First, an apology. A period of enforced inactivity has turned the assembling of this Issue into a frantic last-minute scramble. But it will, at least, appear on time, though it will leave some of you still waiting for answers to your Submissions. I will do my best to catch up.
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LupO's seventh year ends with a Christmas Pudding among whose silver charms are bespoke knitted socks, desk-bound doctors, Pop Tarts (the edible variety), a pantomime pantoum, a musical Dalek with a taste for knitting, a creature which keeps his innards in a trinket box – and several others which don't plus some that should: also, a Somerset village bent on maintaining an over-refined RP, plus examples of love, lust, faded dreams and most places in between, as well as the results of a Competition which suggest that Brits have more to be bilious about than Americans.
Along with the familiar dispensers of glitter we welcome four newly-acquired decorations, namely Sara Bickley, David Condell, Dawn Corrigan and Jonathan Humble.
In the hope that your turkey carcasses will not haunt your fridges like the Marie Celeste we wish you all a happy Christmas and a successful 2015.
To launch us into our eighth year Jerome Betts has agreed to guest-edit the March Issue.
Martin Parker