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  ****

join us on facebook! - http://www.facebook.com/groups/62242002336/

Beautifully illustrated video - Neko Case

There's a great blog, Biblioklept which turns up all kinds of literary and musical ephemera. This video by Neko Case being an example.

Performing at Paragram Friday 13 April

I'm lucky enough to be performing with Agnes Meadows (who recently co-edited the Gothic issue with me - www.exacteditions.com/newtrespass) at Paragram, a Chertsey based event, tomorrow.


Paragram is run by Sally Blackmore, a wonderful poet and writer who has been running the event since last November. 
Writers are encouraged to submit work to her, and, apart from the possibilty of performing your work might have a chance of being included in one of their anthologies. See the Paragram website for more information.


Here is an article published by Writing Magazine about the event:


Spotlight on Paragram


Here are more details:


When?  Friday 13 April between 7.30 and 9.30pm 
Where? The Chertsey Bookshop (95-99 Guildford Street, Chertsey, Surrey, KT16 9AS Tel:            01932 565495) .

We are lucky to have persuaded Agnes Meadows, internationally renowned poet and founder of Loose Muse to read from her collection and to answer questions about her writing.

How much? Tickets are £3 each, available from sjbpoetry@gmail.com, from the bookshop or at the door on the night.

Other performers include: Me, Jill Taylor, John Notley, Sandra Curtin, Greg Freeman and Sue Judd.

Remember there is a new open mic ( 5 minutes per reader  hopefully) part to the evening. Anyone wanting to book a slot to read in advance should contact me by email – sjbpoetry@gmail.com - to avoid disappointment.

This promises to be even better than our very successful launch in November last year so see you there…

Funny women: Fanny Brice

Writing a humorous blog (www.zeitgeistschadenfreude.wordpress.com) has made me reflect on the misconceptions around funny women. It seems as though there are always people very keen to make out that women 'just aren't as funny as men,' despite much evidence to the contrary (Tina Fey anyone?).

So today I want to celebrate on one of my favourite funny women who I discovered indirectly through Barbara Streisand's amazing performance in Funny Girl, Fanny Brice.

These two clips show her fearlessness and virtuosity, as well as being damn amusing.

It's gorgeous to be graceful

I wouldn't buy a ting  

Enjoy!

NEW TRESPASS GOTHIC LAUNCH TONIGHT!

The artwork above is by our amazing cover artist, Alex Gross. Have a look at some of his brilliant surreal images here:  http://www.alexgross.com/ 

So excited for tonight's launch - especially because we'll be having the wonderful Jean Claude Mad Hero playing for us as well.

This video doesn't do him justice - the man deserves a proper stage!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q5vwDOY1uU&feature=related

Remember to wear something Gothic if you are coming along.

See below for details.

When? April 4

Where? L’Osteria Wine Bar, which is attached to the L’Osteria Restaurant at 57 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8PP

What time? 7:30pm

FREE

We're launching the 'Gothic' issue of New Trespass with the help of our brilliant contributors including: Richard Tyrone Jones, Collin Kelly, Izzy White Sarah Reilly, Dzifa Benson, Joel Toledo, Katrina Naomi, Lorraine Clarke, Maria Gregoria, Nick Field, Sue Johns as well as our inimitable guest ed. Agnes Meadows.

See you there!