The Encouragement Files
(4-25) Celebrating Others, Weekly
This is the 4th Edition of ‘The Encouragement Files’, baby brother to our non-Substack newsletter Field Notes for Curious Minds. This weekly offering is a celebration of the inspiring words, publications and people that have caught our eye. Hopefully, it will encourage you to shout up for the creativity that lifts your spirits and inspires you.
Occasionally, people scratch their heads and ask “what’s this Feasts & Fables all about?”. Good question.
Some of you may know we used to run a deli/coffee shop in mid-Wales. It was an unexpected adventure; a live experiment conducted after our ‘world of work’ public service life, a chance to see if we could run a business. It turned into the best kind of community. It is very nearly five years since we closed the door for the last time to make room for new adventures. About 10 months before we closed, we let our customers know our plan; folk started asking how they could keep in touch, how they might continue to be inspired by the things we got up to. Eek, panic … we hadn’t thought of that; we imagined sliding quietly off into the blue yonder. One bottle of red wine drunk near a scribble pad and a Sharpie pen and we had a list of possible names for our what next. As lovers of alliteration, one name called to us. One seemed to grab the essence of us as individuals (an amazing cook and host, Mrs Feasts, and a scribbler of words, Mr Fables). Feasts and Fables was born. It’s an identity that two shy folk can hide behind, while talking publicly about the things that bring us joy.
So let’s have a feast of ‘Feasts and Fables’ … great tastes and stories.
NEIGHBOURHOOD FEASTS
Having owned and run a neighbourhood deli/coffee shop, we look with interest at the way other folk set up, and the values they project. We were slightly limited by not having a kitchen on our premises so there’s a hint of envy when we peer in on places like Lulu’s in Herne Hill, which was featured in the excellent journal section of The Modern House. With its offering as a deli and takeaway lunch spot selling a selection of sandwiches and salads by day, and a wine bar serving delectable dishes of pasta, seasonal sides and wine by night, Lulu’s is a great example of what we would have loved to have grown into. Still dreaming!
GREAT TASTES
When we first opened, we were terrible … okay, we were great; perky, enthusiastic, really focused on the customers - but the products were ‘meh’, selected from a catalogue and really just the same as everyone else. We finally transformed the deli after about 6 months when we started to handpick the producers and products we would build a reputation on. We can still taste so many of our favourites. Coaltown Coffee is a Welsh roaster making the new black gold. We served and stocked their coffee throughout our five years on the high street. Family-run business Halen Môn harvests organic sea salt from the Menai Strait between the Welsh mainland and Anglesey. It’s a stunning range of products. There were so many amazing products in Wales, we could have sourced everything there, but we couldn’t resist Great Glen Charcuterie and its astonishing venison products or Chocolarder (gorse-flavoured chocolate bars anyone?). Getting to know the people behind the brands, we became storytellers way more than we were ever retailers.
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”
— Virginia Woolf A Room of One’s Own
A TASTE OF SUBSTACK
We love that there is an abundance of
whose love for food and flavours, place and provenance, horticulture and hospitality knows no bounds. We recommend that you follow the seasons with … explore French flavours, traditions and artisan produce through the eyes and taste buds of and … we adore the food memories generously shares with us, and his experience as a grower gives him an unparalleled knowledge of flavours and ingredients (my goodness, he has even written his latest book in public on Substack); share wonderful tales from the veg patch. It feels like a community that will (excuse the pun) just keep growing. On that note - and as an encouragement to ‘breakfast like a king’ - our lovely friend Lottie has newly arrived with . Do tuck in.
“Food is everything we are. It's an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It's inseparable from those from the get-go.”
Anthony Bourdain
THE WRITE STUFF
It is never a bad time to celebrate our favourite writers on Substack. If you are quietly becoming a regular reader of these weekly ‘Encouragement Files’, you’ll know a few of them already. This week, we’re focusing on the fictioneers, the folk who are making it up as they go along, the storytellers, and the poets.
There is a thriving fiction writing community on Substack, brimful of writers and readers.
Perhaps what I love about it most - aside from the nudge it gave me to start my own fiction writing journey - is the encouragement folk offer to one another. From the work
puts into ‘Top in Fiction’, to the communities created by , , and there is a generous spirit of ‘celebrate others’.So, what fiction have I been reading?
The Layover
- contemporary tales, brimful of sassy characters and storylinesShe liked that story. Mostly because he was presumed naked in it. But also because it was funny. Really funny. Funnier than the post-coital heart attack he suffered in several versions of their untold story. She never resuscitated him in those versions. She just let him go.
The Cooperatives - The Fortune Teller
- Richly textured, dystopian imagining about climate emergency outcomes (climate fiction - cli-fi - a new genre for me)A dim violet light flooded the room, revealing the young face of a woman with milk chocolate skin color and fiery green eyes. Her unnaturally long fingers, adorned with golden rings, rested on tarot cards. An incense holder, a set of kau chim fortune-telling sticks and a simmering pot of tea with three cups completed the table decoration.
Re-solved
- sharply-observed weekly flash fiction“We found five unfortunate street people bludgeoned to death in the East Village. This guy you just saw was found running past the scene covered in sweat with bloodstains on his white shirt. Officers followed him home and found this scribbled note.”
“Looks like a shopping list,” said Comagee.
“Something like that. But not exactly. Read this.” Lance handed the paper to Comagee.
Who will you celebrate today?
Wait, did you say you write some fiction too, Mr Fables? Funny you should ask, really.
This week, while berating myself about my distractable nature, I wrote a piece about the importance of putting down the phone and engaging with humans.
Socially Acceptable
Long fingers and manicured nails were held up in the face of her crew as she scrolled through emoji-rich responses to her latest “feeling cute, might delete later” shot, slight pout, body twisted, best side shown. Ironic, she guessed, getting a buzz out of notifications. A selfie of what she hoped was a ‘pleased with myself’ face was launched into her feed in a blur of keystrokes, immediately rewarded with a steady hum of appreciative alerts. The kindness of strangers, she called it. Not out loud. Mostly to herself but just as often with a hashtag attached as she humble-bragged her way through a life spent with her head in the Cloud. She was a long way past just loving those likes. She craved them. Needed them. The white knuckles clenching her pink glitter handset told anyone who got close enough that she had to have those little red hearts to pump life force into her system.
Maybe tell us in the comments about your favourite writing this week. Who are you recommending?
Back next week, same time, same place.
Barrie and JoJo
Thank you for the selfless encouragement, by word and example, on top of your own great writing
Thank you for the mention Barrie. I am new to here and trying to get to grips with this new platform. I loved reading the stuff about the deli and how you got to have your name x