Stories and Poems for March

While the chance to take a holiday is still a little while off, we're travelling far and wide with March's selections of Stories and Poems, taking in places ranging from the Scottish Highlands, Russia and Turkey.

Family life is a stand-out theme in March's prose choices, with maternal figures in particular making their presences felt. Advice is given through wise words and well-meaning actions, but are they always welcomed? There's also an insight into a conflict between a husband and wife, and as children make their return to school, a visit to a class as they partake in a popular playground game. Yet, simple games can sometimes turn out to have unexpected outcomes...

March's stories and extracts are:

The Quarry Wood (extract) by Nan Shepherd

'A Migrating Bird' by Elif Shafak

'Hot Potatoes' by Arnold Bennett

Anna Karenina (extract) by Leo Tolstoy (translated by Constance Garrett)

'Buttony' by Fiona McFarlane

In this month's selection of poems, we welcome the arrival of a new season - one that is perhaps more anticipated than usual this year. Female figures are celebrated for their strengths and vulnerabilities alike, and we are also advised to take a second look at strangers we are 'drawn' to. As we look to a future that offers some greater change in store, one of this month's poems brings some consolation if you are of a cautious nature.

'Spring is like a perhaps hand' by E.E. Cummings

'Mother's Day' by Nadine Aisha Jassat

'Are you the new person drawn toward me?' by Walt Whitman

'The Diva' by Leoni Atkins

'Song' by Sir Thomas Wyatt

If you're a Reader volunteer, all of March's choices are available to download here in The Reader Library.

For more suggestions of great reads, the Daily Readings for March have the theme 'Springing Forward'. Take a look at what's coming up over on The Reader at Home.