June’s Stories and Poems

New and distinctive worlds open up with this month’s stories and extracts, with the joy and delight of discovery that comes from exploring the physical aspects of a particular place to altogether more mysterious figures who linger but are elusive in nature. Things that first seem straightforward are revealed to be anything but when we take a much closer look.

Each month we’ll also be delving into The Reader Bookshelf as part of the Monthly Stories and Poems selections. This month we’re introducing choices and extracts from The Collected Stories by Anton Chekhov, Paradise Lost by John Milton and The Third Life of Grange Copeland by Alice Walker.

June’s stories and extracts are:

‘The Wild Duck’s Nest’ by Michael McLaverty

‘No beginning nor no end’ (from The Third Life of Grange Copeland) by Alice Walker

‘Following a shadow’ (from Lilith) by George MacDonald

‘Verochka’ by Anton Chekhov (translated by Ronald Wilks)

‘Total Eclipse’ by Annie Dillard

If the adventures to be found in this month’s stories and extracts leave us feeling in need of a moment or two to breathe, June’s poetry choices offer quieter spaces of reflection and recollection. Amongst other things, we consider what it means to remember something or someone, the ways in which happiness can enter our lives and how decisions we make and relationships we form can be influenced by the light we see them in at any one time. There’s a rather big occasion taking place this month – we also consider the different kinds of emotions that anniversaries and special events can bring out in us.

‘Remember’ by Joy Harjo

‘So Much Happiness’ by Naomi Shihab Nye

‘Satan Gazes Upon Adam and Eve’ (from Paradise Lost) by John Milton

‘June Light’ by Richard Wilbur

‘The Anniversary’ by John Donne

If you're a Reader Leader, head to the Online Community Hub to download this month's selection.