16th October 2025 – Wylye Valley Writers

The readers at our 16th October 2025 meeting:

Maude read her short story The Tale of the Rat, a highly amusing account of dealing with a rat problem.
Tracy Burge chose her pen-name as Evelyn Maude Martin after her late grandmother, who was also a keen reader. It’s a heartfelt tribute to her childhood hero.
Although a late starter to creative writing, Maude always had a serious book addiction, devoting decades to compulsive reading. She spends much time tracking down books for her private collection, which is now largely occupies a dedicated room in her home.
Maude has been writing with serious intent for ten years. According to her family’s folklore, her mantra since childhood has been ‘Why not make a good story remarkable by embroidering the truth’ – a vivid imagination being an essential part of a writer’s toolkit.
Maude is a keen member of Salisbury Writing Circle, and she has performed several of her stories in a variety of venues. One of her pieces was read on BBC radio Wiltshire’s Upload show, followed by a live on-air interview.
In 2024 it was finally time to go for the ‘big one’ – the first novel. Maude is very, very close to completing her first draft. Like all Grand Designs – it will certainly be finished by Christmas.

Estelle read and performed her poem called The Bride which she wrote for the National Trust and was invited to perform it at Kingston Lacy. It is presently a photo poem with The Arborialists and Art In Hospitals. Her performance beautifully contemplated the dramatic natural world evoked by the poem.
Estelle studied photography in Salisbury, and English and Linguistics at Cardiff University. She has worked variously as a city lawyer, magazine editor, film maker and photographer.
She has loved and practiced writing since childhood. Since 2020 she has focused on poetry writing and performance, appearing at numerous events and festivals, including at the Southbank, the Royal Albert Hall and the Chalke Festival.
Estelle was the winner of both BBC Wiltshire’s Ten Tiny Plays About Wiltshire, and Touchnote’s Fill the Space. She was runner up in the novel category of the Yeovil Literary Prize and a member of the 2024/25 Literary Works cohort of emerging writers.
Her collection of poems called Motherhoodlum is published by Jawbone. Her stand-alone epic poem The Headless Horseman is published by Cranborne Chase National Landscape and Chase & Chalke. Her writing is published in literary magazines in the U.K and U.S.A. Estelle hosts the podcast Nature Talks with Humans: Nature Talks With Humans | All Episodes
More about Estelle and her work can be found at: https://www.estellephillipswriter.com/

Estelle has produced a short video representing the evening – watch here

James read the foreword and the opening pages of chapter one of his novel The Crusader’s Blade, powerfully and dramatically introducing us to the book’s protagonist.
James Mercer was born in Brunei; his father being a British Army officer and mother a journalist. He spent the early years of his childhood living in Borneo, India and Germany until his family returned to the UK. In his early teens he moved to the medieval city of Salisbury.
James graduated from Sparsholt College and was part of a Gold Medal winning team at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. He then worked in the hospitality industry, managing public houses and hotels.
James has always been fascinated by history, especially the Middle Ages, with its rich array of tales and legends. His vivid imagination was fed by Salisbury’s deep historical past which inspired him to write his first novel The Crusaders Blade, the first of a trilogy which follows the historical events of the Fourth Crusade. James has had seven books published to date, all set amongst a group of crusaders.
James’s approach to writing involves intensive research into the historical facts and timelines, physically visiting the many sites written about in his novels.
More about James and his work can be found at: https://james-mercer.net/

Liam performed four of his poems: Out Went a Candle, Crimson Ink, Queen of Keyholes, In the City, The Hunt, dramatically illustrating the dark nature of these powerful pieces.
Liam Smith is a fiction writer and performance poet. He loves cycling and music, especially drumming. He dwells in Salisbury. Oh yes, occasionally, he is a teacher.
He hopes one day to own an Addams Family-style house, with a library full of volumes of forgotten lore and a resident talking raven.
He has had five books published: a novella, two long poems, a novel and a collection of short stories. All are dark historical-gothic tales with such titles as The Witching Hours and The Greatest Show Under the Earth.
Liam has had poetry and prose published in numerous journals and has often been placed in competitions. His story Death Rattle won the Brighton Prize for flash fiction in 2017, and New Atlantis won ‘A Brush with Words’ in 2022 and was placed third at the Fareham Poetry Competition in 2025.
Two of his stories have been adapted into short films: The Taxidermist and Under the Oak, which was filmed as Beneath the Cedar. Both the original stories appear in his story collection The Taxidermist and Other Gifts, published in 2022.
You can see him perform, usually dressed in black, at various events around the Salisbury area.
More about Liam and his work can be found at: www.liamsdesk.co.uk, @LiamSmithAuthor, www.facebook.com/liamsdesk

Stella read the opening chapter of the book she is currently writing with the working title of A Pair of Green Wellies – a highly amusing account of a woman coming to terms with her recently retired husband being at home all day.
Stella Sykes was born in Scotland and was brought up in Kent. A very long time ago she was sent to the sort of school that taught girls how to answer an invitation and curtsey when meeting royalty, but very little else. She has lived in Spain and Australia, amongst other places.
She has had a variety of jobs from cleaning house, being a matchmaker, a stylist for an advertising agency, and a freelance copywriter. Currently she volunteers at Salisbury Hospice where she is a Trustee.
Stella lists her hobbies as gundogs, chickens, grandchildren and eavesdropping – although the last one has become more difficult with age.
Latterly she has written two novels: Felicity Fights Back, and The Machinations of Matilda, both available from Amazon.
She also writes a blog on surviving old age www.hasanyoneseenmyglasses.com, and has written countless short stories – some of which have been published. .

A video of the event produced by Estelle Phillips.

Photographs on this page by John Bruce, lightanddarker.com