(Rumours and) Curses

There are few bright spots in my mundane existence, so it's sod's law that two of them are on the same day - my Polish fencing trip and the Annual Conference of those fun-lovin' academics, the Association for Welsh Writing in English. Put 50 genuinely interesting teachers, researchers and authors in a stately home with one of the best bars anywhere (plus a lot of very special books on sale) and the results are fascinating. I shall genuinely miss it this year.