Author Archives: Shaun Levin

Is Your Work Too Intense?

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deadline 10 janIf it is, we’d like to see it. The A3 Review and Press is seeking flash fiction or short stories that overshare, are deeply lyrical, and say something about what it’s like to be alive at this point in time. Deadline is 10th January 2020.

For examples of the kind of prose The A3 Press publishes, check out MASH by Lena Ziegler, Jason Jackson’s The Unit, and My New Car by Alan Sincic.

Selected titles receive £200 and 10 copies of the published work.

For more details and how to submit, visit their Submittable page here.

The A3 Review’s New Contest Themes

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issue_11_cover_grandeThe A3 Review has recently launched Issue 11. We’ve also just posted new themes for our monthly contests. Publication and cash prizes for winners. To enter and for more details, please visit our Submittable page by clicking here. The next few themes will be included in our “T” issue, so we’re looking for short stories (as well as poems and artwork) about : Tablets, Transformations, and Thanatos.

The two winning entries from September 2019 to February 2020 will make up the list of contributors to Issue 12 (The “T” Issue). From this list, three overall winners will receive cash prizes: 1st = £250, 2nd = £150, 3rd = £75. Issue 12 will appear in April 2020.

The word limit is 150 words, so we’d particularly like to see flash fiction and mini essays. Our $5 (approx £3.50) submission fee helps us cover admin and printing costs and makes sure we can keep offering cash prizes.

Visit The A3 Review’s website to see some back issues. The A3 Press also publishes chapbooks and is open for submissions until December the 10th.

30 Days of Writing, An Online Course

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30 days course30 Days of Writing is an interactive online course that encourages and supports writers in the process of writing a book in a month. For the thirty days of the course, the focus will be on your writing, on finding the right voice to tell your stories in, and on exploring ways to expand and layer a collection of short stories.

The course is led by the writer and tutor, Shaun Levin, editor of The A3 Review and author of Seven Sweet Things, A Year of Two Summers, and the writing guides, The Writing Notebooks.

30 Days of Writing is right for you if:

  • you want to create a substantial amount of writing in a short period of time
  • you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by the collection you want to write and would appreciate some guidance and detailed feedback
  • you have an idea for a book but are not sure how to go about writing it
  • you like working in the company of others, but also enjoy the comfort of writing in your own space and at a time that suits you
  • you have notes and fragments towards a book, and would like some input on how to organise everything and keep going
  • you’d like to experiment with different ways of putting together a book, whether using text on its own, or combining text with photographs and illustrations

Tutor: Shaun Levin
Dates: 1-30 November 2019
Fee: £380

For just over £12 a day, you’ll receive:

  • detailed feedback
  • daily writing prompts
  • customised prompts and suggestions
  • 2 x one-to-one consultations
  • the company of other writers from around the world
  • 2 x the 12 Doable Writing Projects Writing Map
  • and the support to figure out what it takes to write your next book.

For more details about 30 Days of Writing, click here. Please email maps@writingmaps.com for any questions about the course.

Write a Book in June. It’s doable!

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30 days

30 Days of Writing is a practical online course for writers who’d enjoy the challenge of putting together a book in a month.

The course is especially suited to anyone who’d like to take on a short story project not necessarily linked to a book project you’re working on. It’s an opportunity to create that passion project you’ve been mulling over for years, and to explore different concepts of what consitutes a book.

The course is run by the writer Shaun Levin, who is also the editor of The A3 Press, a new chapbook press, and the creator of Writing Maps.

The online course is devised so that you can start a project from scratch and complete a first draft by the end of June. The course is a month-long commitment, and will benefit anyone who’d like the inspiration and support to write daily for 30 days alongside other writers from around the world.

To find out more about the course, please click here.

Whether you’re writing fiction, non-fiction, hybrid writing, creating comics or illustrations, we’ll look at how to create a layered and dynamic work. Some of the elements we’ll focus on will include: movement in time and place, conflict and tension, chronology and tone, as well as ways to enhance your text through research and the inspiration of genre companions.

The primary focus throughout the course will be your daily practice of writing and the creation of your book.

Dates: 1 June – 1 July 2019

Fee: £260 (£200 early-bird rate before 30 April)

limited to 15 participants

About the tutor: Shaun Levin is the author of Snapshots of The Boy, A Year of Two Summers and Seven Sweet Things, amongst other books. He has been teaching creative writing for over twenty years and has worked closely with writers at all stages of their journey towards publication.

 

The A3 Press is Open for Business

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a3 press logoThe A3 Press has just launched it’s first two chapbook titles, and three more will be released by the end of March 2019. Created by the folks who publish The A3 Review, The A3 Press will publish 10-12 chapbooks every year.

We are open for submissions, and are looking for prose, poetry and artwork that tackles what it’s like to be alive at this point in history. We celebrate urgent work that might struggle to find a traditional home, work that’s lyrical and intense, a bit weird, hybrid and experimental. We also welcome work that’s traditionally beautiful. Please visit our Submittable page for full details. Deadline for chapbook submissions is 31 May 2019.

You can see our first chapbook titles here.

The A3 Review continues to run it’s monthly contests and to publish two issues every year. To be in the running to qualify for our next issue, Issue 10, enter our February contest on the theme of Romance. Full details here.

We look forward to reading your work, and do get in touch with any queries: a3@writingmaps.com

Three New Things from The A3

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A3 press copyThe A3 Review & Press announces its new monthly contest themes: Romance, parties, and whatever the word “top” inspires you to create. Anything from spinning tops to top-shelf magazines. Click here to see all the new themes, each with a deadline on the 4th Saturday of the month.

The current issue of The A3 Review has recently been published and is available to order here. Stories, poems and artwork about fairs, fireworks, and fathers, along with flies and zebras, too. Nancy Stohlman answers questions in the issue’s A6 Q&A.

The A3 Press is soon to launch alongside The A3 Review. The press is looking for manuscript submissions for this new chapbook press. Deadline for submissions is the 20th of November. Do you have a series of short stories, or maybe a long story that can be spread out over several pages? Do you have a combination of drawings and short stories? Or even photographs without text that would fit into our The A3 Press’s map-fold format.

The A3 Press will be a place for work that might struggle to find a traditional home, work that’s lyrical and intense, a bit weird, perhaps, hybrid, experimental. For all the details, please click here.

If you’d like to support the new press, you can also pre-order the first 6 titles via the website here.

New Small Press: The A3 Press

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a3 press logoThe A3 Review is launching The A3 Press, a new small press for short stories, poetry and artwork. All our titles will be printed in our signature map-fold format. Click here for all the details and find us at TheA3Press.com.

Think of us as a chapbook press, a place for work that might struggle to find a traditional home, work that’s lyrical and intense, maybe a bit weird, hybrid, experimental. We also welcome work that’s traditionally beautiful. We like work that is urgent, that says something about what it’s like to be alive at this point in history.

Our first six titles will appear in early 2019. We’ll then publish six new titles every six months.

Deadline for manuscript submission is 20th November. Visit our Submittable page, where you can also find details about our regular monthly contests and The A3 Review.

We’re excited to see where this new publishing adventure takes us and look forward to reading and seeing your work. Please do get in touch with any questions you may have.

Thieves and New Contest Themes

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new themes 2 copyOur next contest deadline is July the 28th, and we also have new monthly themes for other A3 Review contests till November. We’re looking for short fiction, mini essays, poetry and artwork on the theme of Ears, Hats and Triangles, for example.

Visit our Submittable page for all the details.

The next theme is Thieves. Hearts, heists, identities, or apricots from a neighbour’s tree. We like work that feels immediate and edgy, so check out the prompts and start creating now! We welcome submissions from around the world.

Three winners per issue receive cash prizes, and all monthly winners receive contributor copies, back issues and Writing Maps. All the details are here.

You can read some of the work that we feature in The A3 Review on our Instagram page.

Any questions, please do write to us at a3 [at] writingmaps.com

To the Moon and Back

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The A3 Review is looking for entries to their May contest. This month, they’re inviting stories, poems and artwork on the theme of The Moon. Mystery, cheesy, bloody, science-fictiony, or with cows jumping over it… they welcome all moon-inpired stories.

Stories about werewolves, high tide and low tide, moonlit sonatas, stories based on myths and folklore. Stories about dancing to the light of the moon. What happens to you on nights when the moon is full? Write about that!

For more lunar inspiration, and to enter The A3 Review‘s May contest, check out our Submittable page.

As always, the word limit is 150 words, and all artwork needs to fit into an A6 panel.

Mooning anecdotes most welcome!

Visit them at TheA3Review.com.

 

Going Round in Circles?

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circlesIf you’re going round in circles, we want to hear about it. This month’s theme is the title theme for our next issue, Issue 9, The Circles Issue.

The A3 Review is looking for stories, poems and artwork about circles of trust and circular logic, running circles around someone and being in or outside the circle. We’d love stories and concrete poems in the shape of a circle or a spiral. See our Submittable page for all the details and more inspiration.

Each month’s 2 winners are published in The A3 Review, receive gifts from Writing Maps, and are in the running to win cash prizes. All the details are here.

Our current issue, Issue 8, is at the printers, and should be on its way out into the world by the end of April. Pre-order a copy here.

Can You Play the Guitar?

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a3 guitar contestAnd even if you can’t play the guitar, you’ve probably tried, or know someone who plays, or wanted to play, or serenaded you. The A3 Review‘s March contest theme is: GUITAR. For immediate inspiration, listen to BB King and write the blues.

You could write about a busker who becomes a star, or the family that jams together, or write about your first guitar teacher. Write an ode to your favourite chord: E, Dm7, or maybe C major 7 as a barre chord. Explore guitar-related settings like a Flamenco bar, the campfire on a holiday beach, or being part of the crowd at a music gig. Write about a late-night smoky blues bar in New Orleans.

Have you ever boarded a plane with a guitar? Read Debra Marquart’s beautiful poem “Traveling with Guitar” to trigger your memory.

Click here for more inspiration and ideas, and details about our contests and prizes.

Deadline is Saturday, 24th March.

We invite you to use the language of guitars as prompts for prose or poetry: riffs, licks, hammer, pull, slide, bend, distort, reverb, overdrive. Listen to an album by your favourite guitar band on a loop as you write, imagine being on a festival stage with a wild crowd in front of you, just about to strike your first chord…

The A3 Review publishes short stories, flash fiction, poetry, comics, graphic stories, memoir, photographs, illustrations, and any combination of the above. The only restriction is a word-limit of 150 and images should fit well into an A6 panel.

Visit our Submittable page for more inspiration and details.

PS. Our Issue 8 is almost ready to launch. Click here to pre-order your copy.

Issue 8 and a New Press, Perhaps

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Issue 8 coverWe’ve been thinking that it could be fun to set up a small press. The A3 Press. Same kind of format as The A3 Review and Writing Maps, a place for writers and artists to publish short work. We’re imagining these beautifully designed chapbooks that fold out. Let us know what you think! If you click here, you’ll be taken to the survey.

We’re almost ready to start compiling Issue 8, The Gold Issue. This month is the last opportunity to be included in our next issue. The theme is brief encounters and the deadline is Saturday, 24th February. Quickies, chance meetings, a brief exchange that changes a life. Click here for all the details and some further suggestions. You can also pre-order a copy of Issue 8 here.

For all our future contest themes, check out our Submittable page.

Happy Writing!

6 New Themes at The A3 Review

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new themesHappy New Year from the editors of The A3 Review. We’re looking forward to another year of inspiration. There are still a couple more themes – Losing It and Brief Encounters – till we start putting together Issue 8 (The Gold Issue). For prompts and more details, click here to visit our Submittable page.

And already the work on Issue 9 has begun, too… the new themes for Issue 9 (The Circle Issue) are up on our Submittable page. Check out our monthly contests and send us your flash fiction, poetry and artwork inspired by thieves, guitars, wheels, and the moon. We hope you’ll enjoy the new prompts and that they’ll inspire you to try out new themes in your work.

Happy Writing!

Shaun Levin and KM Elkes, Editors, The A3 Review

The Gilded Lily & Gold Lamé Shorts

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The prompt for this month’s A3 Review contest is: Gold Things. We suggest writing about all that gliters and is gold. Submit flash fiction, brief essays and poems about lost wedding rings, edible gold leaf and hidden gold bullion. Tell the story of a heist in 150 words, or write a poem about a heist gone wrong. Tell the story of a day in the life of a detectorist. Write the story behind the gold medal you won, or almost won, or wish you’d won.

You could explore different idioms with “gold” in them: a heart of gold, good as gold, silence is golden. Write about rainbows and what’s at the end of them. You could write a non-fiction piece about the brutal reality of gold mines. Tell the story of a person looking back at the golden age of their life, or make it your story.

Be inspired by Rachel Hadas’ poem “Green and Gold” and Sandra M. Gilbert’s “Gold Tooth” – then write about your own golden fruit and gold tooth.

Some suggestions for opening words… start with “Gold is the colour of…” or “When I think of gold…”

This month’s contest is inspired by The Description Writing Map.

As always, The A3 Review welcomes short stories, flash fiction, poetry, comics, graphic stories, a snippet of memoir, photographs, illustrations, and any combination of the above. The only restriction is a word-limit of 150 and images should fit well into an A6 panel.

Come say hi on Twitter @TheA3Review

Windows and Reminders

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stamp windowWe’d like to remind you that Issue 7 of The A3 Review is here. Click here to order a copy. We’d also like to remind you that the November deadline for our monthly contest is just a few days away. November the 25th is when we start reading submissions for our WINDOWS-themed contest.

Click here for inspiration and prompts, and for submission details. You could write about windows you’ve looked into and windows you’ve looked out of. Or write about a character standing at a hotel window, witnessing something they’ll never forget, or something that makes them laugh. Look into the metafictional potential of the window…

You could write about broken windows and throwing pebbles at a lover’s window. Write about glasshouses. Write about a particular type of window, anything from a witch window to a bay window. Write about eyes, for they are the window to the soul. Write about a character who loves to window shop, or a day in the life of a window dresser.

You could write about the windows in your day, or a character’s day and call it “All the Day’s Windows” or “A Day of Windows.” You could write a piece and start with the words: “The tiny window in his cell…” or “From the hospital bed she could see…” or, to steal the opening lines of a famous song: “Looking out on the pouring rain…”

This month’s contest is inspired by the Write Around the House Writing Map. As always, we welcome short stories, flash fiction, poetry, comics, graphic stories, a snippet of memoir, photographs, illustrations, and any combination of the above. The only restriction is a word-limit of 150 and images should fit well into an A6 panel.

One more reminder… our Brief Critique option is still only $15 (that’s about £11, depending on the state of the world on any specific day!). More and more writers are taking us up on the offer, and this is what some have said: “Very constructive. Good level of detail… Intelligent, direct, and useful suggestions for improvement.” For just $15 we’ll provide a line edit of your submission and feedback on ways to take your work to the next level. Choose the Brief Critique add-on, and you’ll be able to pay together with your entry fee. Critiques are provided after the month’s winning entries have been announced.

And one fnal reminder… Write! Write Write! Write wherever you are. Here’s some suggestions from The A3 Review‘s editor, Shaun Levin.

Don’t Betray Your Calling!

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One of the fun aspects of putting together The A3 Review is coming up with the themes and prompts for each month’s contest. This month’s theme is particularly rich. One of those themes that you really need an entire novel to tackle, and we’re inviting you to do it in no more than 150 words! Betrayal. In 12-and-a-half dozen words or less. Do not betray your risk-taking disposition as a writer and an artist! This month’s theme is for you.

We’re looking for stories, poems and artwork that are political, personal or both. Secret betrayals and double crossings. From the banal to the Biblical. Write the Samson story from Delilah’s POV, for example. Or: What would Judas say? Write a poem about feeling betrayed by someone’s Tinder profile. He, or she, is definitely not as cute in real life!

Find inspiration in the words associated with betrayal: back-stabbing, double-dealing, disloyalty, treachery and duplicity.

Or tell the story of the first time you betrayed someone. What happened and where is that person today? Put into words what it feels like to be betrayed. Or what it tastes like, smells like. Write a poem of rage or forgiveness. Possible opening phrases could be: “We knew we’d been betrayed when…” or “This is how I betrayed him…” or “Just before she did it she…” or “It wasn’t the first time that…”

Click here for more prompts, suggestions, and details about how to enter this month’s contest. Deadline is the 28th of October. There’s also info here about the next few contests. If you think “Betrayal” is a juicy one, then there’s “Losing It” and “Brief Encounters” coming up, too.

When you enter our contests, don’t forget our popular (and very affordable) Brief Critique option. For just $15 we provide a line edit of your submission, along with 250 words of feedback on ways to take your work to the next level. Tick the Brief Critique add-on, and you’ll be able to pay together with your entry fee. Critiques are provided once the month’s winning entries have been announced.

We hope you’ll enjoy this month’s theme.

Agatha Christie in the Bath and Two Online Courses

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The A3 Review hosts a monthly writing contest, and this month’s theme is Naked and Nude. We read here that Agatha Christie wrote in the bath while eating apples. We googled for images, but there weren’t any, so we’re wondering: Who’ll write the story of the bathing novelist who said she specialised in “murders of quiet, domestic interest”? We like a good title, so how about: “Agatha Christie in the Bath”? Click here for more naked inspiration.

Deadline is 23rd September. 150 words max, or if you’re sending us artwork, it should fit nicely into an A6-sized panel. Click here to see all the new themes for Issue 8, The Gold Issue.

In the meantime, Issue 7 is almost here. The Silver Issue. We have 12 contributors, plus a story from flash fiction writer extraordinaire, Kathy Fish. There’s a maritime theme running through the new issue. Flowing through it! Whales and shrimp, to be precise. As well as stories and poems about a nun who steals a cross, a boy scout who’s unprepared, a teacher who learns, and some people who revel in their own dirt! From the depths of the ocean to the moon and space, with some complicated earthly relationships in between. If you haven’t pre-ordered already, you can do that by clicking here.

Some details about the two online courses… New dates are up for The A3 Review editor, Shaun Levin’s How to Map Your Book online course. The current one filled up pretty quickly, so you might want to grab a place for the course starting in November. If you’re eager to join a course now, there are still a few places on the Write Around Town online course that starts next week. Both courses are practical and focused on your own writing. It’s a great chance to get detailed feedback on your work, too. Check out both courses by clicking here.

Any questions about the courses or The A3 Review, please contact maps [at] writingmaps [dot] com

Silver, Gold, and Some Hard Cash

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gold thingsWe’ve got a silver-themed contest with a looming deadline; six new themes for Issue 8: The Gold Issue; and an increase in our cash prizes.

There’s still one last chance to be part of The A3 Review‘s Issue 7, The Silver Issue. This month’s theme is SILVER THINGS, so make sure to get your sparkly work in by Saturday the 26th August. Click here for glittery inspiration and to submit. The issue will also include a story by guest flash-fiction writer Kathy Fish alongside the winners of the last 5 months of contests, and this month’s winners, too.

In other news… The A3 Review‘s founding editor, Shaun Levin, is launching a new online writing course, How to Map Your Book. The course is suitable for writers at all stages of a book project, so if you’re putting together a collection of short stories, you might want to check out the details here.  There’s an early-bird rate for bookings up until the 20th August.

Do please spread the word about our new themes for Issue 8: The Gold Issue. Naked and Nude, Windows, and Betrayal are just some of the dramatic themes coming up! And, because our submission numbers are up, we’re able to increase the prize money from this issue. Click here for inspiration and more details.

Vote Now and Help The A3 Review Decide

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This month’s contest theme over at The A3 Review is inspired by The Raw Soul Food Map and Writing the Love Writing Map. Dates and Dating, respectively!

We’re looking for flash fiction, poems and artwork about sweet fleshy things. Dates! And yes, about dating, too. Sweet fleshy moments of love, potential love, and times when the sugar’s just not there! Write about a couple on a date in a noisy bar. Turn a Tinder, Findhrr or Grindr profile into a poem. Compose a praise song to the perfect dating partner, or an elegy to the date that went wrong!

Deadline is the 24th of June. The only restriction is a word-limit of 150 and images should fit well into an A6 panel. Visit our Submittable page for more details and to enter. Follow us on Twitter, too. There’s publication, Writing Maps and cash prizes for the winners.

Choose contest themes for The A3 ReviewNow, we need your help… Have your say in the new themes for our next issue, The Gold Issue. If you click here, you’ll be taken to the poll. As a thank-you, we’ll pick three winners from all respondents to receive a full set of The A3 Review (Issues 1 to 6).

Happy writing, and we look forward to reading your work.

PS. There are still three places left on the Write Around Town online course with The A3 Review‘s editor, Shaun Levin. Six weeks of inspiration, writing, feedback, and community. Check out all the details here.

 

Behave Yourself and Submit!

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Sit up straight, face the front, and no chewing in class! Yes, all you well-behaved andschool naughty people, this month’s A3 Review contest is on the theme of Teachers.

Inspired by the Write Through School Writing Map, we’re looking for short fiction, poetry and artwork on tutors, instructors, professors, mentors, personal trainers… any type of teacher. We’ve all had them and many of us are them!

Write about a memorable moment with a memorable teacher. Frustrated teachers, inspirational teachers, nervous newbies or those who’ve seen it all. Create something that delves into the heart of the teacher/student relationship. Explore different setting where teaching takes place: a farmer passing on knowledge to a child; an experienced soldier guiding a raw recruit; a chance meeting in a remote, dusty town that results in a lesson learned.

The only restriction is a word-limit of 150 and images should fit well into an A6 panel. To find out more about what kind of work we like at The A3 Review, check out the latest issue here, and see our submission guidelines here. This month’s deadline is Saturday, the 27th of May. Send us your work. It’s not compulsory, but it is for your own good!

Good luck and keep writing!