A local author will be sharing his ghost stories set in pubs at special readings at The Crown Inn in Keyford.
Mike Rogers, winner of the Frome Writers Collective Writers in Residence Short Story Competition in 2024, will share his stories, Afternoons and Spirits, both set in pubs rather than the usual creaky midnight settings. The readings will take place on Tuesday 28th October at 7.30pm.
Though he writes all kinds of stories, Mike says ghost stories are his favourite. “This is because they present a challenge: how do you show that the ghost is a ghost? As you will hear and see, mine are set in pubs – lively, familiar places rather than empty, eerie ones,” he said.
Mike has been writing short stories since he was eight and, 69 years later, is bringing them to life for live audiences. “I started acting at 13 in school plays and went on to direct and perform at university and as a lecturer. My PhD was on a Viennese comic actor who wrote brilliant, nearly untranslatable plays for himself. So, I reckon I know how to deliver a text, especially one I’ve written myself,” he said.
In 2002, Mike began live storytelling. He said, “Storytelling is a different business. There’s no fixed text, just a story you can tell any way you want, whenever you tell it, depending on how much time you’ve got, who’s in front of you and what you feel like.”
He also continues to write. “The ones I write tend to be a bit more complicated – not in plot but in atmosphere and resonance. I am hoping that performing them myself will help get that over to the audience.
“People tend to believe the narrator when he or she says something, but the narrator is also part of the story and a character within it. The audience needs to judge and understand the narrator’s position and attitude, as they would if they were listening to a real person.”
He is now compiling his stories into collections and e-books. “Much easier than filling a spare room with 250 copies no one’s going to buy!” he added.
