Don't forget the Write On Anthology, to be published later ths year -- and only open to participants of Stoke's various workshops. If you look over past posts on this blog, you'll find more information (go to April's posts). The address for submissions (by 1 September) is:
Write On Anthology (c/o Emma George)
City Centre Library
Bethesda Street
Hanley
Stoke-on-Trent
ST1 3RS
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
The Producers
Scheduled for November 3rd to 7th at the Regent Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent is THE PRODUCERS. Remember the brilliant Mel Brooks' movie? About Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom and their attempts to stage a sure-fire flop. It's on the stage this autumn -- should be fun.
Box Office: 08700 606649
Website: www.nsosltd.co.uk
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Box Office: 08700 606649
Website: www.nsosltd.co.uk
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Sebastian talks about Mervyn Peake
Sebastian Peake, son of the late Mervyn -- author of the Gothic masterpiece Gormenghast trilogy -- will be presenting a talk on his father's life and work (novelist, poet and artist) at FantasyCon 2009. The convention takes place in Nottingham this September. Visit the website for details.
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Fact, Fantasy and Poetry
Here are two free poetry competitions which you can enter right now. There's a £100 first prize in our open competition, Fact and Fantasy. You can enter by post or email and make sure you put "Fact and Fantasy" at the top of your entry. Your poem can be on any subject you like but must be no more than 160 words or 20 lines, and you can't use "Fact and Fantasy" as the title. Send your entries now because this competition closes in September and we want to see something from you.
Also, there's a £1000 prize to the winner of our annual Local Poem competition. You must put "Local Poem" at the top of your entry and the theme must be someone or something local. For example, last year's winner was a poem about two cooling towers. The previous year's winner was a poem about a river, and three years ago, the winner was about village life. You could write a poem about a famous person or even a member of your family, living or dead. You could write a poem about your local bus driver or your greengrocer. The same length limitations apply to this competition and we want to see something from you now.
If you have entered this year's National Poetry Anthology, you may hear from us with some good news in the very near future. Judging is currently taking place and we have already selected around 300 regional winners who will all receive a free copy of the book, and they will get to vote for the best poem. The author of that poem will receive £1000. All the regional winners will be contacted within the next few weeks. So if you haven't heard anything yet, keep your fingers crossed.
Our Poets of the Year book will be out in September, at the same time as Poetry By Moonlight. A Guiding Light will be out in November, and Whispers on the Breeze will be out in December. Don't forget that you can still submit a poem for our new CD anthology, Voices in Verse. All you have to do is email or post us a poem and put "Voices in Verse" at the top (but you can't use this as the title) and we will get back to you if we can accept it. So please be sure to include your phone number and address.
Many thanks for all the funny stories we have received for Things Kids Say, the book we are producing in association with Barnardo's, to raise money for this worthy charity. We are also grateful to all the artists who have provided illustrations for the book, which should be out in about three months. We are also pleased to say that it's been a very good year for our other charity projects, and we have now helped to raise over £20,000 for cancer charities this year, making a total of £172,000 in the last six years.
Kind regards,
Peter Quinn
info@unitedpress.co.uk
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Also, there's a £1000 prize to the winner of our annual Local Poem competition. You must put "Local Poem" at the top of your entry and the theme must be someone or something local. For example, last year's winner was a poem about two cooling towers. The previous year's winner was a poem about a river, and three years ago, the winner was about village life. You could write a poem about a famous person or even a member of your family, living or dead. You could write a poem about your local bus driver or your greengrocer. The same length limitations apply to this competition and we want to see something from you now.
If you have entered this year's National Poetry Anthology, you may hear from us with some good news in the very near future. Judging is currently taking place and we have already selected around 300 regional winners who will all receive a free copy of the book, and they will get to vote for the best poem. The author of that poem will receive £1000. All the regional winners will be contacted within the next few weeks. So if you haven't heard anything yet, keep your fingers crossed.
Our Poets of the Year book will be out in September, at the same time as Poetry By Moonlight. A Guiding Light will be out in November, and Whispers on the Breeze will be out in December. Don't forget that you can still submit a poem for our new CD anthology, Voices in Verse. All you have to do is email or post us a poem and put "Voices in Verse" at the top (but you can't use this as the title) and we will get back to you if we can accept it. So please be sure to include your phone number and address.
Many thanks for all the funny stories we have received for Things Kids Say, the book we are producing in association with Barnardo's, to raise money for this worthy charity. We are also grateful to all the artists who have provided illustrations for the book, which should be out in about three months. We are also pleased to say that it's been a very good year for our other charity projects, and we have now helped to raise over £20,000 for cancer charities this year, making a total of £172,000 in the last six years.
Kind regards,
Peter Quinn
info@unitedpress.co.uk
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Sunday, 26 July 2009
Hint, hint...
"Hint fiction" (n) : a story of 25 words or less that suggests a larger, more complex story
Check out this website
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Check out this website
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Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Are you an aspiring graphic novelist?
DO YOU HAVE AN ORIGINAL STORY TO TELL?
Jonathan Cape and Comica have got together with The Observer to offer you the chance to see your work in print and win £1,000. Take this opportunity to get your work read by industry experts. The judges are Joe Sacco (author of Palestine), Simone Lia (author of Fluffy), Rachel Cooke (The Observer), Dan Franklin (Publisher, Jonathan Cape), Paul Gravett (Director, Comica Festival) and Suzanne Dean (Random House Creative Director). The first prize is £1,000 and the publication of your story across four pages in The Observer Magazine. The runner-up will receive £250 and your work will appear on http://www.guardian.co.uk/. Deadline for entries: 25th September 2009. Click here for competition rules.
Jonathan Cape and Comica have got together with The Observer to offer you the chance to see your work in print and win £1,000. Take this opportunity to get your work read by industry experts. The judges are Joe Sacco (author of Palestine), Simone Lia (author of Fluffy), Rachel Cooke (The Observer), Dan Franklin (Publisher, Jonathan Cape), Paul Gravett (Director, Comica Festival) and Suzanne Dean (Random House Creative Director). The first prize is £1,000 and the publication of your story across four pages in The Observer Magazine. The runner-up will receive £250 and your work will appear on http://www.guardian.co.uk/. Deadline for entries: 25th September 2009. Click here for competition rules.
Monday, 20 July 2009
Next Meeting
The next StOW meeting is scheduled for the 4th September, at 10.00 am at the usual venue -- the Bentilee neighbourhood Centre. All are welcome -- just come along and bring something you've written. You may want to read it out to the group (you don't have to!).
Friday, 10 July 2009
Crime Fest 2010
The annual Crime Fest for 2010 has been announced. It is scehduled for 20-23 May 2010, in the city of Bristol. This convention is aimed at occasional readers of crime fiction, as well as avid fans. Visit the website for full details and registration prices.
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Thursday, 9 July 2009
The Turing Test Wins Edge Hill Prize
Chris Beckett's collection, The Turing Test, from Elastic Press, has won the prestigious Edge Hill Short Story Prize, earning Chris a remarkable £5,000 cash prize. The judges said:
"I suspect Chris Beckett winning the Edge Hill Prize will be seen as a surprise in the world of books. In fact, though, it was also a bit of surprise to the judges, none of whom knew they were science fiction fans beforehand. Yet, once the judging process started, it soon became clear that The Turing Test was the book that we'd all been impressed by, and enjoyed, the most - and one by one we admitted it. This was a very strong shortlist, including one Booker Prize winner in Anne Enright, and two authors who've been Booker shortlisted in Ali Smith and Shena Mackay. Even so, it was Beckett who seemed to us to have written the most imaginative and endlessly inventive stories, fizzing with ideas and complete with strong characters and big contemporary themes. We also appreciated the sheer zest of his story-telling and the obvious pleasure he had taken in creating his fiction."
Andrew Hook (publisher of Elastic Press) said: "Naturally, we're very pleased about this."
Copies of the book are still available from Elastic Press. More on the Edge Hill Prize here.
"I suspect Chris Beckett winning the Edge Hill Prize will be seen as a surprise in the world of books. In fact, though, it was also a bit of surprise to the judges, none of whom knew they were science fiction fans beforehand. Yet, once the judging process started, it soon became clear that The Turing Test was the book that we'd all been impressed by, and enjoyed, the most - and one by one we admitted it. This was a very strong shortlist, including one Booker Prize winner in Anne Enright, and two authors who've been Booker shortlisted in Ali Smith and Shena Mackay. Even so, it was Beckett who seemed to us to have written the most imaginative and endlessly inventive stories, fizzing with ideas and complete with strong characters and big contemporary themes. We also appreciated the sheer zest of his story-telling and the obvious pleasure he had taken in creating his fiction."
Andrew Hook (publisher of Elastic Press) said: "Naturally, we're very pleased about this."
Copies of the book are still available from Elastic Press. More on the Edge Hill Prize here.
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
SToW -- web link
Memoirs of a Vampire Hunter
SToW member Peter Allchin's debut novel, Memoirs of a Vampire Hunter, is available to buy from the publisher; it's also available from Amazon. Click on the links below for further details.
"In the late 19th century, Doctor Peter Reiner returns to England after the horrific death of his new wife, only to find the horror of his honeymoon has followed him. Intent on justice, Reiner seeks out the monster, only to discover the dreadful truth of the identity of one of history's most notorious killers. Within the pages of this book you will enter the dark world of vampires. But this is no ordinary vampire story. This is a tale that weaves fact with fiction to uncover the truth about Old London's most infamous murderer.
Full details of price and links to booksellers, both paperback and Ebook, plus, the first chapter, can be found at the Vampire Hunter website.
Paperback: ISBN-13: 9780980358223; eBook: ISBN 978-0-9803582-3-0
To view a 50 second YouTube clip, go here."
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"In the late 19th century, Doctor Peter Reiner returns to England after the horrific death of his new wife, only to find the horror of his honeymoon has followed him. Intent on justice, Reiner seeks out the monster, only to discover the dreadful truth of the identity of one of history's most notorious killers. Within the pages of this book you will enter the dark world of vampires. But this is no ordinary vampire story. This is a tale that weaves fact with fiction to uncover the truth about Old London's most infamous murderer.
Full details of price and links to booksellers, both paperback and Ebook, plus, the first chapter, can be found at the Vampire Hunter website.
Paperback: ISBN-13: 9780980358223; eBook: ISBN 978-0-9803582-3-0
To view a 50 second YouTube clip, go here."
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