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Archive for the ‘Writing News’ Category

Alexei Sayle, who has taught several writing workshops for London Writing Workshops over the past few years, has gone back to his old love: stand-up comedy – or as Time Out put it: ‘A true legend goes back to his roots.’

Alexei has been on tour in the rest of the UK, now London has a chance to see his first full-length, solo, stand-up show in 16 years with a series of dates at Soho Theatre’s new comedy venue (’20s Berlin meets 50s New York, meets 21st century Soho’).

A rare opportunity to see a comedy legend at work. ‘His comic control remains something rare and wonderful’ says The Times. ‘Still gobby and self-deprecating’ says the Evening Standard.
More information on the SOHO THEATRE WEBSITE.

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The Brixton Book Jam is an eclectic gathering for people who are passionate about books and the written word. It’s a mix of readings, chatting and socializing. From people who love to read through to A-list authors, ghost writers, erudite editors, self-effacing self-publishers and aspiring scribes, everyone is welcome.

The next Book Jam will be on 4th February at the Hootananny, 95 Effra Road, Brixton. Doors open at 7pm and entry is completely free!

Readings confirmed so far include:

Geoff Dyer – The Colour of Memory
Martin Millar  – Lonely Werewolf Girl
Daniel Simpson – Rough Guide to the Dark Side
Claire Collison – Treading Water / Refinery
Andrew Mueller – I Wouldn’t 
Start From Here: the 21st Century and Where it all Went Wrong
Alex Wheatle  – Brixton Rock / The Dirty South
Christopher Russel – Mockstars
Doug E. Graves – Homerton Sweet Homerton

plus new fiction from: Dave McGowan, Kate Harrad, Roz Kaveney and Sharmila Chauhan and Vicky Grut (me)!

 
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The publishers Faber & Faber and University College London (UCL) have launched a new scholarship in memory of Faber’s former finance director, David Tebbutt, who was killed in a gang attack while on holiday in Kenya in 2011. The annual prize will sponsor one person each year, beginning in 2013, to undertake UCL’s MA in publishing. It will be funded by the David Tebbutt Trust, which is jointly administered by the publishers and the Tebbutt family. As well as funding the full fees for the course, the scholarship will also include a work placement with Faber.

Details on how to apply for the scholarship in 2013 are available from this UCL website

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It’s a good year for Deborah Levy. Not only is her novel Swimming Home on the shortlist for the Man Booker prize, but her  story “Black Vodka” has been shortlisted for the £15,000 BBC International Short Story Prize. Also on the list for the 2012 prize are “The iHole” by Julian Gough, who won the BBC National Short Story Award in 2007, and “Even Pretty Eyes Commit Crimes” by M J Hyland, who was shortlisted last year.

To mark the Olympic year, the award has extended its remit to writers from across the globe, and the shortlist does have an international flavour: “The Goose Father” by Krys Lee (South Korea / United States); “East of the West” by Miroslav Penkov  (born in Bulgaria, now living  in the United States); “In the Basement” by Adam Ross (United States); “Before He Left the Family” by Carrie Tiffany (Australia), and “A Lovely and Terrible” by Chris Wormersley (Australia).  The rest of the shortlist is: “Escape Routes” by Lucy Caldwell; and “Sanctuary” by Henrietta Rose-Innes.

The winning author, to be announced on October 2 live on Front Row, will receive £15,000, the runner-up £2,500 and the eight other shortlisted authors £250 each.

The stories will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 3.30pm from Monday 17th onwards. Each story will become available on the day of broadcast as a free download available for two weeks. Then it will be available as a commercial audiobook via AudioGo. The BBC International Short Story Award 2012 Anthology, published by Comma Press, is available at all good bookshops and the Comma Press store from Monday, as well as in Kindle format.

 
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Andy Hayes, who attended ‘Writing Short Stories’ in 2011, came up with the idea of gathering abandoned lists, crumpled doodles, binned post-it notes –  scraps of text that would normally be viewed as litter – and using these a prompts for pieces of creative writing. After talking to other members of  writers’ collective 26, the project Throwaway Lines was born.

Now the work has moved into a new, three-dimensional phase. 15 top designers have been brought in to create frames for the scraps that inspired the pieces of writing. The results will be on display from October 29 onwards at the Free the Word Centre in Farringdon.
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The Bookseller reports that Britain’s first e-Book Festival, held in July in Kidwelly in West Wales, did not attract the numbers hoped for, but the organizers vow to run the event again next year.

At the festival, a £10,000 prize for the best e-book was awarded to the Brixton-based writer and organizer of the Brixton Book Jam, Zelda Rhiando, who won with her self-published novel Caposcripti.  She said: “I’m very happy to win. I’m hoping to use the money to fund a research trip for my next book.” For more information about her book, visit the Caposcripti website. 
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In October 2012, writer Jennifer Matthews of the Munster Literature Centre, Ireland, is launching a new online publication called Long Story Short, which will specialise in short fiction between 4,000 and 9,000 words long.

The Long Story, Short literary journal will publish a short story every month, favouring tales that take their time:  “Longer than flash; fewer strings attached than a novel”, says the website. To submit your story or artwork, please visit the Submissions page of the website.

 
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An international prize, now in its third year, that showcases creative work written specifically for digital media.

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Gerry Byrne (who took part in LWW’s weekend workshop on character and dialogue in 2010)  has organized a series of talks in Oxford this autumn. Between the Lines brings poets and psychotherapists together in conversation, interspersed with readings from the poets’ work.

The first talk on Thursday October 11^th features poet, author and translator David Constantine (pictured left) in conversation with child psychotherapist Gerry Byrne.

On Thursday November 8^th, the poet Bernard O’Donoghue will be in conversation with psychoanalyst David Morgan and on  Thursday November 29^th, the poet Jane Draycott talks to  psychoanalyst Caroline Garland. All events: 7.30 – 9.30pm.

Venue: Friends Meeting House, 43 St. Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LW. Cost:  £10 per talk/£25 for the series of 3 events

Tickets available online or by telephone from OxBoffice.co.uk  /  www.oxboffice.co.uk. Telephone:   0845 680 1926 (Mon to Fri 9 – 5pm, Sat 10 – 1pm).

More information coming soon on Bolam and Byrne website: http://www.bolamandbyrne.co.uk/

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For the first time in its history, the 2012 Costa Prize includes a category for short stories.

This award is for a single, previously unpublished short story of up to 4,000 words by an author of 18 years or over. The story must be written in English.

The closing date for entries is 4pm on Friday 7 September 2012. A shortlist of six entries will be announced in November and the public will be asked to vote for their favourite. The winner will be announced at the Costa Book Awards ceremony in late January 2013 and will receive a cheque for £3,500. Two runners-up will each receive £750.

The author need not have been previously published. Publishers/agents may submit entries on behalf of authors.

To find out more or to enter a story visit the Costa Books website.
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