Sharon Olds winner - T S Elliot Awards

I was lucky enough to get a chance to attend the T S Elliott award readings on Sunday, and the award ceremony on Monday evening.

The readings were wonderful, with a crowd of 2000 people filling the Royal Festival Hall.  The finalists: Gillian Clarke, Sean Borodale, Julia Copus, Jorie Graham, Simon Armitage, Kathleen Jamie, Jacob Polley, Derryn Rees-Jones, Paul Farley and Sharon Olds, gave wonderful performances. With host Ian McMillan striking the perfect balance between humour and poignancy, each reading was of a standard that made it difficult to imagine how hard the task of judging the award must have been.
"I wore this shirt last year, but these are new trousers... so like me, these poets are bringing together the old and the new..." said Ian McMillan (paraphrased somewhat).

For myself I enjoyed the visceral quality of Sean Borodale's Bee Journal reading, describing a bee queen's eyes as 'castanets' and then immediately as like 'casting nets'. His work was invigorating and complex, its microscopic eye for detail not ignoring the opportunity for bigger truths to creep in.

Gillian Clarke's reading was likewise riveting, and Jacob Polley's work was new to me, so was particularly inspiring.

Sharon Olds' book Stag's Leap, from Cape Poetry, had a heartbreaking emotional intensity and a  wry, reflective thrust to it which left me thinking about certain lines for day's afterwards.

It was not surprising, therefore, that she took the prize the following night at the Wallace Collection in W1.

Here are a few blurry pictures which nevertheless capture something of the golden-ness of the evening.

 Carol Ann Duffy (judge)

 (From left) George Szirtes, Deryn Rhys-Jones, Julia Copus, Gillian Clarke

 Gillian Clarke

Sharon Olds accepting the award

Second place in 100 word story mini-comp

Rather chuffed that my short story came second amongst the finalists of the 100 word story comp judged by Jeffrey Archer.

Literary agency Curtis Browne published the top five stories online and you can read all about it here.


And here it is:

The Zoo of Extinct Animals
‘Eight hours straight. Best sleep I’ve ever had,’ said Phil.
‘The dodo didn’t squawk its head off?’ said Mike.
Phil shrugged, as they shuffled past the quagga cage. Nearby, the sabre-toothed tiger roared. Mike threw it its meat.
When they reached the aviary they both fell silent.
‘You forgot to feed him, didn’t you?’
‘Extinct again,’ said Phil, in a suspiciously cheerful tone. ‘Ever think some creatures are just meant to die out?’
‘Shut up, Phil,’ said Mike, stuffing the dead dodo into a bag.
Meanwhile, back in the lab, ‘new’ old life was forming.
Sara-Mae Tuson

My story in Overheard a Salt anthology

I'm catching up on my non-posting bad behaviour now. 

I recently had a story called 'Ill Angels Haunt Me' published in the marvellous Salt anthology, 'Overheard: Stories to Read Aloud,' edited by Jonathan Taylor. 
A wonderful writer himself, (his book 'Entertaining Strangers' has just come out) Jonathan managed to get an amazing collection of talent together, including writers like Salman Rushdie, Hanif Kureishi, Ian McEwan, Blake Morrison and Louis De Bernières, along with other personal favourites of mine like Vanessa Gebbie, Jane Holland and Gemma Seltzer. 

Here's a bit about the book: 
'From village storytellers to nineteenth-century serialisations, from pub anecdotes to dramatic monologues, storytelling is an enduring art form. This collection of short stories reconnects storytelling with its oral and performative roots. There are stories here for performance, stories which play with sound, stories which dramatise conflicting voices, and stories which are musical in style. 
Because of the way these stories speak from the page, it doesn't matter whether or not they are actually read out loud. Rather, these are stories which might equally be ‘performed’ on the reader’s mental stage, heard in the reader’s mind’s-ear. 
There is a burgeoning culture in the U.K. and beyond of oral story-telling and prose writers performing their work live, a culture which has developed out of the popularity of poetry in performance. There are numerous collections and anthologies which aim to capture the energy of performance poetry on the page. There is, though, no comparable literature for stories in performance – making this collection unique.
In order to demonstrate the huge diversity of possible performance styles in prose, the collection mingles flash fiction with more sustained stories, genre fiction with realism, experimental pieces with oral storytelling. Contributors are similarly varied in their styles, backgrounds, experience and genres, and include Salman Rushdie, Hanif Kureishi, Ian McEwan, Blake Morrison, Louis De Bernières, Adele Parks, Kate Pullinger, Adam Roberts, Michelene Wandor, Vanessa Gebbie, Judith Allnatt, Jo Baker, David Belbin, Panos Karnezis, Jane Holland, Gemma Seltzer, Ailsa Cox and Will Buckingham.'
A shameless plug I know, but I'm really chuffed to be included.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Overheard-Stories-Aloud-Jonathan-Taylor/dp/1907773266

100 word story being judged by Jeffrey Archer!

It's been ridiculously long since I posted anything. What with 3 freelance editorial jobs at the same time, plus the novel-writing course I'm doing at Curtis Browne Literary agency, it's been pretty manic.

Squeezing writing in has been really tricky. So being set a finite task by Lord Archer when he came in to speak to us, was good fun.

He'd been commissioned to write a 100 word (including title) story by Reader's Digest, and last year he'd asked the other course members to write one, so we were set the same task.

It's a great challenge for a writer, as you can't have any extraneous words whatsoever, so its a good exercise in cutting back the flab. I wrote mine on the train coming back from the session, and it was like a Jenga puzzle, trying to get it down to exactly 100 words!

There are a lot of hugely talented writers on the course, so I was very honoured to have my bit of flash fiction chosen as one of the four stories to be judged by Lord Archer. The winner will be published on the Curtis Browne website, but to be honest making it to the top four amongst such great work is pretty exciting in itself.

Yippee!

My story is called 'The zoo of extinct animals'. Here's a doodle of a saber-toothed tiger I drew, although I can't promise that it is anthropologically accurate.

Haliburton V - Literary Festival with a Canadian flavour

I'll be performing at this intriguingly named Canadian Literary festival run by writer John Stiles and his fellow alumnae of University of King’s College in Halifax. The two, writer John Stiles and Chris MacNeil, started the London Chapter of the Haliburton Society in 2006 and have created the event to celebrate the literary links between the two countries.


John's work is as idiosyncratic as his personality and I'm really looking forward to seeing him perform. I  published several of his flash fiction pieces in both The London Magazine and Trespass, in which he created enticing and vivid miniature universes, spurts of genius which combine humour and a biting intellect with each story.


He’s written novels and poetry too: Taking The Stairs, The Insolent Boy, Creamsicle Stick Shivs and Scouts are Cancelled: The Annapolis Valley Poems (Insomniac Press, Toronto, Canada).


And according to his biog he’s even dabbled in filmmaking: ‘Recently featured as one of twenty New Canadian poets in New American Writing (Oink! Press, CA. USA). Filmmaker behind 'the smalls...er whatever' a rock doc featuring Corb Lund of Corb Lund and the Hurtin Albertans.’


You can read his blog here: www.howyahdoon.blogspot.com




Haliburton V Literary Festival


I hope some of you will be able to make it, despite the po-faced warnings about travel!
As we celebrate the greatest sports event this year, the London Chapter of North America's oldest literary society, The Haliburton Society, invites the best local wits and verbal talents to three days of verbal Olympics in East London:


With a mixture of Canadian and British writers such as:
Todd Swift, Gabriella Apicella, Patrick Woodcock, John Stiles, Catherine Brogan, Fiona Curran, Dante Micheaux, Grim Chip (and myself! ) amongst others, the event promises to be a welcome break from the sport.


Reading and Gig!

I'll be reading some of my poems and short fiction on Wed 1 August, and then my band Scarlet Starlings (www.reverbnation.com/scarletstarlings) will be performing alongside the brilliant Elvina & I  (http://www.myspace.com/elvinaandi) on Friday 3 August.
*Update - one of the stories I'm reading is being published by Elbow Room, plus I'm going to be performing it as a comedy sketch later this year. Several non family members have assured me that its amusing!


Where?
Leytonstone Library - 6 Church Lane, E11 1HG


When?
Wednesday 1 August


Time:


The event will run from 6-10 pm in the old hall at Leytonstone Library (Leytonstone Tube on Central Line) and will go on from Wed 1st Aug to Friday 3rd Aug. A website will soon be up at http://www.haliburtonclub.ca.

Price: £3

'The Golden Note' - my story published in Emerging Light anthology - download it for free from Amazon today!

I was recently lucky enough to have a short story of mine published by Pen Works Media as part of their Emerging Light series:

'The Emerging Light Series was created to give the opportunity to young aspiring writers to get their short stories published. We encourage writers from any background throughout the world to submit their stories, and those who are selected will be offered a professional contract, approved by The writers’ Guild, where they will receive a percentage of each of the book’s sales.'

It's a great opportunity for writers to get published online, in a format that is now easily accessible for readers. To listen to company director Jody Medland discussing the EL series click here. 

And for today and tomorrow, it's FREE to buy on Amazon. 

Unusually for an anthology series, Medland weaves the stories together by providing an over-arching narrative in between each piece, in this case an engrossing battle scenario in which each soldier has a story which has led them to the war zone. With great contributions from writers Jodie Cassinelli, Benjamin Britworth, Susan Bradfield, Alasdair MacAulay, J. Lloyd Storey, River J. Young, Saira Viola and Nathaniel Williams, it's an explosive and entertaining read.  

About my story 

Based on an old story, the seeds of the idea for a modern retelling were sown years ago. I've long been fascinated by folk tales and myth, particularly those with an underlying sense of  the supernatural. I read The Cruel Sister in an old compendium of ghost stories my parents had, part of a Reader's Digest-esque series which included Fairies, Knights, Witches and Wizards and many other fantasical subjects infinitely fascinating to my child self. The books were beautifully illustrated, using classical art work by famous painters as well as modern pieces inspired by the stories themselves. This is where I first learnt about doppelgangers, and the horror genre as a whole, and after reading the story the effects were such that I did my best not to get on my own sister's nerves for months afterwards!  

Mayday Stories, The Emerging Light Series

Chapter Seven: Jason: The Golden Note 

Jason is a musician who falls hard for Julia, a golden-haired marine biologist with a hint of sadness in her eyes. Although he senses in her some nameless fear, he can't reconcile it with the utter peace he feels when they're together. When he meets Desiree, Julia's sister, he is shocked by the passion she reveals for him from the moment they meet. 

When tragedy strikes, he and Desiree are flung together, and she manipulates her way into Jason's bed. But was Julia murdered by her jealous sister? 

To find out how Jason solves the mystery and the dramatic way in which he reveals her killer, click the link below to download the book onto your Kindle, smart or android phones - it's totally free! 

Mayday Stories- the Emerging Light Series

If you read the stories and LIKE them, do write a review to let us know what you think.


To like the book click here for the Facebookfan page.

Are you sitting Comfortably: a performance of my story

White Rabbit Productions are back with another of their fabulous Are you sitting comfortably? events. Giving writers the opportunity to submit their work, the two actors Bernadette Russell and compadre in crime Gareth Brierly read their own and selected stories based on a theme. This Saturday, the theme is Hero's and Villains (one of my favourites). 

The events are always great fun with a Mad Hatter-esque feel, as the company decorates the venue, wear costumes and feed the audience free cakes and sweets. There is music and visuals, and the actors give the reading of the stories themselves (certainly in my case!) a professional feel. As a writer, its a treat to sit back and have someone else interpret and present the story you've written. In my story, 'Beyond Fake,' the main protagonist is a big, hairy wrestler, which makes it hard for me to read convincingly.

I'd definitely recommend it as a great night out.

Are you sitting comfortably?  

Saturday, 26^th May at 7:30

Venue:

Clerk and Well Pub

156 Clerkenwell Road

London

EC1R 5DU  

Tickets £3/£4

Box office 07956 621968 or book online

http://tinyurl.com/6uovs3s

White Rabbit

www.thewhiterabbit.org.uk

"fantastic alternative fun" Time Out

"storytelling made supremely sexy" Latest 7 ****

"comic..haunting..an enchanted night" Total Theatre  ****

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