The prize for the winning piece will be £500 and a possible commission for a new full-length piece of work. Scripts can be in any style, be fact-based or fictional, and should be between 30 and 45 minutes in length. All pieces should be designed to be performed at The Pomegranate Theatre in a studio-style setting. Scripts should be for no more than 4 professional actors.

Closing date 30th September 2010.
There is a £5 fee for entering. Successful entrants will be notified by 30th October 2010.

For further information and an application form please contact Carole Copeland at the theatre on 01246 345215 or email carole.copeland@chesterfield.gov.uk

Nottingham Writer’s Studio member Joanna Danks has been offered a worldwide publishing deal from Piatkus for her book, “In The Blender”. Her work was selected for an agent interview at the Writing Industries Conference 2010 with Oli Munson of Blake Friedmann Literary, TV and Film Agency, who is now her agent.

The book is creative non-fiction – a humorous guide to blending families, aimed at single mothers who are setting up home with single fathers.

How to pitch an article is one of the most frequent questions I’m asked when holding journalism workshops. As is often the case within this industry, there’s no magical solution. But here’s my top ten tips:

1. Be direct and to the point. They want to know the genesis of your idea not every single detail. This can be done in 3-5 lines. Remember they have to trawl through hundreds of these enquiries a day.
2. News desks are run off their feet and poorly staffed. If you can make their job any easier, do it. Explain exactly where you see the article fitting into the publication. Suggest a relevant word count. Give a realistic date for copy. Pitch features in advance e.g. Summer festival guide in spring. If you can provide photographs do it. This saves them time and earns you extra dollar. (Note: Just because you have a digital camera built into your phone doesn’t mean you can take photographs…)
3. Have a unique angle, something that sets your idea apart from others. In my experience this comes from finding unique correlations and juxtaposing them together. This is an impossible trait to teach people and comes only with being well read and informed, a skill which inevitably improves with age. No wonder the government have put up the age of retirement…
4. A brief biog under the pitch reassures the Editor that you are competent and reliable. Alternatively this can be done in your email signature, with contact details and links to your work. If you are starting out then stating why you are so passionate about this feature and perfectly suited to write it may be enough to lure them in. Never underestimate enthusiasm because it tells an Editor that you’ll deliver the goods.
5. Picking up the phone is far more effective because you get to talk to someone directly which means you don’t become an anonymous email clogging up an inbox that will probably get erased due to time constraints. But you need broad shoulders for this. You may well encounter a gruff almost monosyllabic response simply because you are the hundredth call they’ve taken on the bounce. Remain calm, polite, enthusiastic and articulate. It works every time. With this in mind, print out your pitch and rehearse it.
6. When you ring up, mention your name in the first sentence. ‘Hi. I’m Arthur Seaton, a freelance journalist based in Nottingham’. Even if they don’t take the bait, at least your name has been stored for future reference. On a similar note, try to find out the name of the person you want to talk to before ringing up. And it goes without saying to check you’ve been put through to the right department before delivering your spiel. A lot of publications are owned by larger organisations and so numbers can occasionally be generic.
7. Whether email or phone, timing is pivotal. Make sure that a UFO has not landed or a madman has gone on a shooting spree because this will take up most of their attention. For example, this can account for up to 50% of all news feeds on a website as they have to keep up with developments.
8. More esteemed publications are likely to go for established writers, which isn’t very helpful when you’re trying to break into the market. But fear not, take a look around at who falls into this category and get them to pitch on your behalf. A good starting point is a university lecturer. They have regular contact with the media due to their specialised knowledge and if not, will know someone within the department who does. Of course this means you must be achieving high grades for them to risk their reputation.
9. There is of course the distinct possibility that an Editor will steal your idea and get one of his staff to follow up the article. Get over it. You probably stole your idea from a mix of articles you’d read online. But rest assured if you keep ringing up with great ideas, eventually they’ll cave in and you’ll experience that wonderful feeling that comes with seeing your name in print.
10. This one’s down to you. What advice would you give readers based on your own experience? Do you have a magic formula?

James K. Walker is the Literature Editor at LeftLion magazine. He’ll be hosting a free spoken-word event called Scribal Gathering at Nottingham Contemporary on August 4th, 7pm. For more info, please see http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001244726246

http://www.lyriclounge.co.uk

John Hegley
“There’s warm wit aplenty, both in the poetry and in the engaging banter that sets the scenes,” Chortle. Hegley’s new show ‘Adventures of Monsieur Robinet,’ delves deeply into the world of one of the UK’s most prolific storytellers. Radio regular, published writer, and popular glasses wearer, John Hegley has made his mark everywhere. From sell out shows at Edinburgh Festival to comedy festivals worldwide, his poems about dogs, glasses and a whole lot more, have really gone the distance. John’s poems are renowned for being deeply humorous, personal and emotional. Marvel at his adventures in rhyme, rhythm and mandolin plucking, from someone whose background fuses Luton mundanity and glorious French culture. Catch him perform on Sat 31 July, 7pm. Tickets £10/ £5. Suitable for ages 7 plus with guidance.

Mark Gwynne Jones
‘inspired…one of the most accomplished performance poets in the land…drawing the audience into a world where things are not quite what they seem.’ The Guardian Eccentric, oddball poetry that makes for a unique experience and has made Mark a firm favourite in Edinburgh, at Buxton Festival Fringe and numerous venues across the UK. See him perform with his band Psychicbread, for a mesmerising fusion of music, poetry and humour. From a love affair with an orange girl, who had one too many sun bed sessions, to steering a Sherman Tank through rush hour, their work is compelling, contagious and surreal.
Mark and Psychicbread headline WORD! – Sun 1 August, 7pm. Tickets are £4/ £3. Suitable for ages 13 plus.

Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze
Jamaica born artist Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze is the world’s first female Dub Poet and has performed on every continent, apart from the Antarctic. Her published works ponder social and political issues, as well as her own experience of mental health. Jean is a Bloodaxe Poet and the author of seven collections of poetry and fiction. Catch her perform on Fri 30 July, 1pm, at Lyrical Lunchtime (FREE- just turn up) or leading a workshop inspired by museum objects on Sun 1 August, 2.30pm (FREE but booking essential – check website for details).

Andy Craven Griffiths
“If Macbeth had been into hip hop, he’d have sounded a bit like this.” Apples and Snakes Slam champion for Manchester Lit Festival 2004, Glastonbury 2005 and Munich 2007, Andy has wowed his fair share of audiences. A regular on BBC Radio 1 and 2, his work crosses exciting territory between poetry and rap. Far from being just a pretty face, Andy’s work is thought provoking and delivered with breathtaking ease. Andy comperes and performs as part of urban poetry competition ILUVLYRICS (suitable for ages 13 plus) – Fri 30 July, 7pm. Tickets £5/ £3 (performers get in free and need to sign up at 6pm on the night).

All tickets for evening events are available from The New Walk Museum Box Office: 0116 225 4900. For the full ‘Lyric Lounge Leicester’ line up, including FREE workshops, film screenings, after show parties, and open mic and mentoring opportunities, visit www.lyriclounge.co.uk

Workshops can be booked via: word@wordpoetry.co.uk

A new pamphlet of Paul Sutherland’s poetry Spires and Minarets has been published by Sunk Island Publishing. Information about Spires and Minarets can be found at http://www.scribd.com/doc/29317530/Spires-and-Minarets .
Retail cost, £3.50 + 50p (post and parcel) Cheque to N.P.Sutherland please and sent to Jasmine Cottage, 4 Church St., Market Rasen, LN8 3ET

Some quotes about Spires and Minarets,

‘Spires & Minarets traces Paul Sutherland’s modern pilgrimage through parts of Lincolnshire, one of England’s most ancient (and yet forgotten) shires. His direct experience of the landscape, its birds, animals, plants informs his poems and prose pieces, as do his encounters with the people who live in that landscape. Underlying it all is an appreciation and celebration of the continuity of human habitation within a specific place. Originally an outsider (Canadian born, long settled in England; Christian become Sufi) Sutherland nevertheless becomes absorbed into the landscape and its history. Lincolnshire becomes home. In this way the English landscape reveals again its extraordinary power to accept and transform; and having doing so, gives back its richness in literature. Spires and Minarets adds to and expands the scope of our tradition of nature and landscape writing, opening it up in ways that no one could have expected.’
Michael Blackburn, poet and publisher, Sunk Island Publishing

‘In Spires and Minarets Paul Sutherland takes the reader on a journey which is both physical and spiritual through the Lincolnshire fens. I particularly like the notebook format which mixes short and long entries, prose and poetry. Immediate and sensitive observation of landscape, its wildlife and small objects discovered in it are starting points for lyrical writing and impassioned meditation on central subjects.’
Myra Schneider, published poet, editor, workshop leader.

April Renga

The second collection April Renga is published by Wellhouse Press in association with Dream Catcher. Paul Sutherland has long had a fascination with Japanese style of linked verses or renga and has written and been involved in writing many examples of the form. In April Renga he is both a contributor and editor of a sequence of 36 miniature ‘renga’ poems. It’s a perfect bound 40 page book with firm laminated colour designed cover in about A6 size. The sequence was written by members of the Driftnet Poets with Paul Sutherland’s guidance and contribution over three years including the process of editing and re-writing.

One reader has described the book as, ‘a beautiful production and with one poem per page the idea of renga or linked poems is more understandable and enjoyable. You can see better how the poems are subltly related, rather than in a narrative structure.’

Renga highlights the importance of ‘spacing’ in poetry. In the Foreword, to the book, Paul writes, ‘The form [renga] asks the reader to do more than pause but to undertake an imaginative leap to perceive or imagine how separate poems might be related without direct narrative or logical links.’

April Renga costs £6.00 + 50p (post and parcel) Please make cheque payable to N.P. Sutherland. The two books can be purchased at the slightly reduced rate of £10.00 including postage and parcel. Cheques sent to: Jasmine Cottage, 4 Church St, Market Rasen, LN8 3ET

Laughs from Leicestershire from Carrot Napper on Vimeo.

The Loughborough College technician and playwright hosted three of his latest playlets cocking a lighthearted snoop at the more absurd features of real life.
Britain’s moaning culture, pointless bureaucracy and obsession with self-adulating minor celebrities all came under Keith’s wicked microscope – and were duly beaten into verbal submission.

Top of The Bill was Jeff Stewart – he of 24 years as Reg Hollis in the popular ITV police drama – who took the role of Willie Jefferson, one of four all-too-precious contestants on a Scottish version of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!

But for all his polish and professionalism, ears and eyes were more than equally drawn to the younger talent in the troupe.

‘Glamour’ duo Genevieve Cleghorn and Helen Bolitho were up front, in your face and outstanding throughout the evening whilst Loughborough College student Brian Fury is a prime example of what Keith’s company is all about – loud, brash and very entertaining.

There was a further College link, too, with former engineering student Jack O’Ballance providing the props and stage management.

Tellingly these were a couple of hours that literally flew by, leaving a distinct taste for more.

That will come soon for hungry audiences at three more iconic venues – Cambridge’s ADC Theatre where the likes of Sir Ian McKellen and Emma Thompson made their names, on Thursday, July 21; the 503 Theatre in London , recently acclaimed by The Guardian as ‘arguably the most important theatre of all’, on Sunday, August 1; then a breathtaking run at Spotlites at the Merchant’s Hall, just 100 yards off Prince’s Street, at the Edinburgh fringe from Sunday, August 15 to Saturday, August 21.

Salary £32620 to £43840 per annum, depending on qualifications and experience (salary can progress to £50,822 per annum, subject to performance)
Applications are invited for the above post in the School of Education, based at the University’s Jubilee Campus. The person appointed will provide leadership, curriculum development and quality assurance for the School’s BA creative and professional writing course. They will also write, research and publish in an area relevant to one of the School’s research centres.

Candidates should hold a good honours degree in English Language/Literature, creative writing or a related subject, a postgraduate qualification and a PhD (completed or near to completion). They should also have proven competence in teaching of creative writing.

Informal enquiries may be addressed to Dr S Speight, Email: sarah.speight@nottingham.ac.uk. Please note that applications sent directly to this Email address will not be accepted.

For full details and how to apply please see: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/Jobs/CurrentVacancies/ref/SM00465E

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John Berlyne is a partner at the Zeno Literary Agency with John Richard Parker. Zeno represents both fiction and non-fiction, with particular expertise in handling genre, their list leans towards science fiction and fantasy, boasting best-sellers, household names and prize winners.

Oliver Munson joined Blake Friedmann in 2003, after completing an English Literature degree from the University of EdinburghandanMAinPublishing Studies from City University. He has a particular interest in popular non-fiction, commercial fiction and sports writing.

James Wills is a Director at Watson, Little Ltd and looks after a dynamic and wide-ranging list of writers. He has an MA in 20th Century Literature from the University of Leeds. He looks for striking, quirky, character-driven commercial and literary fiction that is thrilling, bold and beautifully written.

Bernie Corbett is a British trade unionist and former journalist. In his role as General Secretary of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain he covers TV, film, radio, new media and print publishing. In his newspaper career Bernie Corbett was chief sub-editor of The Guardian (London) and chief features sub-editor of The Independent (London).

Some writers don’t want to read aloud  and I think they’re missing a great opportunity. Giving readings can build your confidence while honing and proving the work in question. I still get nervous whenever I read, but I now know I can overcome those nerves and give a good performance.

Here are some tips, both from my own experience and collected from other performers:

1. The audience are on your side. They’ve given up time to watch and they want to enjoy themselves – you only need to help them do this.
2. It’s easier to read funny pieces than serious ones. You can tell when people are enjoying a funny story because they laugh; an audience spellbound by a serious story is very quiet, which can be unsettling.
3. Practise! You should read the piece again and again, until you feel bored with it. Make sure you can read it without stumbling and remove anything that sounds clumsy or is difficult to say – if the piece is easy to read aloud, it will also work well in print. If possible, read the story to a friend and get their feedback.
4. Many nights ask for a bio to use for introductions. I could do an entire post on writing biographies. Keep it short – nobody needs a long list of plaudits and prizes, since they’re about to listen to you anyway. Make sure to mention any books or other appearances you are promoting. Most of the time, if I’m not promoting anything, I’ll try and work a story into the space available for the biography.
5. Arrive early at the venue and ask to do a sound-check. It’s useful to stand on the stage and get comfortable with the environment where you’ll be performing. Check that you can be heard clearly and make sure you know how to adjust the microphone if you might need to.
6. Nervousness is good – it’s a normal part of preparing to perform. The only time I’ve not been nervous my reading was less focussed. Welcome your nerves as your body gearing up to do a good job.
7. Keep any introduction brief – trust the audience to work out what your piece is about. If there’s any risk of being misunderstood then revisit the writing and improve it. It’s not a bad idea to ask if people can hear when you start – it avoids people asking you to speak up during the reading.
8. When performing, read the piece as slowly as you can bear (within reason!). Remember that the audience haven’t heard your story before and need a little time to digest each bit.
9. Make frequent eye-contact with your audience – don’t spend the reading looking down at your text. This makes you seem more confident and engaging, as well as being easier to hear. Looking up is much easier if you know the piece well – see above.
10. Some people find their hands shaking the first time they read. The best way to stop this is to read from something heavy. A thick folder will weigh your hands down, whereas a couple of sheets of A4 makes any movement obvious. You’ll still be nervous, of course, but only you will know.
11. Don’t worry too much about audience reaction – responses can differ to the same piece. One story I’ve read a lot, A Bad Place to Stick Your Hand, has had reactions varying from faint amusement through to loud laughter.
12. Make sure to thank the people who have organised the night. Running an event is very hard work and often unappreciated.

These tips are almost certainly not complete. There are some good guides to spoken word performance on the web, such as Tim Clare’s guide to performance poetry. Do you have any hints of your own? And, if you don’t want to read aloud, what is stopping you?

Supported by Writing East Midlands.

JAMES BURT is a writer and spoken word artist who hates writing about himself in the third person. Although he’s focusing on smaller projects he still can’t resist working on his epic novel about his school-days.

Hello!

This month in Books & Things we think about reading – Everybody’s Reading. The new festival of reading in Leicester takes place between 2nd-10th October 2010, and we want YOU to help get the city reading. We also get excited about the Lyric Lounge, and update you with all the latest news, events and opportunities for writers and readers around the East Midlands region.

For all this and more…read on!

Damien Walter
Literature Network Coordinator

NEWS
Everybody’s Reading is a new festival of reading taking place in Leicester between the 2nd-10th October 2010. Events will be taking place across the city from schools and libraries to arts centres and theatres. The aim of the festival is to get Leicester reading, and we want YOU to help! Anyone who loves reading can get involved by putting on an event as part of the festival, and there are small grants to help with costs. You can get more information here and follow the festival on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GetLestaReading or join us on Facebook.

Dan Tunstall, published by Five Leaves press, has been shortlisted for the Bransford Boase award for young adult fiction. Dan will find out if he has won on 14th July, and we wish him luck. The Lawson-West poetry competition announces its winner, as decided by regional poet Emma Lee. Another of our regions talented poets, Mark Goodwin, also releases his new publication Shod this month. And Siobhan Logan takes her icelandic inspired poetry to a trio of summer festivals. And as if that was not excitement enough, playwright Keith Large announces that he has signed Jeff Stewart AKA The Bill’s Reg Hollis to the cast of Laughs for Leicester plays!

EVENTS
The Lyric Lounge takes place in Leicester between 30th July – 1st August 2010, three days and nights of spoken word festivities at the city’s New Walk museum featuring John Hegley, Mark Gwynne Jones, Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze, ILUVLYRICS and the Book Doctor among many others. Lyric Lounge artistic director and Literature Network blogger Lydia Towsey lets us in on the creative process behind the lounge.

WORD! continues the spoken word magnificence on 6th July at the Y-Theatre, with a very special guest, the one and only Steve Carroll. The Nottingham Writer’s Studio begins a series of Writers’s Days starting with screenwriter Michael Eaton on 10th July. And the Southwell Library Poetry Festival is an entire poetry festival in a library between 13th-18th July. Really, what more could you want from life?

BLOGGERS and PODCASTS
The Writing Industries podcasts, recorded live at WIC 2010, continue with panel discussions on poetry and community, and how public finding supports writers. Helen Jaeger wants to know if your reading is in a rut, and suggests ways to break old reading habits. Ross Bradshaw celebrates the truly remarkable Jon McGregor, Aly Stoneman wonders about the process of judging poetry contests, and James Burt asks the burning question, why bother writing at all?

OPPORTUNITIES
The Dylan Thomas Sony Reader award might sound unlikely, but is actually an excellent opportunity for novelists under 30. The International Playwrighting festival is open for submissions, and wouldn’t it be wonderful to see an East Midlands playwright produced there? Mslexia magazine return with their women’s poetry competition. Yes…women only so the chaps out there are out of luck. And the Our Corby project seeks a writer in residence, a good opportunity for writers with community experience.

Damien Walter
Literature Network Coordinator

http://literaturenetwork.org

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Sony UK has announced that it will sponsor a newly created category in this year’s Dylan Thomas Prize – the Sony Reader Award for Unpublished Writers.

The Dylan Thomas Prize is the world’s largest literary award for young writers. The prize was established to recognise the international work of Dylan Thomas, whose first book of poetry was published when he was just 21, and it supports the work of newly published authors.

The new Sony Reader Award category has been created specifically to support unpublished British novel writers under the age of 30 using electronic book formats for the entire process, from submission of the entries through to judging and then publication. The winner will receive a cash prize of £5,000, and their book will be published in eBook format and made available for download from the Sony UK website in time for the Christmas season.

eBook entries will need to be submitted in PDF, Word or EPUB format via the Reader website at www.sony.co.uk/reader between Thursday 1 July and Tuesday 31 August, and the shortlisted writers will be notified in September. The winner of the award will be announced at the Dylan Thomas Prize Award Ceremony on Wednesday 1 December 2010.

The 25th Year International Playwriting Festival 2010 competition accepts entries from all over the world, and is judged by a panel of distinguished theatre practioners. The best selected plays will be showcased at the Festival weekend, held in March 2010, with a view to further production.

For further information, visit www.warehousetheatre.co.uk/ipf10.html or email Ted Craig at ted@warehousetheatre.co.uk

First prize £1,000, second £500, third £250 and 22 other finalists will receive £25 each.

All winning poems will be published in Mslexia. Judge: Vicki Feaver.

Entry fee: £5 for up to three poems.

Online entry now available. For full details visit:

www.mslexia.co.uk/whatson/msbusiness/pcomp_rules.php

Closing date: 26 July 2010