Tag Archives: bad language

Bad Language February, Manchester

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Another month, and another Bad Language event is upon us.

This month we have two excellent literary events for you to get involved in.

First up, Bad Language are doing an hour of completely free words at the Royal Exchange as part of their SFX season on Friday 21st February. You can find information on that here.

We also have our regular Bad Language event at The Castle Hotel.

Our headliner for February will be Emma Lannie, who will be reading from her debut collection, ‘Behind a Wardrobe in Atlantis’.

Emma J. Lannie explores extraordinary moments within ordinary lives, that are evocative of fairy tale and myth. A magical collection of short fiction.

“Lannie explores the subtle dislocations that occur within relationships in a clear-eyed prose that is eloquent, graceful, and quiet. These tales occupy a landscape of emotional and physical impacts, of fallible characters longing for a connection but who find themselves at odds with the world, a world often sorrowful and darkly beautiful. Illuminating the fragility of human relationships, these are the sorts of stories we tell ourselves to survive. A truly remarkable first collection, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.” Ray Robinson.

On the open mic will be one of Bad Language’s very own hosts, as well as:

Tony Baxter
Tom Smith
Jackson Gadd
Sue Barnard
Alan Creedon
Stephanie Sabathy
Nadine West
Tom Kwei
Jake Duff

That’s Wednesday February 26th at 19:30. Free entry.

FACEBOOK LINK

January Round-Up

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Hello short story fans!
There has been so much activity at ShortStops since our last round-up that I’m still trying to catch my breath! First, congrats to Tracy Fells, the winner of a copy of the new Short Fiction journal – read Catherine McNamara’s interview with Short Fiction co -editor Tom Vowler. More interviews and giveaways of lit mags coming soon.

Here’s a round-up of the rest:

Workshops
Want to work on your own short stories? Check out the Writers’ Centre Norwich’s upcoming short story workshops.

Live 
We welcome bi-monthly Falmouth live lit night, Telltales, to our list – their first 2014 event is on Jan 28th. White Rabbit is taking Bernadette Russell’s multimedia story show, 366 Days of Kindness, on tour around the UK from Jan 10th – find out if it’s coming to a theatre near you. Seven of Gill Blow’s short stories have been adapted for the theatre  –  Take 7 will be performed in Sheffield on Jan 24th and 25th. Word Factory #19, featuring David Almond, Stella Duffy and Rebecca Swirsky, is on Jan 25th in London. And Bad Language is back for their first event of the year, on Jan 29th in Manchester.

Lit Mags
New additions to our pages include “surreal/irreal/gritty/realist” print mag Fur-lined Ghettoes, Octavius, a literary magazine for students in Scotland which is calling for submissions for Issue 3, and fortnightly online journal The Siren,

Tube-flash is back – The Casket of Fictional Delights has new flash stories inspired by the London Underground – and wants yours, too. The January edition of Long Story, Short is ‘Nutella’, by Katie M. Anderson, read an excerpt. Open Pen Issue 10 is now in the shops, get a sneak peak and a hint of upcoming events. Smoke, the London Peculiar, is calling for submissions for their London water-themed short story anthology, Smoke on the Water. And Neon Magazine wants your tiny fictions for a new project, Battery Pack.

Last Minutes & Gentle Reminders
Today, Jan 20th, is the last day to submit to Holdfast for Issue #2, ‘Animals, Beasts and Creatures’, so get your stories in. If you are an Irish citizen or resident, send your stories to the Davy Byrnes short story competition by Feb 3rd. The National Flash Fiction Youth competition is open for entries til Feb 21st. Number Eleven mag welcomes submissions for Issue 4, and Riptide Journal is open for submissions for Volume 10, on the theme of ‘Imaging the Suburbs’ (deadline March 1 2014).

Phew. I told you there was a lot going on. Enjoy! To get this by email every two weeks, glance slightly to your right and click on the link that says Sign Up For Our Email Newsletter.
Tania x

Bad Language in January

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Bad Language returns to The Castle Hotel, deep in the heart of Manchester’s Northern Quarter for another night of absolutely brilliant spoken word and poetry.

Our headliner is the fantastic Stephen McGeagh. His first novel, Habit is described as, “Think Bret Easton Ellis. On a writing break in the north of England. And all he packed was Fight Club and some early Stephen King novels. Stephen McGeagh’s powerful debut will stay with you for a long time.”

On our open mic, we’re proud to have a host of amazing spoken word performers, writers and poets. This month we’ve got:

Joy France
Sarah Dixon
James Varney
Fin Jackson
John G Hall
Dominic Simpson
Polly Checkland
Lenni Sanders
Trevor Meany

So get yourselves down to The Castle on Oldham Street on the 29th of January at 7:30pm. The event is free, and you can find more details here.