galloway Male, Married. Maiori, Italy

Hector Hugh Munro, or Saki was a satirist and author with a taste for the witty and outrageous. Saki wrote most of his best work for newspapers such as the Westminster Gazette, Daily Express, Bystander, Morning Post and Outlook. A master of the short story, Saki entertains like few other writers do at the first reading. It is on subsequent readings that one is made aware of the sheer beauty and ease of Saki's language.

Christopher Morley writes that Saki provides one an excellent introduction to "the mysterious jungles of English humour, a savage country with birds of unexpected plumage." Saki is often compared to O. Henry, but I rather suspect his stance is more closely related to Dorothy Parker's. In any case, Saki speaks for himself and indeed it is quite difficult to speak of Saki.

Saki was a student of European history and gifted with a prodigious memory, if he had continued to write historical tracts (as his first book was) it is not improbable that the study of history would be looked upon today as a rather light endeavour. Saki was eminently capable of saving an entire discipline from a doddering reputation. His varied interests are apparent in his political satires, short stories and plays. Saki loved wild animals and had a knack of finding the most interesting individuals and places wherever he went.

In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow up
the Houses of Parliament. Among them was
Guy Fawkes, Britain's most notorious traitor.

After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that violent action was the answer.

A small group took shape, under the leadership of Robert Catesby. Catesby felt that violent action was warranted. Indeed, the thing to do was to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics. Today these conspirators would be known as extremists, or terrorists.

To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder - and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords.

But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including some people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts. One of the group members even sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th. Was the letter real?

The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators.

Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed.

It's unclear if the conspirators would ever have been able to pull off their plan to blow up the Parliament even if they had not been betrayed. Some have suggested that the gunpowder itself was so old as to be useless. Since Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators got caught before trying to ignite the powder, we'll never know for certain.

Even for the period which was notoriously unstable, the Gunpowder Plot struck a very profound chord for the people of England. In fact, even today, the reigning monarch only enters the Parliament once a year, on what is called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the Opening, and according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster. Nowadays, the Queen and Parliament still observe this tradition.

On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, on November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.

Some of the English have been known to wonder, in a tongue in cheek kind of way, whether they are celebrating Fawkes' execution or honoring his attempt to do away with the government.

The Shropshire Hills were designated an Area
of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1958, and
remain to this day one of the most beautiful,
tranquil and unspoilt parts of the country.
They have been a popular holiday destination
sinceVictorian times and now attract over
half a million visitors a year.Yet get away from
the popular valleys and hiking trails and you
may not see another person all day.
The Hills are well known for the astonishing
variety of their scenery, plants and wildlife,
which is due to the varied nature of their
underlying rocks. Nowhere else in Britain can
one find rocks from ten out of the twelve
recognised periods of geological history
within such a small area.
This beautifully produced book, illustrated
with over 150 of Robin Jukes-Hughes'
stunning landscape and natural history
photographs, captures the Shropshire Hills
in all their glory and will be a fine memento
for visitor and local alike

About the Author
Robin Jukes-Hughes lives in
Shropshire and runs Shropshire Hills
Photography from his home south of
Shrewsbury. He provides images to the
NationalTrust, ShropshireTourism and
similar organisations, and his postcards,
prints and calendars are sold widely
across the county.

Roger McGough's eagerly-awaited new collection is a powerful testament to the miraculous in the everyday. Here he builds us his world: one of chance encounters and embarrassing moments, of big questions and small wonders. 'At that awkward age now between birth and death,' he addresses Alzheimers and wrestles with mortality. He resolves (and fails) to live every day as if it were his last, joins the Foreign Legion, jives in Macca's trousers, shares the pain of Mr Sappho and Lord Godiva and plans a prison break.

With his inimitable warmth, wit and wordplay, Roger McGough affirms his position as the pre-eminent poet of the magic moment - the happy collision of life, language and the imagination.

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Roger McGough was born in Liverpool and educated at St Mary's College and the University of Hull. He has been a writer for many years, and his numerous collections have established him as one of the most distinctive and powerful voices in contemporary poetry. Among his most popular titles are Summer with Monika, Blazing Fruit and Defying Gravity, all published by Penguin, and for children An Imaginary Menagerie, Pillow Talk and Bad, Bad Cats. He is an international ambassador for poetry and in 1997 was awarded an OBE, and in 2004 he was awarded a CBE. His most recent books include 'All the Best' and 'Slapstick' and for adults, 'Collected Poems' and 'Selected Poems.'

Ho avuto modo di assistere in Inghilterra alla "Summer School" del Marlborough College la conferenza che il Poeta ha tenuto nei giorni scorsi. Non e' solo un poeta McGough e' anche un "enternainer", uno "show-man", un grande comunicatore. Le sue poesie sono i pensieri che ognuno di noi si porta dentro e con essi impara a vivere. Ne parlero' a lungo appena possibile.

http://guide.supereva.it/bibliofilia/interventi/2009/06/carpe-diem-cogli-lattimo/