I have seen people physically moved by the ghosts that haunt the Newcastle Lit and Phil Library. One such apparition is said to be the ghost of the legendary Mrs Affleck. On Wednesday night she would have struggled to find a spare seat, as over 60 people came to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Red Squirrel Press, three book launches, and four readings. 

Tom Kelly, (pictured), in his poem ‘Bridget’, highlights how the loss of a child can impact generations. He describes, in his collection of poetry and prose These Are My Bounds, Bridget’s black and sepia life-size photo that hung pride of place in his grandmother’s house. Tom never met his aunt, who died tragically from TB when she was only 14 but her presence, he recalls, was still to be felt looking over his grandmother’s shoulders. Her “sepia” image seemed to stay with us in the room long after he finished reading, as it has obviously stayed with Tom throughout his life.

Castle Rising in Norfolk holds the secrets of the ghost of the ‘She-Wolf of France’. Edwin Stockdale, in his debut collection Winter Wolf, brings the turbulent relationship between Edward II and Isabella to us, weaving apple blossom into walls of castles, the birth and loss of children, and the joy of parenthood. In ‘Young Edward III’ we look at the king and the future king’s relationship: “In the fishponds of Langley Edward teaches his son to land pike and carp. Apple blossom, the mirror of frogspawn bellow”. Later poems in the collection deal with betrayal, and Isabella’s internment. Through the poem ‘Haunted’, a final coda on their relationship, we are left with the visceral image of Isabella being buried with Edward’s heart.

The loss of his father is central to David J Costello’s collection Witness. He describes the bedside of his dying father: “My knuckles white on the headboard / as I tried to haul you back.” How frail his father was in his last days: “Half-ghost, half-gone”. How one prepares oneself for loss - and how you can never prepare.

Pauline Plummer read from her sharp and relevant short story collection Each Man is a Half- Open Door, which is also newly published by Red Squirrel Press, which began life in the north-east of England. At the time Sheila Wakefield, founder of the press, was living a mile down a single ‘no through road’ track in Northumberland, surrounded by red squirrels who had no predators there. She is now based in Scotland. According to its website, Red Squirrel Press has published poetry in Gaelic, Scots, Doric, Shaetlan, Orcadian, Irish, Danish, Italian, German, Flemish, Romanian, Kannada and English. 

Red Squirrel Press in its 20 years has released over 300 titles and also publishes the short story magazine Postbox - and proves what the ghosts of the Lit and Phil have always believed, that poetry is very much alive and kicking.

Marie Lightman is an editor and creative writing workshop leader. Her poetry pamphlet collection Shutters was published by Indigo Dreams in 2019. She is venturing into stand-up comedy and is a British Women's Othello champion