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Archive for the ‘Writing News’ Category

Co-founded by Nick Hornby in 2010, The Ministry of Stories is a charity that aims to encourage young people to tell stories. It was inspired by the example of 826 Valencia in San Francisco, a creative haven for children established by American novelist Dave Eggars. Based in Hoxton, north London, the Ministry of Stories has a great programme of workshops and projects for young people, and they’re advertising for a creative intern to help. The work ranges from organizing storytelling and writing workshops in schools to working with artists and writers as well as directly developing and facilitating writing workshops. This is a great chance for someone to get in at the ground floor of an exciting new organisation. The deadline for applications is 7 September. For more details and an application form, visit the Ministry of Stories.

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Gladstone’s Library, in Hawarden, Flintshire, is offering four writers the chance to spend a month in residence, working on their next book.  They will receive full board and lodging, travel expenses and a stipend of £100.00 per week.  The first writer in residence will be Naomi Alderman. Judges for the scheme are Sathnam Sanghera, Katy Guest, Rupert Thomson, Charlie Gladstone and Damian Bar. The closing date for entries: 22 August.

Writers will be expected to fall within the liberal (with a small ‘L’) tradition, which is defined by Peter Francis, Warden of the Library, as follows: ‘By liberal values, we mean: a commitment to freedom and social justice, tolerance and respect of difference, open-mindedness coupled with intellectual curiosity, generosity of spirit and a willingness to learn from others.  These values are not aligned with any particular political party.’

Each writer will be asked to keep a blog about their stay, run a creative writing workshop and an ‘Evening With’ event.  The hope is that, through reflection and writing, the four writers will help us redefine liberal values for the 21st century – their engagement might be critical, supportive or merely observant.

For more information and rules visit the website for Gladstone’s Library.

Under the direction of Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University is launching the second Manchester Fiction Prize for unpublished short stories by new or established writers from anywhere in the world. Judges John Burnside, Alison MacLeod and Nicholas Royle will be shortlisting and picking the winner of the £10,000 First Prize, to be awarded at a gala ceremony on 14^th October as part of the 2011 Manchester Literature Festival.

The winner of the inaugural competition in 2009 was Toby Litt (pictured left). For more information visit:  www.manchesterwritingcompetition.co.uk/fiction.

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The shortlist for the world’s richest short story prize has been announced. Two of Ireland’s big name writers, Edna O’Brien (Saints and Sinners) and Colm Tóibín (The Empty Family), rub shoulders with two first time authors, Canadian Alexander MacLeod (Light Lifting) and American Suzanne Rivecca (Death is Not an Option), as well as with former winner of the prize, Beijing-born Yiyun Li (Gold Boy, Emerald Girl) and American novelist Valerie Trueblood (Marry or Burn).

The award, created to honour the memory of Frank O’Connor (pictured), offers a first prize of €35,000 (£26,500). The winner will be announced at the Cork International Short Story Festival in September.

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 presents Shorelines: Literature Festival of the Sea, a small, intelligent and thought-provoking festival, celebrating  great writing on the theme of the sea. Curated by Lemn Sissay and Rachel Lichtenstein, this three-day event takes place over the weekend 15-17 July at Solomon Monk’s Pump House in Southend, Essex.

Highlights include readings by contemporary cult British authors Iain Sinclair, Jay Griffiths and Robert Macfarlane; a special production of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner performed by Lemn Sissay; Sri Lankan born artist and writer Roma Tearne; Chinese poet Yang Lian; prize-winning Icelandic author Sjon; American artist Thomas Joshua Cooper; an open air production of The Tempest; and an award winning adaptation of Hemingway’s world renowned novella The Old Man and the Sea by Magpie Blue Productions.

Download the full Shorelines programme HERE. For more info and tickets go to:  www.metalculture.com

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The annual Worlds Literature Festival takes place in Norwich from 20th-24th June this year, with a variety of public events and speakers including Joseph O’Connor, John Boyne, A.S. Byatt, Hisham Matar and many more.

Tuesday’s Summer Read event features a personal favourite of mine. Katie Kitamura (pictured) will be reading from her flawless debut novel about a prizefighter The Longshot (6pm, Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library). As it says on the back of the book, ‘Hemingway’s returned to life – and this time, he’s a woman’ (Tom McCarthy).

Click here for information on the participants of Worlds Literature Festival 2011.

The Bookseller reports that, the success of this year’s Save Our Libraries Day – with 120 events held across the country to demonstrate support for local libraries threatened with cuts and closures – has led to calls for an annual National Libraries Day. The plan has the backing of a wide range of organisations including the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, Campaign for the Book, the Crime Writers Association, the Publishers Association and The Bookseller.

In her acceptance speech on Monday (6th June), the new Children’s Laureate Julia Donaldson (pictured)  signalled her intention to be an advocate for the public library service during her two years in the role, saying: “I care very much about libraries and I’m looking for more opportunities to speak out against the cuts and closures I see as so damaging to our children’s future.” She has since announced she plans to take a tour of libraries across the UK.

Next week is the closing date for  a prize for unpublished writers that is beginning to develop quite a reputation for launching careers. Roshi Fernando, whose novel Homesick won the Impress Prize For New Writers in 2009, will now be published by Bloomsbury in the UK and Commonwealth, and in the US by Knopf, an imprint of Random House. Ginny Baily’s debut novel Africa Junction, which was shortlisted for the Impress Prize in 2007, has been published in 2011 by the Random House imprint Harvill Secker.

Roshi Fernando was also shortlisted for the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award this year.

More information about entering the prize here: Impress Prize

Congratulations to Arts Council funded independent publishers Route Online. One of their authors, Michael Nath, has been shortlisted for the prestigious James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel La Rochelle.  The winner of the prize – chosen by the Professor of English Literature at Edinburgh University, assisted by PhD students – will be announced at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival in August.

Established in 1919, the James Tait Black Prize is Britain’s oldest literary award. Two prizes are awarded each year, one for fiction, one for biography. Previous winners in the novel category include E M Forster, Siegfried Sassoon, Aldous Huxley, D H Lawrence, Evelyn Waugh, Muriel Spark, Iris Murdoch, Beryl Bainbridge, Angela Carter, John le Carré and Bruce Chatwin.

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