Tag Archives: writing map

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

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

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.

 

The A3 Review Launches 6 New Writing Contests

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issue 3We’re almost ready to put together Issue #3 of The A3 Review. There’s still time to qualify, if you enter this month’s writing contest on the theme of HANDS.

Then it’s on to Issue #4! We’ve launched the six writing contests whose winners will make up the contributors of Issue #4. You can see the six new themes if you click here.

If you’re new to The A3 Review, you can read more about the fold-out lit mag here. Basically, it’s a lit mag that behaves like a map. All contributions are under 151 words. There’s a small entry fee, and the ultimate three winners receive cash prizes; all winners are published in the magazine and receive Writing Maps.

The themes for the upcoming Writing Contests are:

  • September: TALKING ANIMALS, Deadline 26 September
  • October: THE STORY OF A GARDEN, Deadline 24 October
  • November: TABLE MANNERS, Deadline 28 November
  • December: YELLOW THINGS, Deadline 26 December
  • January: PUNISHMENT, Deadline 23 January 2016
  • February: THE HEART, Deadline 27 February 2016

Read the full details here. And sign up to The A3 Review‘s newsletter here.

The two winning entries from each month will appear in Issue #4 of The A3 Review and will constitute the shortlist. The three overall winners from the shortlist will receive prizes as follows: 1st = £150; 2nd = £75; 3rd = £50. All winning entries will receive contributor copies, Writing Maps and other goodies.

Writing Maps: The Tea and Coffee Contest

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New Cafe Writing MapThis month’s Writing Maps Writing Contest is all about tea and coffee. It coincides with the launch of our revamped Cafe Writing Map and also with UK Coffee Week. That’s a little preview on the left of the new Writing Map, and if you click here, you’ll get more details about this month’s contest. There are still a few copies left of the original Cafe Writing Map, so grab yourself a copy by clicking here. We’re donating £1 from every map sold to UK Coffee Week’s Project Waterfall. Winners of each monthly contest are published in The A3 Review, and will make up the shortlist to win cash prizes in August 2015. All winners receive Writing Maps and other goodies. You can read more about The A3 Review here. It’s a lit mag that behaves like a map. All contributions are under 151 words. The themes for the upcoming Writing Contests are:

  • May: TEA & COFFEE, Deadline 23 May
  • June: GREEN THINGS, Deadline 27 June
  • July: JOURNEYS, Deadline 25 July
  • August: HANDS, Deadline 22 August

Read the full details here.

Redcliffe Future Way 2015

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Are you ready to Write the City? Future Way is public installation art project seeking to engage the community of Bristol in Redcliffe’s redevelopment through a playful and exciting exploration of the area.

Working with The Redcliffe Neighbourhood Development Forum in collaboration with published authors, budding writers, artists, architects and community groups, Future Way reveals a series of virtual fictions which immerse the reader between worlds and creatively challenges the way we view our city.

“The Redcliffe Neighbourhood Development Forum is a community group whose mission is to re-imagine and re-make Bristol’s Redcliffe Way.” Redcliffe Forum

Stories are “tagged” to locations within Redcliffe forming a series of fictional trails to be followed through the physical city. These tags can be scanned via QR codes, and accessed via a password located on the tag. Follow the Future Way Map to discover locations.

King of Christmas Steps

Future Way stories have been selected through a month long competition with winning entries by four hugely talented local authors: Angela Brooks, Grace Palmer, David J Rodger and Judy Darley.

The installation will be launched at 1pm on Friday 1st May outside the North Entrance of St Mary Redcliffe Parish Church and will be running indefinitely over the bank holiday weekend and into the coming months.

So explore, play and enjoy as you discover a new magic to Redcliffe and unlock its hidden futures. What does your future Redcliffe hold?

For more information on Future Way visit www.bristolstorytrail.wordpress.com/redcliffe-future-way/ and follow on Twitter @DoaSLiveFiction

Writing Maps Launches 6 New Contests and a New Issue

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The A3 Review, Issue 2It’s all happening! Spring has got us sprung. We’re launching 6 new Writing Maps Writing Contests all at once AND we’re launching Issue #2 of The A3 Review.

You can read more about The A3 Review here. It’s a lit mag that behaves like a map. All contributions are under 151 words and up until now have been written in less than a week. But things are changing – we’re giving you more time to write, more time to tweak, more time to procrastinate. The next six Writing Maps Writing Contests are being launched in one go. There’s a small entry fee, and bigger cash prizes.

The themes for the upcoming Writing Contests are:

  • March: SUPERSTITIONS, Deadline 28 March
  • April: PLAYGROUND GAMES, Deadline 25 April
  • May: TEA & COFFEE, Deadline 23 May
  • June: GREEN THINGS, Deadline 27 June
  • July: JOURNEYS, Deadline 25 July
  • August: HANDS, Deadline 22 August

Read the full details here.

The two winning entries from each month will appear in Issue #3 of The A3 Review and will constitute the shortlist. The three overall winners from the shortlist will receive prizes as follows: 1st = £150; 2nd = £75; 3rd = £50. All winning entries will receive contributor copies, Writing Maps and other goodies.

The Writing Maps February Writing Contest: Bicycles

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Patti Smith and her bicycle in the Meatpacking District, New York City, 1999. Photograph by Steven Sebring.This is the last contest to qualify for Issue 2 of The A3 Review, due out next month (March 2015).

The prompt for February’s Writing Contest is: Bicycles. The story of your favourite bike; a memorable bike ride; teaching someone to ride a bike; a road trip; bicycles in strange places; bicycle accidents; fixing a bike; a meditation on parts of a bike (frame, brakes, chains, etc); bicycles and suffragists; bike, bicycle, cycle, racing bikes, mountain bikes, Choppers, tandems, portable scooter quarter pipes. Write about bikes as a poem, or in the form of a short story, a graphic story or a snippet of memoir. Fiction or autobiography, SF or mis mem, erotic or academic. Think bike shops, hectic cities, cycle paths, and the open road! Maximum 150 words.

For cycle-writing inspiration, visit us on Twitter throughout the week. Check out some writers and their bikes here.

Please make sure to view our full guidelines here. In brief, the main rules are:

Entry is free. One entry per person.
All genres welcome. All writers welcome.
150 words max.
Deadline is 28 February 2015, which is just a few days from now.
The two winning entries will be published next month (March) in The A3 Review, the Writing Maps Journal. Winners will also receive copies of the 3 City Writing Maps: City of Inspiration, Writing People, and Writing the Love.
Submit your writing through Submittable, here.Good luck and good writing!

image: Patti Smith and her bicycle in the Meatpacking District, New York City, 1999. Photograph by Steven Sebring.

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

Writing Maps Launches New Map and October Contest

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Writing the Family AlbumThis month’s Writing Maps Writing Contest coincides with the official launch of the new Writing Map, Writing the Family Album, inspired by Sergei Dovlatov’s book Ours.

The prompt for October’s Writing Contest is: Write about a cousin, then and now. In no more than 150 words tell the story of a cousin, yours or a fictional character’s, as they were then and as they are now. As always, you can write this as a short story, a graphic story, a snippet of memoir, a poem, or a prose poem. Fiction or autobiography, SF or mis mem, erotic or academic. In 150 words.

The contest prompt coincides with the launch of our latest Writing Map, Writing the Family Album, in which you’ll be inspired to turn the family album – your own, or the characters you create – into a rich collection of stories.

Please make sure to view our full guidelines here or on the Writing Maps website by clicking here. In brief, the main rules are:

Entry is free. One entry per person. All genres welcome. All writers welcome. 150 words max.

Deadline is 25 October 2014.
The two winning entries will be published in The A3 Review, Issue #2. Winners will also receive two copies of the Writing Map, Writing the Family Album.
Good luck and good writing!

Writing Maps’ August Writing Contest & The How to Write a Story Map

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How to Write a Story: Writing MapThis month’s Writing Maps Writing Contest coincides with the official launch of How to Write a Story: A Writing Map to Help You Hunt for and Create Stories.

The prompt for August’s Writing Contest is: Make a creative list of red things. Write this list as a list poem, or in the form of a short story, a graphic story or a snippet of memoir. Fiction or autobiography, SF or mis mem, erotic or academic. In 150 words.

For inspiration, you can check out Joe Brainard‘s I Remember or Sei Shonagon’s The Pillow Book, as well as many of Cole Porter’s lyrics. This is cheating! And this is a simple definition of a list poem.

Please make sure to view our full guidelines here or on the Writing Maps website by clicking here. In brief, the main rules are:

Entry is free. One entry per person. All genres welcome. All writers welcome. 150 words max.

Deadline is 23 August 2014.
The two winning entries will be published in The A3 Review, the Writing Maps Journal. This is the last month to qualify for the journal’s inaugural issue. Winners will also receive 2 copies of the new Writing Map.
Good luck and good writing!

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

Writing Maps: May Contest and Box of Maps

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Writing Maps Box SetWriting Maps, the illustrated posters with writing inspiration and story ideas, launches its 3rd monthly Writing Contest. The May contest coincides with the launch of the Writing Maps Box Set, and this month’s two winners will receive the box set, along with publication in A3, a new fold-out literary magazine to be published every six months. The first issue will appear in September 2014.

The challenge is to write a 150-word piece in response to the Prompt of the Month.  May’s Writing Maps Writing Contest opens 17 May 2014. Deadline is: 24 May 2014. Yes, we’re the quickest contest in town! Click here to visit the site for submission guidelines and the May prompt.

April’s prompt was inspired by the new Write Up Your Street: A Neighbourhood Writing Map. The prompt was: Write about something someone told you about your neighbourhood: a rumour, an urban myth, an event, a local hero/villain, a landmark or a building that’s no longer there. Tell the story in their voice or your own, or the voice of a fictional narrator. The winning entries were: Mark Bicton’s “Grave Robbers” and Francesca Brooks’ “I Came to Find You”.