:00 pm - Menopause The Anthology Readings + Q& A (Bar)
- 7: 30 pm - Poetry from special guests
- 8:30 pm - Open mic slots for poets to jump on stage.
Cherry Potts is the Director of Arachne Press, for whom she is editor/co-editor of most of our anthologies including Menopause: The Anthology, and runs the annual literature and music festival Solstice Shorts. She is the author of two collections of short stories: Mosaic of Air, (republished by Arachne Press in 2013, and Tales Told Before Cockcrow (currently out of print); a photographic diary of a community opera The Blackheath Onegin, and a lesbian
fantasy novel, The Dowry Blade. Cherry has also had many stories in anthologies (including Arachne Press publications), magazines and online, including multiple stories performed at various of the Liars’ League franchises. Cherry will introduce the book and read a selection of poems from the book.
Lucy Lasasso is originally from Yorkshire but has lived in the East End of London for many years now. Adult Education classes brought her to writing, and she is now a member of several writing groups. She is passionate about the mutual support and encouragement they give. Lucy will read from her story A Cabin in the Woods.
Dr Catherine Pestano is a social worker and menopause activist. She has led two successful largescale workplace menopause programmes, for Croydon local authority and for the Open University, awarded two national diversity and innovation awards. Visiting Fellow at the
Open University, she has authored on menopause for the OU Nursing programme. Catherine is co-editor for Menopause: The Anthology and will introduce the book and read a selection of poems from the book.
Clare Starling started writing poetry during lockdown, after leaving a role in public policy to support her son when he was diagnosed with autism. Her work has since appeared in Sentinel Literary Quarterly, Erbacce, and Frosted Fire’s Wildfire Words, and was Highly Commended in the AUB Poetry Prize. She particularly loves writing about our connection with nature, and about how neurodiversity can give different perspectives on the world. Clare will read her poem Evorel.
Mary Mulholland is widely published in journals and anthologies and has featured in many competitions including Rialto Nature & Place, Winchester, Bridport, Wasafiri. She has a Newcastle Poetry MA and is alumna of Faber Advanced Poetry course. Former journalist and
psychotherapist she lives in London. Mary will read her poem Anne Macaulay was brought up in rural, northern Scotland but, since meeting her husband
in the 70s, has embraced urban life in East London. Proud mother of two grown up children, with 30 years immersed in Education, she now focusses more on her writing. Anne is one of 6 poets featured in Vindication published by Arachne Press for which she provided the title.Anne will read her poem A Sudden Ending.
JP Seabright is a queer disabled writer living in London. They have two solo pamphlets published: Fragments from Before the Fall (Beir Bua Press, 2021); No Holds Barred (Lupercalia Press, 2022); and the collaborative works: GenderFux (Nine Pens Press, 2022) and MACHINATIONS (Trickhouse Press, 2022)
