The Speculators

A group for writers of speculative fiction (Sci-fi, fantasy, horror and beyond…) in and around Leicester. We meet every Wednesday to write together, critique new writing and discuss the business of writing. (Which often happens after hours in the pub!)

If you are interested in writing speculative fiction, whether you are brand new and unpublished or a New York Times bestselling novelist, you are welcome to join.

We meet on Wednesday evenings, 7-9 at the Friends Meeting House on Queens Rd, Leicester

For more information please contact: damiengwalter@gmail.com

The Book Doctor

Leicester’s Book Doctor – Alison Dunne – will be running creative writing sessions at four libraries:

Westcotes 10-12 on May 12th
Aylestone 2.30 – 4.30 May 12th
St. Barnabas 10 – 12 May 13th
Knighton 2 – 4 May 13th

So come and lubricate your creativity with fun exercises suitable for all levels of experience.

Mark Goodwin publication

Poet Mark Goodwin has work featured in a new anthology from Salt publishing.

Other poets include Alan Halsey, Sheila E. Murphy, Mario Petrucci, Robert Shepherd, Rose Flint, Sandra Tappenden, Peter Finch, Angela Topping … and more.

Edited by Rupert Loydell, it consists of manifestos, and anti-manifestos about contemporary poetry.

H.E. Bates Anthology 2008 now on sale

Handprints, the anthology of shortlisted and winning stories from the 2008 H.E. Bates Short Story Competition, is now on sale. A limited number of anthologies are available for £3 each. To obtain your copy, ask at your local library or send a cheque for £3 made out to ‘NCC’ to:
Kate Wilkinson
Literature Development Officer
Arts Development Team
Northamptonshire County Council
Music & Performing Arts Centre
125-129 Kettering Road
Northampton NN1 4AZ
Details of the 2009 competition coming soon. Watch this space!

The Asian Writer

Hello

This month The Asian Writer speaks to Kavita Jindal about her journey as a writer, we introduce a bi-monthly column, In the Life of A Writer. Opening the forum to debate is the piece entitled There is no spoon by Vaskar Szen Kayastha who discusses the need to give his reader a rich cultural experience. Does the average reader dig deeper?

April is one of the most important dates in the publishing calendar as its time for the London Book Fair. This year the market focus was India, and 45 Indian writers attended the fair. It was amazing to see so many talented Asian voices all under one roof! Find out more about what took place here.

The wait is over and I’m pleased to announce the overall winner and Short Story category of our New Writing Competition is Sala Choudhury for his short story, The Critic, a brilliantly light story, about restaurant owner, Ahmed, on the verge of losing his restaurant business. Winner of the Poetry Category is Gurpal Stickland for her poem Playing on the Mountain. A skillfully put together poem. Congratulations to your both! Don’t forget to read their work and leave your comments!

Did you respond to our writing retreat request? So many of you did!
Shuhel Ahmed attended the retreat on April 19th and will report back to us in June! We will also be featuring Suneetha who recently attended a writer’s retreat in India and see how she got on. Did it turn her into the brilliant writer she always dreamed of becoming?

Fancy coming on a Writers Retreat in the Lake District?
I am planning to start a regular visit for like minded individuals by the beautiful and awe inspiring surroundings of the Lake District- not only to get away from the humdrum of modern day life and down to some real writing but to kick start some inspiration and network with other writers. Perhaps you want to share your work in an open forum or you just need a break. If you would be interested in finding out more about our Lake District Writing Retreats please email your interest today at editor@theasianwriter.co.uk. Dates to suit. Prices dep on group numbers.

Book Groupies Wanted
The Asian Writer is looking to start a book club – interested in discussing your favourite book? Email me at editor@theasianwriter.co.uk to join the group, which hopes to offer intellectual analysis, and explore themes in our most beloved books. Please note, these may not always be by Asian writers!

Competitions
With our competition now over I’m pleased to share with you lots of opportunities for you to get your work recognised! Please check them out under the Submissions section on our site. There are two really great competitions featured, opening the doors for South Asian writers especially. Don’t miss out on them!

Next Author Interview: Farah Damji – Any questions you’d like to ask her? Drop me an email.

Read April’s Issue available now at www.theasianwriter.co.uk

Happy reading!

Farhana Shaikh

Visit us at http://www.theasianwriter.co.uk

Writing East Midlands New Appointments

Writing East Midlands announces new appointments

Henderson Mullin, Chief Executive, is joined by Antonia Bell and Catherine Rogers to make up the team at Writing East Midlands. Previously Antonia was Office Manager for AI Digital, a Brighton based on-line digital marketing agency and will be PA and Operations Manager. Catherine worked as Literature Development Officer for Derby City Council and joins Writing East Midlands as Projects and Marketing Manager.

catherine@writingeastmidlands.co.uk T: 0115 959 7932

antonia@writingeastmidlands.co.uk T: 0115 959 7929

Writing East Midlands is a new writing agency in the region, which will support, promote and champion writing from the East Midlands. It aims to establish the region as a consistent producer of excellent writing and will create opportunities for practicing writers as well as discovering new writers of quality. Writing East Midlands is based at 49 Stoney Street, The Lace Market, Nottingham NG1 1LX. For details about Writing East Midlands, please go to the website – www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk

Phrased & Confused UK Tour

Woodpigeon, Murray Lachlan Young
Aoife Mannix & Janie Armour, Dead Poets

9-14 May 2009
www.phrasedandconfused.co.uk

Phrased and Confused heads off on a UK-wide tour this May, taking its irresistible mix of song-writing genius and spoken word to venues in Bracknell, London, Norwich, Derby, Stockton and Exeter.

For this year’s tour, supported by Sound and Music/CMN, we’ve invited some of the most exciting contemporary songwriters and poets to climb aboard the tour bus, get lyrical and explore the spaces between poetry and music.

Championed by Steve Lamacq, and described by the Guardian as ‘Canada’s best kept secret…the most unjustly overlooked band in Canada’, music collective Woodpigeon are rapidly gaining a cult following for their laid back and lush folk pop. Joining Woodpigeon will be darkly funny satirist Murray Lachlan Young, whose playful command of the English language and love of the absurd have won him legions of fans, not least for his regular spot on Radio 4’s Saturday Morning Live, and who Neil Tennant rates as ‘the best since Betjeman’.

With nods to Patti Smith, John Cooper Clarke and Tom Waits poet Aofie Mannix and accordianist Janie Armour mix live and recorded sounds to create beautifully haunting soundscapes. And finally, unleashed on a national audience for the first time, Dead Poets, a cheeky fast-paced and laugh-out-loud mash up of ‘proper’ poetry and sharp-eyed MCing, courtesy of Mr Mark Grist and MC Mixy.

Phrased and Confused was born out of the question ‘Which would you save if your house was on fire? Your books or your records?’ We love music and poetry and were convinced that there were people like us all around the country who love poetry, but have never been to a reading in their lives. So we thought that we’d have a go at putting on live literature events that had all you would expect from a music gig – great sound, good lights and a really relaxed environment. Our aim from the outset has been to introduce music fans to high quality spoken word, and to build audiences for spoken word around the country.

The Nottingham Poetry Series

The Nottingham Poetry Series, a new series of readings, craft talks, and workshops to be held at the University of Nottingham, with the support of the Arts Graduate Centre and the Literature Network, will hold its inaugural reading on 7 MAY 2009 (Thursday), at 7:30 in the evening, in the Angear Visitors Centre at the University of Nottingham (see map, attached). Admission is free.

The reading, which features MICHAEL MCKIMM (Still This Need, Heaventree Press 2009) along with two local poets, will last approximately 40 minutes and will be followed by a drinks-and-dessert reception.

For help or with any questions, please email eireann@gmail.com

Sweetbread, Bitter Bread

Hi,

Thanks to all who attended last month’s Short Fuse, ‘Patchwork’, which showcased an alphabet soup of East Midlands based writing talent. The evening kicked off with Maxine Linnell’s offbeat, pessimistic yet compassionate Leicester-based story, ‘Distinctive Men’s Shoes’. This was followed by Amy Bell’s ‘Tease’ – a tale of mistaken identity featuring a call centre worker (emphatically not a call girl!) who pretends to be a stripper to engage the interest of her boyfriend… Next came Paula Rawsthorne’s clever and funny yarn about gambling priests and their errant flock, ‘The Sermon on the Mount’, after which followed the flash fiction open mic where Sarah Juckes and Claire Baldwin amongst others, strutted their eclectic micro stuff with verve and brio.

After the second break came Damien Walter reading his darkly funny ‘Chaser’, and to finish off the evening our headlining act, Drew Gummerson treated us to a polished performance of his witty and life-affirming spin on the sci-fi genre, ‘Gus’. This story maybe read online at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Global-Village-Tell-Tales/dp/1845230795/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239102483&sr=8-1

For a visual archive of last month’s set, please see Nick Rawle’s stunning photo slideshow at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3200pictures/sets/72157615666589081/

In a change to this month’s line-up for ‘Sweetbread, Bitter Bread’, sadly Vanessa Gebbie, our scheduled headlining act is not able to read on this occasion due to an unforeseen commitment. She is however very much looking forward to reading at Short Fuse at some point in the near future. In her place, we are proud to invite Short Fuse co-founder, award winning short story writer and playwright Tara Gould who will be reading the excellent ‘Little Birds’, a tragi-comic gem of a story taken from her collection, ‘Pascoe’s Box’. This month’s line-up also features work by James Burt, Rosie Carrick, Kate Niland, Jo Cannon and Bead Roberts.

And check out this gory feast for the eyes (fyi, one version of sweetbread was made of thymus and pancreas glands of lamb, beef, or pork and another version concocted from the animal’s hearts!) with morbidly accomplished artwork by sf artist-in-residence, Mr. Seb Ahmad:

www.shortfuseleicester.com

Hope to see you there!
Polly Tuckett

‘Sweetbread, Bitter Bread’
21st April, 8pm, The Y Theatre

Sweetbread, Bitter Bread
Bittersweet tales to reflect the rainy season

Headlining:
Tara Gould, multi-award winning short fiction writer, who will be reading the sour-sweet, ‘Little Birds,’ from her short story collection, ‘Pascoe’s Box’.

For info email:
shortfuseleicester@yahoo.co.uk

and see:

http://shortfuseleicester.wordpress.com/

See also Y Theatre Info:

http://www.leicesterymca.co.uk/y-theatre-whats-on-details.php?listing=590

And to book tickets:

http://www.wegottickets.com/f/654

Call The Y Theatre Box Office on 0116 255 7066

Tickets £7 / £5 concessions

Summer Courses @ Writing School Leicester

Writing School Leicester has launched its new summer programme.
Evening classes: Develop Your Book for Children, Writing Speculative Fiction
Daytime class: Writing Non-Fiction

NEW Saturdays: Intensive 4-hour courses from 8.30am focussing on the business side of writing: 16th May Novel, 6th June Film.
Saturday Writers’ Manuscript clinics 10-12 on selected dates.

August Summer School – join Bead Roberts every morning for a week to write a short story (w/b 17th August)

For more details and to book, go to www.writingschoolleicester.co.uk

Next Page »