Tag Archives: Festival

John O’Connor Writing School Short Story Competition Update

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Did you submit to the John O’Connor Short Story Competition? We will be contacting the winner of the 2018 John O’Connor Writing School short story competition in less than a week. We wish you every success.

The prize is a free pass and accommodation to the Festival which runs 1-4 November in Armagh, intensive 3 day writing course, meeting with publishers at the Publisher Panel, an industry talk with a well known writer in your chosen writing course, £250, an opportunity to participate in Lyrical Lunchtime event on 4 November AND a 3 day writing retreat at the River Mill Writing Retreat in the heart of rural County Down. Exciting, or what?

‘No Borders, No Boundaries. Celebrate & Inspire’

The John O’Connor Writing School and Literary Arts Festival (1-4 November, Armagh, Northern Ireland).  It’s a packed programme featuring its aclaimed writing school wtih international class poets, song writers, prose, stage and screen writers and how-to-write experts. Fiction in all its forms, including the short story are represented, and we are delighted to welcome Tom Bromley of Faber Academy as tutor for our intensive writing course (includes Industry Talk and Publisher’s Panel event). New this year are four ‘taster’ sessions, and we are delighted to welcome acclaimed author Paul McVeigh as ‘Step Into Fiction Writing’. An award-winning short story writer, Paul also has a keen insight into what makes a good short story and will help you discover what competition judges and journal editors are looking for.

An additional dimension to the Writing School which runs from November 1 to 4 and is funded by the Arts Council for Northern Ireland and Armagh Banbridge and Craigavon Council, is a parallel Arts Festival of staged drama, lectures, talks, and music.

The writing school will be hosted in various historic locations around Armagh including libraries, hotels, bars and restaurants.

A full programme and more information on the John O’Connor Writing School and Literary Arts Festival 2018 is available on www.thejohnoconnorwritingschool.com

Courses & Events can be booked on: https://visitarmagh.com/johnoconnnor

Early bird discount (10-15%) up to 4 October.

V. Press flash submissions!!!

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V. Press will be open to submissions for flash fiction pamphlets in July 2018.

Shortlisted in the Michael Marks Publishers’ Award 2017, V. Press publishes poetry and flash fiction that is very very.

Publications include Carrie Etter’s Hometown, Jude Higgin’s The Chemist’s House, Charlie Hill’s Walking Backwards, Santino Prinzi’s There’s Something Macrocosmic About All of This and Michael Loveday’s flash fiction novella Three Men on the Edge.

V. Press currently publishes two fiction titles a year and is looking for stunning flash selections to publish next year.

The flash submissions window will be open throughout July 2018. Please do follow the submission guidelines at http://vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/submissions.html carefully.

There will be a V. Press showcase be at this year’s U.K. Flash Fiction Festival on Sunday, July 22.

 

 

Leicester Writes: Short Story Festival

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SHORT STORY FESTIVAL, SATURDAY 30th JUNE 2018, 10.30 AM – 6 PM

LCB Depot, Rutland St, Leicester, LE1 1RE

Join us for a wonderful celebration of all things small and wonderful as part of this year’s Leicester Writes Festival. The day will kick off with a two-hour workshop on writing and editing short stories with writers, Divya Ghelani and Rupert Dastur. The afternoon will be packed with author talks: award winning writers Rebecca Burns and CG Menon will be sharing their experiences of putting their short story collection together, and Jon McGregor and Alison Moore will be in conversation with Mahsuda Snaith to discuss taking the leap from writing short stories to novels. The evening will end in style with our Leicester Writes Short Story Prize anthology launch, where we will be celebrating the talents of this year’s longlist.

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM – ‘The Art of the Short Story’ Workshop

ln this session, Divya Ghelani will introduce and discuss several prizewinning short stories to assess short fiction techniques that are classic as well as experimental. She’ll cover aspects of character, voice, language, and intrigue within the short story form. This workshop is perfect for anyone looking to understand how the short form works and wants to write a successful short story. This session will include a number of writing exercises.

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM – Short fiction: An Editor’s Perspective

How do editors assess short fiction submissions? What are they looking for from short stories and flash fiction?

In this session, Rupert Dastur, senior editor at The Short Story will discuss what he likes and doesn’t like to see from manuscripts. He will offer an insight into how writers can edit their stories so they are ready for publication and offer suggestions on how to manage submissions. Rupert will also share his ultimate list of who to follow and what to read so you can learn from the best. With useful tips and tricks, this session is a must for anyone looking to build their career as a writer.

1:30 – 2:30 PM – How to Publish a Short Story Collection

Join Dahlia Publishing editor, Farhana Shaikh and award winning short story writers, Rebecca Burns and CG Menon as they discuss the process of putting together a short story collection. This session will discuss the publishing process as well as how writers select, organise and write short stories for a collection. Featuring readings with both authors and a book signing.

3 PM – 4 PM In Transit: From short stories to novels

How do writers transition from writing short stories to writing a novel? What skills do they develop in the process and what is it really like to work across forms? In this session, writers share their experiences of starting their careers by writing short stories before turning their hand to novel writing.

Featuring readings from award winning writer, Jon McGregor and Man Booker prize shortlisted, Alison Moore. Chaired by debut novelist and award winning short story writer, Mahsuda Snaith.

4:30 PM – 6:00 PM Leicester Writes Short Story Prize Anthology Launch

Join us to celebrate this year’s winning short stories in our prize giving ceremony and anthology launch. With readings from some of this year’s winners. Leicester Writes Short Story Prize was launched in 2017 to celebrate original short story writing. The judging panel included writers Rebecca Burns, Jon McGregor and last year’s first prize winner, CG Menon.

Tickets: Purchase your all-day festival ticket for just £20, workshops are included in the price.

To book your ticket please visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/leicester-writes-short-story-festival-tickets-45782026273

For more information please contact Farhana on f.shaikh@dahliapublishing.co.uk

Flash Fiction Festival UK, 2018

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Trinity sunny

Booking is now open for the 2018  Flash Fiction Festival UK funded by Bath Flash FictionAward, taking place at Trinity College, Stoke Hill, Bristol, Friday evening 20th July – Sunday late afternoon, 22nd July this year, 2018.

We’ve a great line of up workshops, talks, readings and book launches, by leading flash fiction writers and tutors from the UK, the US, Ireland and Germany as well as open-mic sessions for all participants.

TFlash-Fiction-Festivalhere’s an informal picnic and open-mic on Friday night in the extensive grounds where you can  meet and mingle with fellow flash fiction fans. We’ve a raffle with great prizes including a week’s writing retreat in Italy, a festival long mini competition with prizes, a bar, a book shop and the opportunity to submit fictions you begin at the festival  workshops to Flash Fiction Festival Anthology Two which will be published in 2018. All contributors receive a free copy.

We’d love you to come to learn about, write and read flash fiction and have fun with other enthusiasts. Beginners and experienced writers from all backgrounds welcome.  Places going fast. More details  and to book at flashfictionfestival.com  £200. (£230 includes all meals). Tea, coffee and biscuits free through out the workshop. Help with finding value accommodation. Six places for caravans.

Small Wonder Festival at Charleston

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Small Wonder Festival, Charleston’s annual celebration of short fiction, will take place between 27 September and 1 October 2017. The variety of this year’s programme confirms that although the texts may be compressed, the short form may contain a multitude of subjects, tones and styles. Short stories offer glimpses into the human condition and linger on in the mind, despite, even because of, their brevity and restraint. Don’t miss the shared experience of listening to and telling stories in the atmospheric tents at Small Wonder. During the festival you can listen to engaging speakers, take part in workshops and much more…

The festival kicks off on Wednesday 27 September with ‘Let Me Count the Ways’, an exploration of love in its many contexts and guises. Groundbreaking young writers Rowan Hisayo Buchanan and Gwendoline Riley will discuss their work with journalist Arifa Akbar.

let me count the ways

On Thursday 28 September we explore the challenges and advantages of the short story form in our event ‘Novella Perfection’. Novella enthusiasts and practitioners Cynan Jones and Megan Hunter will be in conversation with Alex Clark. “I believe the novella is the perfect form of prose fiction.” – Ian McEwan.

Unmissable on Saturday 30 September is ‘Welcome to the Caribbean’, with Jamaican writer Olive Senior, Trinidadian Anthony Joseph and Bahamian Helen Klonaris (British Council International Writer in Residence at Small Wonder 2017).
caribbean

A final highlight for any budding writers will be ‘Hitting the Ground Running’ on Sunday 1 October. This event promises a fascinating look at how to begin a career in writing short fiction, with debut authors Julianne Pachico and Jessie Greengrass speaking alongside agent Clare Alexander and publisher Mark Richards. Perfect for aspiring authors, those interested in the publishing process or short fiction fans, it will include an extended Q&A.

Visit the Small Wonder website for more information and many more events: https://www.charleston.org.uk/small-wonder/. Or join in the conversation on social media: #SmallWonderFest.

 

 

Flash Fiction Festival: Saturday 24th June & Sunday 25th 2017, in Bath.

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The first literary festival in the UK entirely devoted to Flash Fiction. Happening on the weekend of National Flash Fiction Day UK 2017, our first year will be taking place in Bath. Our venue, The New Oriel Hall, is a short bus ride or a twenty minute walk from the town centre, with wifi, disabled access and a hearing loop.The whole building is available for the festival.

The Flash Fiction Festival is for beginning and experienced writers who want to learn more about flash fiction – an exciting and continually emerging short-short form of prose, growing in popularity around the world. Come and be inspired by the UK’s leading flash fiction practitioners and to immerse yourself in writing, reading and listening to flash fiction throughout the weekend. All sections of the community, from all corners of the globe, are welcome.

Workshops and talks generously funded by The Arts Council England include: Vanessa Gebbie, Kit de Waal, Tania Hershman, Paul McVeigh, David Gaffney, Ashley Chantler, Peter Blair, David Swann, Meg Pokrass, Jude Higgins, K M Elkes, Christopher Fielden, Michael Loveday, and The National Flash Fiction Day Anthology Launch with Calum Kerr.

For more information and to book tickets, please visit our website: https://www.flashfictionfestival.com

We hope to see you there for a fun-filled weekend of flash fiction!

Submit your flashes to National Flash Fiction Day’s Micro Competition and Anthology!

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National Flash Fiction Day UK is on Saturday 24th June 2017, and we are open for submissions for our Micro Fiction Competition and our Annual Anthology! Entry for both are free!

Competition: There is no theme for our competition, so feel free to send us up to three of your stories that are 100 words or fewer! Deadline for entries for our Micro Fiction Competition is Friday 31st March 2017. You can find out more information here: http://nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/comp.html

Anthology: Once again we are delighted to open ourselves up to submissions for the annual NFFD anthology. This year the theme is Life As You Know It.

This year’s editors will be the Co-Director of National Flash-Fiction Day, Santino Prinzi, and renowned flash-fiction writer, Meg Pokrass.

We want stories inspired by the lens of your own experiences, stories that navigate life and the world as only your characters know how. Tales of hope, loss, fear, and resilience. Flashes about identity, vulnerability, and triumph. We want you to harness and make use of your own experiences in fiction: What are your secrets? What makes you cry? What keeps you awake? Feel free to interpret “life as you know it” however you like, but your flashes must fit the theme in some way.

However you care to work with our theme, we want to read your stories. The word limit is 500 words, and you can submit up to 3 stories. Please include them in the email as MS Word attachments, and follow all the guidelines below.

All writers who have a story selected for the anthology will receive a free print copy of the book upon publication. Deadline for entries for our Anthology is Friday 14th April 2017.

You can find out more information here: http://nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/anth.html

This year we will be launching the anthology the U.K.’s first ever Flash Fiction Literary Festival, which will be taking place in Bath.

Crediton Short Story Competition 2016

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Enter the second Crediton Short Story Competition with a 3,ooo word piece on FOOD.
CSSC2016LogoEntries to arrive by Sunday 24 April 2016 to stories@shakspeare.org
The competition is open to everyone and is split into two categories: Adults (18+ years old) and Young Adults (11 to 18 years old).
Prizes:
Top six stories will be published on the CredFest website
Adult first prize is £50 cash, publication in Riptide and receipt of Riptide vols 1-11 and a night in award-winning The Lamb Inn, Sandford.

For full details and T&Cs please go to the website.

Prizes announced at the Crediton Food and Drink Festival on Sunday 19 June 2016.

Arvon is Running a Flash Fiction Twitter Competition

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On Saturday February 27th, Arvon will run a science-fiction-flash-fiction twitter competition inspired by Bare Lit’s Afrofuturism panel.

Writers can submit their short-short-fiction (140 character or less) on Twitter by using the #6wordscifi hashtag or by visiting the Arvon stall at Bare Lit on Saturday February 27th. Writers are encouraged to write about utopias, dystopias, possible futures and Afrofuturism.

The winner, who will be judged internally and announced on Tuesday March 1st, will receive a £100 Arvon gift voucher.

Besides your short short fiction, here are some other ideas for using the hashtag on the day but obviously the sky and your imagination are the only limits:

–         To raise awareness of any flash fiction courses, workshops, competition you might be involved in

–         To get involved in the Afrofuturism debate which will no doubt be sparked by the brilliant panel organised by Bare Lit

–         To share your favourite work of Flash Fiction

 

The hashtag to use on Saturday February 27th is: #6wordscifi

Happy writing!

Flash, ah ah! Saviour of the Literary Kitchen Festival!

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Fancy performing on the Literary Kitchen Festival stage? Literary Kitchen Festival returns for a second year to Peckham, 12-18 October: a riot of writers, artists, musicians, publishers, agents and dogs. And we need your 300 word flash fictions.

Flash fiction is a very short story, from a heartrending 6-worder such as Hemingway’s “For sale: baby shoes, never worn”, or a more wordy 1,000 words. There are no rules.

So how can you make a teeny tiny story pack a punch? Here’s what short story writer David Gaffney[1], suggests:

  1. Don’t use too many characters
  2. Start in the middle
  3. Make sure the ending isn’t at the end – i.e. avoid leading up to a punchline
  4. Sweat your title
  5. Make your last line ring like a bell (i.e. reverberate in the mind of the reader after they’ve finished reading the story)
  6. Write long, then go short (i.e. don’t be frightened to edit and cut)

Fifteen stories will be chosen from this Open Call by our wonderful judges: poet and short story writer Eley Williams, and researcher and poet Prudence Chamberlain. Stories will be read at the Fest Flash event, Sunday 18 October, 1-1.30pm, as part of the All Tomorrow’s Publishers indie publishing fair.

So what are our judges looking for? Check out this great advice form Eley. “The best flash fiction encapsulates characterization, conflict and atmosphere with clarity and precision. If you feel like descriptions are jostling for the reader’s attention on the page, or that dialogue is crammed together in order to aid exposition, try removing them entirely from the draft and consider whether they are really necessary. Micro fiction should be short, sweet bait for the reader: weigh the balance of each word within your sentence(s) and make sure that every single one of them earns their place and position in the text. Too many adjectives, for example, might make the pace of the piece lag. Don’t resort to cliché unless you are playing with the stereotypes of language. Overall, try and see the word-count as a generative constraint rather than a stricture: be bold, and be deft!”

Awesome.

So get writing.

Email your submission to literarykitchen@gmail.com, with Fest Flash and your title as subject line. Please don’t put your name on your piece, as the stories will be judged anonymously. Submittees must be available to read at the event: The Peckham Pelican, Sun 18 Oct, 1-1.30pm. Deadline: 20 September. Good luck!

Our judges:

Eley Williams has had work printed in 3:AM Magazine, Ambit and Prospect journals and has a collection of short stories forthcoming from Influx press. She has twice been shortlisted for The White Review Story Prize, and is editor of the prose-poetry journal Jungftak.

Prudence Chamberlain is a researcher whose creative and critical work draws on feminism, affect theory and experimental poetics.  Her poems have appeared in 3:AM, HYSTERIA, Poems in Which, Jungftak and Luna Poetry.

If you feel inspired and want to take a 10 week short story course, the next Literary Kitchen Writers’ Workout course starts Monday 19 October. Check out the info here: http://www.literarykitchen.co.uk/courses/writers-workout/

 

Andrea Mason

Literary Kitchen Festival Director

[1] Gaffney, David, 2009. ‘Get Shorty: The Micro Fiction of Etgar Keret’ in Short Circuit, ed. Vanessa Gebbie. Salt, London.

To view the full programme and to book please visit: www.literarykitchen.co.uk/festival

 

BrockleyMAX festival live lit and writing workshop from Arachne Press

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Story Sessions logo copyThe Story Sessions are back – for a guest spot, maybe for good, depending… We are doing two events plus a workshop for BrockleyMAX. The first two are both on Saturday 30th May The Ladywell Gallery, (what used to be Misty Moon) behind The Ladywell Tavern 80 Ladywell Road SE13 7HS

Writing Workshop – Festival

5pm – 7pm Free; accompanied children over 10 welcome
Arachne Press presents a writing workshop on the theme of Festival. Get inspiration from the exhibition of photographs from previous BrockleyMAX festivals and write a new short story or poem, with the option to read it at The Story Sessions event in the evening.
 run by Cherry Potts
Story Sessions: Festival Tales
7.30pm – 9.30pm Free; accompanied children welcome
A live literature event with stories from Joan Taylor-Rowan and David Bausor, poems from Elinor Brooks and Jennifer A McGowan on a festival theme. Circuses, Street parties and more. Join in with Flash from the Floor – your chance to read your own festival piece (max 100 words).
brockley max ladywell gallery
And finally, on Thursday 4th June at Brockley Deli 14a Brockley Cross, SE4 1BE
The Story Sessions: Feast Tales
8pm – 9pm Free entry; accompanied children 10+ welcome
A free live literature event all about food Stories from Rosalind Stopps, Joan Taylor-Rowan and Jason Jackson, Poems from Jennifer A McGowan and Rob Walton, plus an extract from Devilskein & Dearlove,our Carnegie Nominated young adult novel by Alex Smith – mostly read by our actor friends Peter Noble & Gloria Sanders.
Join us for a story set in a cheese shop, Cranberry Sauce as an excuse for an illicit meeting, trying to win friends with cookies and taking tea with a demon, plus poems about oranges and bay leaves! Order appropriate food to ‘taste-along’.

Bristol Story Trail Needs Writers!

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Calling all doodlers, ponderers, writers, poets and dreamers!

Get ready for the Bristol Story Trail (starting 15th Feb 2015) brought to you by Dream of a Shadow, an online project bridging the gap between reality and fantasy through storytelling.

Dream of a Shadow is collaborating with published authors and budding writers in Bristol to map the city through the magic of storytelling in an event running alongside Bristol Storyfest 2015.

The more creative minds, the better. So we are currently looking for short story submissions from you – these can be as little as 50 words, or up to 1000 and should be based in Bristol (loosely in the area around Spike Island).

So take a moment and get involved in writing the city!

All stories submitted will be included in the Bristol Story Trail alongside several other writers as well as in exhibitions later in the year, with any contributors fully credited and promoted. For more information, or to email your submissions contact livingfictionbristol@gmail.com

Don’t have time to contribute? No worries – you can still get involved and discover the city of Bristol through some wonderful short works of fiction! Follow us on Twitter to find out how, and spread the word… @DoaSLiveFiction #BristolStoryTrail #WritingTheCity and keep an eye out for new stories on the Bristol Story Trail website

 

150206 Story Trail Poster

Solstice Shorts Festival approaches

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The nights are drawing in and the wind is blowing, perhaps you are thinking about roaring fires and mistletoe? Excellent! because those are the trappings of the SOLSTICE, the ancient new year when the shortest day of the year is celebrated because it means the light is about to return.

So why not celebrate Short Story Day too? The Solstice Shorts Festival is just round the corner – Sunday 21st December. (And yes, the astronomers at the Observatory did tell us that the days either side are technically shorter by something like 8 seconds).

We are reading brand-new short stories on the theme of TIME every half hour from Sunrise to Sunset, starting off in West Greenwich Library, at 8am (with breakfast to entice you out of your beds) until 11:30.

The stories are mainly being read by actors, although the judges of the competition that chose the stories will read their own work as well as hosting part of the day: Anita Sethi in the morning, and Robert Shearman and Imogen Robertson in the afternoon at The Royal Observatory (in Greenwich Park).

All those stories not enough to persuade you? There is also live music and FREE writing workshops.

A relaxing way to spend the last Sunday before Christmas.

Full details of everything that is happening and who is involved in the downloadable programme

and of course you can buy the book-of-the-festival, Solstice Shorts: Sixteen Stories about Time  from us at the library, or from the ROG bookshop, or Greenwich Waterstones on the day. A perfect Christmas Present!