Friday saw the arrival of the advance guard at the Three Salmons - that inn of old and happy memory. Our esteemed Secretary Mark Samuels and his wife Adriana were already in the bar with Fantasy Centre proprietor Erik Arthur when Mark Valentine and I arrived early that evening. It was good to meet Alex Dosher for the first time, who had travelled over from San Francisco to take in the Machen weekend and see Chelsea Football Club play. Stalwarts Gwilym Games and Mark Williams were also in attendance, and Godfrey Brangham joined us shortly afterwards. It was good to meet Bob and Barbara Mann for the first time. As usual the conversation ranged widely over appropriate and inappropriate topics before Jon And Anne Preece arrived and we made our usual pilgrimage to the local Indian restaurant. I seem to hazily recall the usual discussions and arguments over matters Machenian, along with arguments over Welsh history, association football, unpopular music, book collecting, film etc etc. Back in the snug bar of the Three Salmons afterwards we were joined by Daisy Lyle (Joysilence), and Meic Shoring mysteriously materialised. I recall a long discussion about the weird parallel universe that is the Internet, and a rarified discussion about the warring sub-cultures that comprise the contemporary Gothic music scene. Scarcely believable tales were related about recent book-finds in Hay-on-Wye.

Because the Three Salmons was fairly quiet for once, the morning was a comfortably laid-back affair and residents and non-residents alike shared a hearty breakfast before different parties formed and went their separate ways for the day. Mark Williams once again, very kindly, took a party off in his car for a jaunt around sites of local Machen interest, while another party assuaged its book collecting habit by speeding off to Hay-on-Wye (spurred-on by tales of unsorted and unpriced boxes of books littering the streets.) The former party reported fine weather and splendid sights, although there were complaints of damaged footwear (!), while the latter party did indeed unearth a few unexpected treasures.

Re-convening for the AGM, business was conducted with undue haste by the Chairman as usual. We were joined by Aidan Reynolds at this point. The book auction raised exactly the right amount to pay for the wine that evening... Many thanks to the members who bid so generously, from those who later drank the proceeds with equal enthusiasm! The annual dinner was a great success. The food at the Three Salmons is always serviceable (let's be honest, we are usually so busy talking that none of us really notice the quality), but the service was first rate (the staff were very accommodating and friendly all weekend.) We were joined by Brigitte and Stewart Lee who, like other first-time attendees, obviously knew their Arthur Machen and brought interesting and fresh perspectives to conversations that, as usual, ranged far beyond the topic of Arthur Machen and his writing. At my end of the table I remember long discussions of Machen, Poe, childbirth, film (del Torro and "Ring"), the vice of book collecting etc. A number of us expressed pleasure at the fact that our rather "nerdy" fascination with where authors lived, wrote and set their books, which involves visiting unremarkable addresses in dull suburbs, is now officially "cool" because it can be labelled "psychogeography."

Despite our end of the table becoming rather swampy with spilt drinks, there was enough wine left for a number of toasts to Arthur Machen, his daughter Janet, absent friends, and many others that members were inspired to propose. The official program of events ended with the spectacularly staged lunar eclipse (I am not sure which member of the committee arranged this, but many thanks to them!)

We retired to the snug bar once again and delighted in the rather superb plum porter. I hope that anyone who has managed to read this far in my rambling account will excuse me for drawing a veil over the remainder of the proceedings - suffice it to say that the rites of Eleusis were enacted in the rather debased form that they have been handed down to us, and sore heads were nursed the next morning. Many thanks to everyone who came along and provided such excellent company. (Ray Russell)

Present:

Ray Russell (Chairman)
Mark Samuels (Secretary)
Mark Valentine (Faunus Editor)
Gwilym Games (Machenalia Editor)
Jon Preece (ex Committee)
Godfrey Brangham (ex Committee)
Nick Granger-Taylor (ex Committee)
Aidan Reynolds (Honorary Member)
Barbara Kuyuate (non-voting)
Mark Williams (member)
Bob Mann (non-voting)
Erik Arthur (non-voting)
Alexander Dosher (member)
Adriana Samuels (non-voting)
Joy Silence (member)
Meic Shoring (member)
Paul Thomas (member)

Apologies received:

Jeremy Cantwell (Treasurer)
Roger Dobson (Publicity Officer)
Adrian Eckersley (Internet Administrator)
Janet Machen (Patron)
Richard Rogers (U.S. Representative)
Stewart Lee (member)
Stephen Holman (member)

1. The Chairman welcomed everyone to the AGM meeting.

2. The Chairman noted that our membership numbers remained consistently stable with a good rate of rejoining and that we were continuing to provide excellent value for the membership fee. The society received a card from Janet Machen with thanks for her 90th birthday gift.

3. The Secretary thanked everyone for attending the AGM and reported that he had enjoyed his first year in the post and thanked the committee for its support.

4. The Chairman presented the Treasurer’s financial report for 2006/7 and The Secretary added the Treasurer’s summary that we were within our budget, that a £1789.86 surplus would carried forward into 2007/8 with an additional minimum of £2550-£2750 from anticipated renewals.

5. The Faunus Editor offered thanks to Nick Granger-Taylor for his past editorship. It is expected that two journals will be produced this year, the first centring on The Hill of Dreams in recognition of its 2007 centenary year and the other to be a miscellany including letters by Machen to the publisher John Lane. The Machenalia Editor advised that he intended to produce two issues this year, with the pagination determined by material received.

6. The Secretary presented the Publicity Officer’s Report, detailing the main points amongst which included his appreciation of the Machenalia Editor’s very successful Machen postcards, which have been sent to those likely to draw further attention to Machen, that BBC Radio 4 are going ahead with a programme about Redonda of which Machen was an Arch-Duke, and that contact with The Imperial War Museum had been made with a view to an Angels of Mons exhibition. 7. The Chairman presented the Internet Administrator’s Report, and advised that he was happy to continue in the post with a view to redesigning our web pages and advising that new contact details are being received regularly.

8. Nick Granger-Taylor advised that the translation of the Machen letters to P.J. Toulet were expected to be completed in October, but copyright clearance had yet to be obtained. There was a proposal that the volume be published separately as a society publication rather than under the aegis of Faunus or Machenalia.

9. The Chairman and AGM formally confirmed that the number of issues of Machenalia would be two per year rather than one. 10. The Chairman advised that the Index to the Machen biography were too exhaustive for print publication in their present form but that a PDF file is available for download at the Tartarus Press website.

11. The Secretary recommended the proposed changes to the constitution that had been detailed to the membership by post in the last Machenalia. No objections were received and the Secretary advised that he would draft an updated constitution that will be printed in the next Machenalia. Effective immediately, the positions of Machenalia Editor and Internet Administrator are additional executive committee posts along with those of Secretary, Treasurer, Chairman, Faunus Editor and Publicity Officer. Honorary Member and U.S Representative are non-executive committee posts.

12. The Chairman reported that no appreciable benefits had been obtained from past association with the Alliance of Literary Societies and it was agreed, therefore, not to pursue any new affiliation.

13. The Machenalia Editor advised that he had been in contact with Buckinghamshire County Council with a view to a blue plaque being sited at Lynwood in Amersham in memory of Machen. The interest of the owners would need to be determined. If this proves unfeasible then other sites might be the Kings Arms or Amersham Museum could be considered.

14. The Secretary proposed Stratford-upon-Avon as the location for the 2008 AGM in recognition of Machen’s years as a member of the Benson Repertory Company. This proposal was accepted. Aidan Reynolds suggested that a future issue of Faunus might concentrate on this aspect of Machen’s life.

15. The Machenalia Editor advised that he met with the organisers of the Caerleon Arts Festival. The most promising of the sculptures is by a Czech artist and is based upon The Great God Pan. There is to be a seminar about Machen to take place in Caerleon on 5th July funded by the Welsh Academy. It is likely to feature an audio-visual display. Further details as they become available, with members to be advised in Machenalia.

Any Other Business:

16. Aidan Reynolds mooted the idea of another Machen short story competition, but it was felt that this had not brought substantive membership or publicity gains in the past. It was also noted that The Machenalia Editor already has in hand a new anthology featuring stories from members.

17. The Machenalia Editor enquired about sales of back issues of the journal and Jon Preece advised that these bring in approximately £225 per annum. It might be feasible to advertise for sale such back issues at a discount. Jon Preece also requested that complaints about the time taken for delivery of the journal to overseas members be addressed directly to the committee. It was not clear whether it was our policy to send them by airmail or surface post.

18. Meic Shoring enquired about the existence of a society archive in relation to possibly depositing there past video recordings he had made of AGMs and society dinners, but it was pointed out by The Chairman that we have no provisions for a formal archive and that the question of legal ownership, should one exist, would be vexed.

19. Mark Williams displayed several examples of his Machen related artwork to the AGM and appealed for promotional support from FOAM with a view to organising an exhibition with the financial backing of the Welsh Arts Council. It was generally agreed to support this endeavour wherever possible and practicable.

Addendum:

20. Present committee and ex-committee members decided to award Aidan Reynolds with a lifetime Honorary Membership of FOAM. Godfrey Brangham duly announced this at the society dinner and Aidan Reynolds expressed his profound gratitude.

To fund the sculpture a limited edition memorial booklet, Machenology will soon available. It will contain some rare items by Machen, plus a collection of tributes paid to him by writers past and present. The memorial fund is grateful for generous support from local company Principality Medical Ltd, whose innovative special effects prosthetics have supported fantastic films such as Harry Potter.