Tag Archives: Left Bank

Talking Tales #26 – 10th December – Bristol

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Talking Tales is open for submissions for the next event on Tuesday 10th December 2019.

Here is our manifesto:

  •  the ‘To Hull and Back Anthology 2019‘ will be launched on the night
  •  many of the authors featured in the anthology will be reading
  •  you could read too – this time stories of 500 words might get our vote
  • The Right Honourable Christopher Fielden will be the Leader of the House
  •  we pledge you will laugh and be entertained in equal measure

TaToHullAndBack2019frontcoverlking Tales is a lovely night of stories, with a warm audience in a great venue. If this sounds like your kind of party then put pen to paper and vote with your feet.

Submissions close late on Friday 29th November 2019 – send your stories by e-mail to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       we start at 6:30 pm on Tuesday 10th December 2019

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a Talking Tales badge.

Stokes Croft Writers would love to see you there.

P.S. It’s #26 – no recounts.

 

Talking Tales #24 – 20th August – Bristol

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Talking Tales is open for submissions for its flash fiction special event on 20th August. What’s special about it? You’re going to be there and you’re going to be reading.

If that seems a little presumptuous, let me explain. The flash fiction special is celebrating the art of very short stories, poems and all other forms of creative writing. We have an upper limit of 300 words and we have confidence in you.

We believe in your writing – whatever form that may take. We believe in your ability to knock our socks off at the beginning, the middle or the end. We believe you know that Talking Tales is a lovely night of stories, with a warm audience in a great venue. And we believe…this is the important bit…that between the tennis, the barbecue, the warm Summer nights, the paddling and the 99s – we believe you’ll pull your digits out and give us 300 of your best by 9th August (submissions close then). 

Hosted by the awesome Christopher Fielden who will also be launching two of his writing challenge anthologies on the night. Are you in them? If not, there’s no excuse not to be in the next ones.

Challenge Books  E-mail your submissions (300 words or less) to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       we start at 7pm on Tuesday 20th August 19 – doors open at 6.30

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a Talking Tales badge.

Stokes Croft Writers would love to see you there.

Talking Tales #22 – 9th April – Bristol

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2019 needs a Talking Tales don’t you think? There’s a lot going on this year, so between now and 9th April I fully expect there to be at least five seasons, 64 crucial Parliamentary votes and another pancake day.

Why not another pancake day? You will need sustenance and fortitude in preparation for a night of Talking Tales stories and performances. You will have some sweet syrupy words and some sharp biting ones, I’m sure – it’s always that way.

Filling and moreish, you have my word. You’ll have your words, in fact – if you submit. Submissions close on Friday 29th March.  We love your submissions!               

E-mail your story (c1,500 words or less i.e. to be read in less than 10 minutes) to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       we start at 7pm on Saturday 9th April 19 – doors open at 6.30

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a Talking Tales badge.

Stokes Croft Writers would love to see you there.

Talking Tales #19 – 16th June – Bristol

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Time to get off your lilo and get writing for the mid-Summer edition of Talking Tales.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

Talking Tales #19 is sun ripened, Solstice appropriate and beach-ready for anything you can throw at us. So go on, show us your black and white bits – on a page that is, constituting a story for the telling.

The people will be warm. The beer will be chilled. Wine will flow like…wine…and it all promises to be a roasting hot Saturday night in, always cool, Stokes Croft. Wear flip flops and your best shades and listen to a brilliant mix of stories and surprises. All you have to do is write a story (200 to 1500 words should do it) and be ready to read it out on the night. Then send it to us so we can choose the best mix for the best of evenings.

Submissions close on Saturday 9th June – at midnight.                            

E-mail your story (to be read in less than 10 minutes) to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:    Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       doors open at 6.30 and we start at 7pm on Saturday 16th June 18

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a Talking Tales badge

Stokes Croft Writers would love to see you there.

Talking Tales #18 – 21st April – Bristol

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SHORT STOPS - TT18

It is my pleasure to announce a full cast of Stokes Croft Writers are ready, waiting, fit, able and back in the country for Talking Tales #18. No gratuitously titled ‘work commitments’ (in what looked suspiciously like a beach) in Thailand. No snuffles. And with a full complement of Talking Tales badges… probably… Bristol awaits.

After a fantastic start to the 2018 season, April marks Talking Tales’ 3rd birthday. For this special night you will be hosted by the Stokes Croft Writers’ official photographer:  Thomas David Parker. So, as we hoover the red carpet and erect barriers for the riff-raff paparazzi, you have four things to do:

  1. write a stupidly brilliant story – 200 to 1500 words should do it
  2. send it to us – via e-mail to the address below
  3. prepare your best threads and polish the silver snuff-box
  4. practice your most photogenic of poses for Tom’s discerning lens

There will be doors and they will be thrown open at 6.30pm.

There will be brilliance – there always is, it could be yours.

Submissions close on Saturday 14th April – at midnight.                            

E-mail your story (to be read in less than 10 minutes) to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       we start at 7pm on the dot on Saturday 21st April 18

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a Talking Tales badge

Stokes Croft Writers would love to see you there.

Talking Tales #17 – 17th February – Bristol

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We’re going early for the first Talking Tales of 2018 – long before the weather, we’ll be the warm front you’ve been waiting for. Before the crocuses have bloomed, before you’ve started your third diet, before you’ve completely negated the effect of a dry January – we’ll be there for you.

There will be stories hot and cold, short and long, entertaining and hearty-breaking. There will be laughs, there will be surprises and there will be slush, probably – but of the city-snow variety rather than the ‘Love Is…’ cartoons. We’ll be looking ahead to the Spring, not looking back at the midweek romancing and tbh, we don’t know what we’ll get – it depends on what you submit. So get to it – surprise yourself and surprise us.

I said we’re going early and we are – a 6pm start. This will save you from the worst of weekend reality TV and leave you the second half of Saturday night to get home and read the Penguin classic of your choice. Send your thanks with your submission.

Submissions close on Saturday 10th February – at the last stroke of Match of the Day.                            

E-mail your story (to be read in less than 10 minutes) to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       we start at 6pm on the dot on Saturday 17th February 18 – doors open a bit before

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a Talking Tales badge.

Stokes Croft Writers would love to see you there.

Talking Tales #16 – 9th December – Bristol

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We made it to the darker recesses of 2017 and by way of celebration  Talking Tales #16 is going to make a present of some laughs. It’s that special time of year again when the distant sound of sleigh bells is Rudolph and his mates going to the launch of the To Hull and Back Short Story Anthology 2017

  • Unwrap prize winning stories of humour, comedy, the surreal and absurd, but most of all…THE FUNNY!
  • Hear the stories placed first, second and third read by their very own authors – live, on the night, with words coming direct from their mouths to your ears.
  • Smile, stroke and give thanks to the Santa Claus of this event: Christopher Fielden
  • And still there is room for more: submissions open now!

Look under your bed (past the dust, the empty gin bottles and the John Lewis monster) and see if you have a story in your archives to share. Attach it to an e-mail (not a letter to Lapland) and note that submissions for Talking Tales#16 close on 1st December.                            

E-mail your story (to be read in less than 10 minutes) to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       doors at 6.30pm on Saturday 9th December 2016

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a badge.

Stokes Croft Writers would love to see you there.

Talking Tales #15 – 28th October – Bristol

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It’s back – full-on and foolhardy. Full of promises more reckless than the last… Talking Tales #15 is now open for submissions.

If anticipation is half the enjoyment, then you’ll be completely thrilled to know that Stokes Croft Writers bring Talking Tales back home to Left Bank. It will be an awesome Autumn night – one of many in the 2017 Bristol Festival of Literature.

Before you’ve even put your fireworks in the biscuit tin (remember that?), take advantage of the bright Harvest Moon and get writing. We want to hear your stories – short or long, pensive or personal, comic or tragic, fantastic and fabulous.

Writers with a story that is all your own work, that you can read (in less than 10 minutes) and that is worthy of a Christie Cluett introduction – submit now!!!

Submissions for Talking Tales#15 close on Friday 20th October.                            

E-mail your story to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       6.30pm on Saturday 28th October 2017.

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines‘ competition – win a badge.

We often smile in adverbs (supportively, happily, proudly) at new writer-performers.

Talking Tales #15 – 12th August – Bristol

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The glorious 12th – never more so! I don’t mean the start of the football season and I don’t mean shooting of any other kind. I mean Talking Tales #15 is now open for submissions and is going to shake its tail feathers at you Saturday 12th August 2017.

Fresh from their one-date stadium tour at the Bath Fringe Festival, Stokes Croft Writers bring Talking Tales back home for the holidays. As the masses curse the width of Cornish country lanes, as the drips from a melting 99 ruin many a t-shirt and as the school run equinox occurs (equal distance from the last to the next), you…yes you…can fly safely to our roost.

Writers with a story that is all your own work, that you can read (in less than 10 minutes) and that will make our audience warble in appreciation – submit now!!!

Submissions for Talking Tales#15 close on Friday 4th August.                            

E-mail your story to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       6.30pm on Saturday 12th August 2017.

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a badge.

We particularly welcome submissions from grouse and other avian friends.

And we often smile in adverbs (supportively, happily, proudly) at new writer-performers.

Talking Tales #13 – 22nd April – Bristol

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Unlucky for none Talking Tales #13 is still open for submissions until Friday 14th April and is due for take-off on Saturday the 22nd.

We can guarantee:

  • Complimentary smiles from all at Stokes Croft Writers
  • In-flight entertainment with stories to make you laugh, ponder, squirm and shiver
  • Unbroken sunshine…or if not that, a very warm welcome
  • A safe landing and happy times until you fly with us again

Our promise: if you book your seat at Talking Tales, you will fly with us. We have never felt the need to call security and have anyone dragged down our aisles.

Submissions for Talking Tales#13 close on 14th April.                            

E-mail your story (to be read in less than 10 minutes) to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       cabin crew prepare for take-off at 6.30pm on Saturday 22nd April 2017.

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a badge.

We’d love to see you there – it’s our second birthday.

Talking Tales #12 – 18th February – Bristol

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talking-tales-badge

Love is…they say…the sweetest thing.

So just after Valentine’s Day, whilst you’re still flushed from being on the sharp end of Cupid’s arrow,  Talking Tales #12 is going to spice things up a little!

TT12 isn’t just themed. TT12 is BAD EROTICA themed.

That’s right, we’ll be unfurling the petals of some naughty, saucy and silly stories. We shall be breathless with excitement and throbbing with anticipation as 5o shades of Stokes Croft becomes a reality.

I am told that dress-up is encouraged: ‘fishnets, glitter, sequins, feather boas, drag …anything you fancy. The more outrageous and colourful, the better’, I think this means on the night, although if you want to dress up whilst writing a submission, I’m sure that would be fine too.

We shall conclude..as ever…with the audience inspired orgy of wit that is Finish The Lines and the award of badges.

Submissions for Talking Tales#12 close on 10th February.                             

E-mail your story (to be read in less than 10 minutes) to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       6.30pm on Saturday 18th February 2016

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a badge.

Stokes Croft Writers would love to see you there.

Talking Tales #11 – 10th December – Bristol

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The end of 2016 needs laughter and genius in equal measure – it’s been quite a year. Luckily, Talking Tales #11 is going to defy the dodgy exit polls and deliver on its promises.

What we promise is all of this:

  • Stories of humour, comedy, the surreal and absurd, but most of all…THE FUNNY!
  • The launch of the To Hull and Back Short Story Anthology 2016 brought to you by the amazing Mr Christopher Fielden
  • Fabulous readings by some fabulous authors
  • The best cover in history
  • Gratuitous use of the word ‘awesome’ – don’t say I didn’t warn you
  • And you? A few places remain for submissions on a humorous theme.

Submissions for Talking Tales#11 close on 2nd December.                            

E-mail your story (to be read in less than 10 minutes) to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       doors at 6.30pm on Saturday 10th December 2016

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a badge.

Stokes Croft Writers would love to see you there.

Talking Tales #10 – 22nd October – Bristol

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STOKES CROFT BANNER2

The August Talking Tales was fantastic, but Talking Tales #10 is going to be even better! Trust me…I’m a writer.

We can promise all of this:

  • Entertaining, downright funny and edgy stories to make you laugh, shudder or to stir your emotions
  • Being part of this year’s amazing  (BFOL)
  • Great music, from the brilliant and most appropriately named band in the world – The Bookshop Band

Writers – submissions for Talking Tales#10 close at on 14th October. E-mail your story (to be read in less than 10 minutes) to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward: 

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       7.00pm on Saturday 22nd October 2016

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a badge.

Stokes Croft Writers would love to see you there.

Talking Tales #9 – Submissions deadline 5th Aug

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STOKES CROFT BANNER2

Talking Tales is coming home on Saturday 13th August 2016…

…with a 5-Star review from its recent visit to the Bath Fringe Festival.

Expect entertaining and edgy stories to make you laugh, shudder or to stir your emotions. Talking Tales wants to share its ‘amazing familial atmosphere’ with you and the Pokémons you’re chasing. Some might think it is ‘an excellent way to spend the evening’ and an ‘entertaining and inspiring night’ – we couldn’t possibly comment.

 

Writers – submissions for Talking Tales #9 close at midnight on Friday 5th August. E-mail your story (to be read in less than 10 minutes) to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       6.30pm on Saturday 13th August 2016

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a badge.

Stokes Croft Writers would love to see you there.

Talking Tales @ Bath Fringe Festival: 5th June

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More Banksy Than Bonnets Bath Fringe Festival

Talking Tales, Bristol’s finest story telling night, is going on tour – to the Bath Fringe Festival.

Stokes Croft Writers bring a selection of tales from Bristol’s best writing talents to Burdall’s Yard. Expect entertaining and edgy stories from the creative heart of Bristol and beyond.

More a cultural exchange than an inter-city invasion, but we might bring our superheroes and zombies. We might bring our Beryl and we will certainly bring our badges. Who knows…we might even bring Banksy*.

Probably for one night only, although the temptation to set up an independent state may yet get the better of us.

Bonnets not required.

Tickets are £5 or 2 for £8 – available here: Tickets Starts at 8pm.

* re Banksy – who’s going to know?

Talking Tales

 

 

 

 

Talking Tales #7 – Submissions deadline 8th April

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Talking TalesTalking Tales is having a first birthday party on Saturday 16th April 2016.

There have been 12 months, 6 events, 51 stories and language you just wouldn’t expect from one so young. Who knows what the terrible twos have to offer? It could be you!

Writers – submissions for Talking Tales #7 close at midnight on Friday 8th April. E-mail your story, to be read in less than 10 minutes, to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       doors open 6.30pm, stories start at 7pm on Saturday 16th April 2016

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a badge.

Stokes Croft Writers would love to see you there.

And in other news:

  • Talking Tales goes to the Bath Fringe on Sunday June 5th…very exciting
  • Talking Tales#8 pencilled in for June 18th…mid-Summer madness

Talking Tales #6 – Stokes Croft, Bristol: Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines…

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Talking TalesThe next Talking Tales is soon upon us.

Writers – you’re used to deadlines. Some of you will be deadline junkies, waiting until the last minute to submit your story on the premise that the best will be the last. Whether that’s your style or not, submissions for Talking Tales #6 close at midnight on Friday 12th February. E-mail your story, to be read in 10 minutes, to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Audience members – friends, family, story telling fans, curious passers by – you’re all welcome. But you have lots to do as well. Don’t forget to rest your smiling muscles, book a babysitter, water the camels, practice applauding and…

…look up the venue:       Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…synchronise watches:  it starts around 7:30pm on Saturday 20th February 2016

…get unfinished lines:    so you can practice finishing them.

Stokes Croft Writers are sleepless with excitement and will see you there.