Tag Archives: the casket of fictional delights

Feb Fortnightly Round-Up II

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Welcome to February’s second fortnightly round-up. Here’s what’s been on a packed ShortStops blog over the past few weeks…
Tania x

Lit Mags

Octavius magazine has relaunched – and is now open to submissions. The Casket of Fictional Delights invites you to try out its Tubeflash Quizzes! Alt-Hist issue 7 is published and there’s a new issue of Jotters United, ‘Gotta Move on Out Now’. Bunbury Magazine gives us an update on the Things We ‘Ave Been Doing! Submissions are now open for Brain Of Forgetting’s 2nd issue, on the theme of ‘Poppies’.

February is ‘Otherworldly Originals Month’ over at Short Story Sunday! Shooter Literary Magazine is  calling for submissions for Issue #2, on the theme of ‘Union.’ . Neon Magazine has opened submissions for Battery Pack II, its second anthology of tiny stories.  Other mags still want your stories too: The Manchester Review has is calling for your submissions.

Competitions & Festivals
Holland Park Press is running a short story competition, I Is Another, deadline 31 August. Mslexia’s 2015 short story competition is accepting entries (women only), deadline March 16th. The Short FICTION short story prize is open for entries, deadline March 31st, as are the Felixtstowe Book Festival’s 2015 short story competition, deadline May 16th and The Moth’s International Short Story Prize, deadline June 30th.

Workshops and Courses
Paul McVeigh is running two workshops in March – on Social Media For Writers (London) and That Killer First Page – Submitting to Competitions & Journals (Belfast). Write Around Town, who are behind Writing Maps, are holding a series of writing workshops in London in April. Alison Clayborn is running a Flash Fiction workshop  on Feb 18th at the Brunel Museum in London.

Tips & Advice
Writing Short Fiction introduces some new February Faces on the site.

Live Lit

White Rabbit is having a Curioser and Curioser storytelling tea party on Feb 20th in London. Stand-Up Tragedy’s next event, Tragic Winter, is in London on Feb 28th and they are calling for submissions for the SUT blog. Words and Women are holding an event in Norwich to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8thand to launch their new collection of short prose.

Last Minutes and Gentle Reminders
You have until Feb 28th to submit your short stories for an anthology inspired by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, to be published by Freight Books.

Coming Up
Keep an eye on the blog tomorrow (Tuesday) for details of lit mag Trafika Europe’s radio campaign!

If you are eager for even more short-story-related news, do follow ShortStops on Twitter where, when we should be writing, we spend (far too) much time passing on news from lit mags, live lit events, short story workshops and festivals! If you’d like to review an event or a publication, drop me a line.

Happy reading, writing, listening and performing!
Tania x

Sept Fortnightly Round-up II

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Hello all,
Here’s what’s been happening on our blog over the past fortnight. As ever, if you’d like to contribute, drop me a line and I’ll explain how it works: shortstopsuk@gmail.com

Lit Mags

We welcome THREE new publications to our Lit Mags list: Winamop: “our content is international and eclectic”;  Short Story Sunday “a new online short story and flash fiction publication launching Nov 2014”, and Brain Of Forgetting: “an online forum for writing and artwork that relates to memory, history and heritage”. Check them out!

Brain of Forgetting got straight in there with a blog post calling for submissions on the theme of stones. And Writing Maps launches its new lit mag, A3, and its September contest. Talking of contests, Structo is celebrating the unveiling of Issue 12 with a Margaret Atwood competition.  And it’s last call for submissions of Christmas stories to the Casket Of Fictional Delights.

Jotters United publishes issue 6 and is calling for submissions for its women-only issue. Short Fiction journal wants your short stories. Holdfast is fundraising for its first ever print anthology. The Manchester Review is also calling for submissions for Issue 13.

Competitions

Words and Women launch 2 great new writing opportunities for women writers in the east of England. The London Magazine’s short story competition is now open, deadline, Oct 31st, and international entries are welcome. Magic Oxygen are running a short story and poetry contest, deadline 30th November. The WriteIdea Prize has unveiled its longlist.

Live Lit

Stand-Up Tragedy is holding its Edinburgh reunion event, Tragic Friends, on Sep 25 in London and is calling for submissions for its new-look blog. The Word Factory is holding its monthly live lit event this Saturday Sep 27th in London, as well as a masterclass and short story reading club. White Rabbit invites you to submit your spooky stories for Are You Sitting Comfortably?’s Halloween party on October 31st in London.

Workshops
Berko Writers is running a course on The Art Of The Short Story with Adam Marekfrom Oct 7 – Nov 18 in Berkhamstead.. The Tavistock Heritage Festival is runningtwo free workshops on historical fiction in October. Alison Clayburn’s autumn fortnightly Focus On Fiction course at the Brunel Museum starts today, Sep 22.

Last Minutes & Gentle Reminders
Last call for submissions of Christmas stories to the Casket Of Fictional Delights. The Historic House Short Story Comp (26 Sep) wants stories inspired by or set in a historic house.

If you are eager for even more short-story-related news, do follow ShortStops on Twitter where, when we should be writing, we spend (far too) much time passing on news from lit mags, live lit events, short story workshops and festivals! If you’d like to review an event or a publication, drop me a line.

Happy reading, writing, listening and performing!
Tania x

July Fortnightly Round-up II

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Hello everyone,
Here’s all the short story news from the ShortStops’ blog over the past fortnight.

Lit Mags

Things on the lit mag scene are rather “powerful” this month – check out Issue 38 of Neon Magazine – and Battery Pack makes its debut. And Don’t Do It has unveiled Issue 5, the Electricity issue. For your further reading pleasure, Bunbury’s fifth issue is the Mythology special. The deadline for this month’s Writing Maps contest has passed, but it has launched its new map, The Big Gay Writing Map.

The Manchester Review Issue 12 is now live and they are also calling for submissions for Issue 13. The Casket of Fictional Delights is calling for your Christmas stories! HeadStuff wants your writing, as does The Cro Magnon, for their website and perhaps for their travelling show.

Competitions

The London Short Story Prize is now open for entries, deadline Sep 19th. The new short story competition from VCLL is aimed at those from Leicester and the surrounding areas, deadline 12th Sept, and Magic Oxygen are running a new short story and poetry contest to create a tropical word forest, deadline 30th November.

More competitions: The 3rd annual A Spot of Hysteria Writing Competition run by the UK Hysterectomy Association (deadline Aug 31); the RAC’s national short story competition on the theme of Driving in Europe, deadline 11 Sept; Creative Industries Trafford’s flash fiction competition, deadline Sept 15th; and the Historic House Short Story Comp (26 Sep) wants stories inspired by or set in a historic house.

Workshops

The Berko Summer School is holding a series of one-off masterclasses, including a short story masterclass with Adam Marek tomorrow, July 29th.

Last Minutes & Gentle Reminders

The Sean O’Faolain short story competition and  Writeidea’s national short story contest, The Writeidea Prize both close on July 31st.

If you are eager for even more short-story-related news, do follow ShortStops on Twitter where, when we should be writing, we spend (far too) much time passing on news from lit mags, live lit events, short story workshops and festivals! If you’d like to review an event or a publication, drop me a line.

Happy reading, writing, listening and performing!
Tania x

June Round-Up 2

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Hello short story fans!
Here’s all the short story news from the ShortStops’ blog over the past fortnight.

Lit Mags

We’re thrilled to welcome two new lit mags to our list: Control Literary Magazine, “a free online magazine dedicated to giving you the best literature and artwork from new writers and artists”, and The Silver Lynx Sporadical, “a new literary journal based in Aberdeen… Our interest lies in only what can hold it”.

For your reading pleasure, Issue 7.1 of Flash! is out now, as is Spontaneity’s Issue 4, Only Human. Have a read of Jotters United’s Retro Issue, the June issue of Long Story, Short: The Art of Losing and Don’t Do it magazine’s Issue 4: Translations.

Popshot is open for literary submissions on the theme of Time. Here Comes Everyone would love to consider your short stories for the Boy/Girl issue and, starting early, The Casket of Fictional Delights is calling for your Christmas stories! HeadStuffwants your writing, as does The Cro Magnon, for their website and perhaps for their travelling show.

Workshops

The Berko Summer School is holding a series of one-off masterclasses, including a short story masterclass with Adam Marek on July 29th.

Competitions

The RAC is running a national short story competition on the theme of Driving in Europe, deadline 11 September.  The Sean O’Faolain short story competition is now open, deadline 31 July, which is also the closing date for Writeidea’s national short story contest, The Writeidea Prize.

Creative Industries Trafford are holding a flash fiction competition, deadline Sept 15th. You’ve missed Writing Maps June contest but it’s monthly, so check them out.  More contests: the 3rd annual A Spot of Hysteria Writing Competition run by the UK Hysterectomy Association is now open for entries (deadline Aug 31), and the Historic House Short Story Comp (26 Sep) wants stories inspired by or set in a historic house.

Find out which collections were shortlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. Read Stinging Fly editor Thomas Morris’s short essay Beautiful Animals: Theorising and Defining the Short Story (In Under 1000 Words).

Live Lit & Short Story Events
Don’t miss the Short Short Story Slam in Manchester on July 8th.

Live Lit Review: Louise Tondeur went to Rattle Tales’ Brighton Prize awards night for us: “”There was a sense that it is writing that’s important, not publication or prizes”…Read more >> 

Last Minutes & Gentle Reminders

Closing today: The Moth International Short Story Prize  and Kingston University’s two new short story competitions – one judged by Hilary Mantel and one, for stories to be read aloud, judged by Bonnie Greer.

If you are eager for even more short-story-related news, do follow ShortStops on Twitter where, when we should be writing, we spend (far too) much time passing on news from lit mags, live lit events, short story workshops and festivals! If you’d like to review an event or a publication, drop me a line.

Happy reading, writing, listening and performing!
Tania x

March Round-Up III

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Hello story lovers,
As March draws to a close a little dryer than it opened, here’s our roundup of what’s been happening on ShortStops over the past fortnight:

Lit Mags and Competitions
We welcome 1000Words to our lit mag list – flash fictions written to a picture prompt. Bare Fiction mag are giving away Issue 1 for free as they launch Issue 2, and there’s anew writer and new luggage from The Casket of Fiction Delights. Jotters United launches Issue 2, Myths of the Near Future are offering the brand-new Revolution Issue for free until Apr 3 and calling for submissions from under-25s for the Money issue.

Stinging Fly shares with us 10 Writers on Bad Advice They Chose to Ignore. Holdfast magazine announce a call for submissions for their first print anthology, deadline June 15th, and submissions open til May 31st for their online issue #3.

Read an extract from a story from Neon’s Winter issue and check out their call for proposal for chapbooks and pamphlets. The Moth International Short Story Prize is open until June 30th.

Live Lit & Short Story Events
We welcome London live lit night The Special Relationship to our list – and they are hosting a free event: a night of short fiction from Comma Press and the Croatian Writers’ Society in London on April 8th.

Workshops
Comma Press is holding a short story writing workshop in April in Manchester.

Last Minutes & Gentle Reminders
Today is the deadline for The Brighton Prize, a short story prize with a live lit twist, so get those entries in!

Anthologies
Submit a short story on the theme of Islands and Cities to a new Tasmanian-London anthology by April 30th.

Happy reading, writing, listening and performing!
Tania x

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