Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2021 i Writing Magazine

Writing historical crime thrillers often feels like one of those crazy circus acts where you have to stand on the backs of two galloping horses, with one foot on each, trying to keep your balance. One of the horses is the historical facts, the other is your invented plot and characters. And there’s the constant danger of the story falling flat on its face between them, so it’s vital to hold those horses close together from the very beginning. When I was writing my new novel, The Drowned City, getting those first five pages just right seemed more important than usual, because they are not just the beginning of this book, but the first five pages of a whole new series. 1 History had handed me a big dramatic event,…

100 years ago: July 1921 • French tennis player Suzanne Lenglen won her third Wimbledon singles title in a row • Former First Lady Nancy Reagan was born • Children’s author Leon Garfield was born • With the passing of the Dentists Act, dentistry became a fully regulated profession in the UK 80 years ago: July 1941 • CBS Television Quiz, the first regularly broadcast televised game show, began running • TV personality Bill Oddie was born • Virginia Woolf’s final novel, Between the Acts, was published following her death in March 90 years ago: July 1931 • Adventure novelist and underwater explore Clive Cussler was born • US pre-Code drama Smart Money, starring Edward G Robinson and James Cagney, was released. • French actor Leslie Caron was born •…

What makes a writer? To be a writer there’s really only one pre-requisite: you just have to write. Well that’s something I’ve definitely never had a problem with, because writing is my day job as well as my creative outlet. ‘Most of my “bread and butter” work comprises writing content and marketing material for websites, real estate copywriting, corporate work and (my favourite!) travel writing, so for years I never had enough time or energy to devote to writing a whole book. (Disclosure: that’s a damn lie, but it’s called procrastination and I’m excellent at it.) Because, as any freelancer will tell you, it’s very hard to say no to work when you have no idea where your next month’s income is coming from. “After stop-starting on fragments of a…

£250 TO BE WON Short Story Competition A wide theme for you to use in any kind of writing this month. Fiction or non-fiction are both fine, but you'll need to evoke all the senses to win judges over with your food entry. The winner will receive £200 and publication in Writing Magazine, with £50 and publication on line for the runner-up. The closing date is 15 June SEE P75 FOR ENTRY DETAILS, FULL RULES AND ENTRY FORMS STILL TIME TO ENTER £250 TO BE WON With its closing date of 15 May, there’s still time to enter last month’s competition for short stories on the the theme ‘spirit’. Prizes and length are as above. See p75 for full details.…

‘My new book is called The Wild Girls, and it’s a thriller about four women who take a trip to a luxury safari lodge in Botswana – only to find that everything is not quite as it seems. When they arrive at the lodge, it’s deserted – the birthday party they were promised doesn’t seem to be happening, and they’re alone in the wilderness with just their secrets… I had the idea in 2019 as Africa is a place I’ve always wanted to visit – due to the Covid lockdowns I wasn’t able to go, but I enjoyed escaping to another country in my imagination nonetheless. ‘My writing routine varies – I work full-time during the week, so any writing has to fit around that. I do the bulk of…

‘My tenth published title sees the return of my Aylesbury based detectives Lizzie Archer and Dan Baines are back in a new thriller,’ writes subscriber Dave Sivers. ‘It’s my ninth novel, tenth published title, and the sixth outing for Archer and Baines. It feels like a real milestone, having been writing all my life, including columns and articles in local newspapers and regional magazines, as well as short stories in Take a Break magazine and other publications. ‘I grew up in West London and now live in Buckinghamshire, where I am co-founder of the BeaconLit festival of books and writing. My writing has also given me the opportunity to appear at other book festivals and events, and to give talks to WIs and other groups. Like many writers, I’ve been…

‘Who said marriage and romance are on the wane?’ writes subscribe Aurelien Thomas. ‘A Vow is a collection of love poems which was self-published last year, but, thanks to its popular appeal, was just picked up and released again by GMGA Publishing. Two poems (yes, two) had been scrutinised by Alison Chisholm in her WM feature Poetry Workshop, back in February 2019, and the collection had quite a journey ever since. Alison Chisholm, commenting on the endeavour of writing a full collection of love poems only, rightly advised then how ‘it’s worth remembering that including joyous, frivolous, melancholy, yearning, funny and tender poems side by side will add appeal and keep the reader’s interest piqued throughout the book.’ Well, given the success of A Vow so far, the author guesses…

‘Since selling my recruitment business in 2000 to focus more on my handicapped son and use any spare time to try my hand at a second career as an author, life has changed considerably,’ writers subscriber Dee Gordon. ‘My latest book – The Little History of the East End – was my twentieth published book, postponed until last October but still launched without fanfare or the usual publicity drive, for obvious reasons. Apart from a couple of novels, a book about the 1960s and a self-published book of poetry, my work is all about local history based around Southend (where I live), Essex and the East End, where I come from. In fact, it is the East End that will be the subject of my next book, following a suggestion…

The historical novelist Nicola Cornick could well have been destined to become an author. ‘One of my grandfathers was a poet and my godmother was the author Patricia Hunt,’ she says. ‘So from early childhood I had some very strong literary influences in my life. ‘I started writing the book that was to become my first published novel when I was eighteen. I wrote it on and off while I was at university, and when I was 21 I sent it to Mills & Boon. It was rejected, so I put it to one side for a few years before reworking it and sending it in again. Mills & Boon turned it down again, but this time with a very positive rejection letter, so I was inspired to keep going.…

2021 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize is inviting entries. The winners in each of the poetry, short fiction and life writing categories will win £1,000. The Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize supports writers who have not published book-length works of fiction, life writing or poetry. The winners in each category receive £1,000 and their work will be published in the print edition of Wasafiri. Shortlisted writers’ work will be published online. All winning and shortlisted writers receive a Chapter and Verse or Free Reads mentoring scheme and a conversation with The Good Agency’s Nikesh Shukla to discuss their career progression. This year’s judges are Tishani Doshi, Hirsh Sawhney, Christie Watson and Andrew Cowan. To enter, send original, unpublished short fiction or life writing up to 3,000 words, or…

Stories of 1,000-2,200 words could win £400, £200 or £100 in the Frome Festival Short Story Competition 2021. There are also local prizes for writers living within a 25-mile radius of Frome Library. This year’s guest judge is Frome-based author Frances Liardet. The entry fee is £8 per story. The closing date is 31 May. Website: www.fromeshortstorycompetition.co.uk Winners of the Mythopoetic Fantasy Awards, for works that ‘exemplify the spirit of the Inklings’ (JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis and Charles Williams) are: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature, Snow White Learns Witchcraft, Theodora Goss; Children’s Literature, Dragon Pearl, Yoon Ha Lee; Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies, The Sweet and the Bitter: Death and Dying in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Amy Amendt-Raduege; Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies, A…

Aiming to encourage original new writing from writers of all ages and nationalities around the world, the Leicester Writes Short Story Prize is open to submissions of unpublished stories of a maximum 3,500 words on any theme. The first prize is £150 with second and third prizes of £50 and £25. A longlist of twenty stories will be published in an anthology. Extracts from longer works and unfinished stories are not eligible and no entry should be a simultaneous submission. Format your story in a doc or docx file which does not bear your name. The entry fee is £3 per entry and you can submit up to three. Feedback of up to 250 words is available for £30. To submit, complete the entry form on the website as this…

The Fiddlehead is a well-established Canadian literary journal. For 75 years, it has published poetry, short fiction and reviews, aiming ‘to discover and promote new writing talent; to represent the Atlantic region’s lively cultural and literary diversity; and to place the best of new and established Canadian writing in an international context’. Indigenous writers, writers of colour, writers with disabilities, LGBTQQIA+ writers, and writers from other intersectional and underrepresented communities can all find a home for their literary work with this journal. The editorial team seek subs of fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction. A short fiction submission should be no more than 6,000 words, flash fiction no more than 1,000 words, and you can submit two pieces. For poems, submit 2-6, no more than twelve pages total. Creative non-fiction ‘can include…

Prizes are £1,000, £500 and £250 in the Ledbury Festival Poetry Competition 2021, for original, unpublished poems up to forty lines, any style, any subject. The entry fee is £5.75, £3.50 each additional. There are also categories for young poets, with smaller prizes, and under-12s, with book tokens. All winners will be invited to read at the 2022 Ledbury Poetry Festival. The closing date is 15 July. Website: www.poetry-festival.co.uk/poetrycompetition- 2021/ Bloomsbury Children’s Books and Save the Children have released an animated version of The World Made Rainbow. Narrated by actor David Tennant, it is a response to the rainbows created by children across the world in response to the Covid-19 lockdowns. Torrey Peters is the first trans woman to be included on the twelve-book longlist for the Women’s Prize for…

The FAB Prize is inviting entries. Celebrating its fifth birthday, the Faber Andlyn Prize is for new children’s writers and illustrators from underrepresented backgrounds The competition was set up in 2017 by Faber Children’s and the Andlyn Literary Agency to discover and showcase new talent in children’s publishing. The idea behind it is that every child deserves to see themselves represented in books. The first prize winners in the text and illustration categories each get £500. The text winner receives a place on an online Faber Academy writing course, a place on the five-part Insights into the Publishing Process programme and the opportunity to shadow established authors on school visits. The illustration winner gets a one-year portfolio membership of the Society of Illustrators, a place on the Insights into the…

US small press Sliced Up is looking for short stories involving menopause for a horror fiction anthology, Bodies Full of Burning: An Anthology of Menopause-Themed Horror. Stories, 1,000-4,000 words, must include menopause as the main plot point. Submit a doc or docx attachment by email: sliceduppress@gmail.com Deadline is 1 June. Payment is 1¢ per word Website: https://sliceduppress.com Veteran science fiction author CJ Cherryh has been declared the recipient of the 2021 Robert A Heinlein Award, an honour given for ‘outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings that inspire the human exploration of space’. The Award will be presented virtually as part of the opening ceremony of Balticon 55, hosted by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society on 28 May. Applications have been made to turn the offices which formerly…

Podcasts are a great way of hearing interviews with your favourite authors, but don’t limit yourself to the obvious literary podcasts. Channel Four News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy presents a weekly podcast linked to C4 News called Ways To Change The World. Released on Fridays, each episode runs for 25-45 minutes and consists of a single interview. While many of the subjects are related to politics and current affairs, Guru-Murthy talks in-depth to a wide range of writers. Guests on Ways To Change The World have so far included, among others, Russell T Davies, Timothy Snider, Philip Pullman, Andre Aciman, Naomi Klein, Nesrine Malik, Margaret Atwood, Malorie Blackman, Madeline Miller, Matt Haig, Elif Shafak, Salman Rushdie, Germaine Greer, and Benjamin Zephaniah. At the time of writing the most recent guest was…

Win a £200 first prize and be crowned Poet of the Year in the 15th annual contest from Canterbury Festival. The international competition is for original, unpublished poems up to sixty lines. Poems may be on any subject, in any style or form. The winner will receive £200. The second-placed poet gets £100 and the third, £50. All the longlisted poems will be published in an anthology, and there is a £25 People’s Choice prize of the audience’s choice from the included poems. The Best-Read Poem on the Awards Evening, which will take place on 7 October (Covid regulations permitting), will get a bottle of sparkling wine. The entry fee is £5 per poem. The closing date is 11 June. Website: https://canterburyfestival.co.uk/…

Dark Edge Press is a new independent digital-first fiction publisher. ‘We publish full-length genre (crime, romance, historical, contemporary, up-lit) and literary fiction,’ said publishing director Louise Mullins. Hybrid author Louise originally set up the press to republish her own books. ‘After receiving the rights back to two of my traditionally published works in the summer of 2019 I decided to re-edit and republish them under my own imprint – Dark Edge Press – based in South Wales,’ she said. Louise had been considering developing her own publishing business for some time, to utilise her experience in management and marketing, and the opportunity afforded her to do just that. ‘So, shortly before signing a three-book deal with another publisher for my new Welsh procedural, I decided to open the doors to…

The Polari Prize book awards for LGBTQI+ writers is inviting submissions for the Polari Prize (£2,000) and the Polari First Book Prize for debut authors (£1,000). Books must have been published in the twelve months up to 1 February 2021. The closing date for submissions is 26 April. Website: www.polarisalon.com/polari-prize Comma Press and Manchester Metropolitan University are holding a twoday Publishing Conference 2021 event, 24-25 April, ‘to make the industry more transparent’ for aspiring publishers. Two talks will be livestreamed for free, with other presentations covering all aspects of the industry available for a combined £25 fee. Website: www.commapress.co.uk Yaniv Iczkovits has won the Wingate Literary Prize for the best book to translate the idea of Jewishness for the general reader for his historical novel The Slaughterman’s Daughter. ‘Usually, I…

The Writers’ Weekend, to be held virtually, 24-27 June, is inviting entry for its creative writing competitions. • Flash Fiction Competition: Submit 300-word fiction. Prizes are £300, £200 and £100. Entry fee, £10, £8 for a second, £6 for a third. • Writing for Children Competition: Submit the first 3,000 words of a work of fiction for ages 8+, 8-12 or 12+, and a one-page synopsis. The prizes are £300, £200 and £100. Entry is £10. • The Writing Magazine and Writers’ Weekend Short Story Competition: For short stories, 1,500-3,000 words. First prize is £250 and a year’s subscription to Writing Magazine. Entry is £10, £8 for WM subscribers. The closing date for this competition is 4 June. • The Little Tiger Picture Book Competition: enter picture book texts up…

PRESCIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE Prescient US science-fiction author Octavia E Butler, who died in 2006, has been honoured by NASA, who have named the touchdown site of Mars rover Perseverance after her. Butler, the author of the two-volume Earthseed series, was the first African-American woman to win both Hugo and Nebula Awards. Set in the 2020s, 1993’s The Parable of the Sower depicts America descending into chaos because of climate change and lack of equality. It includes the lines: Embrace diversity. Unite – Or be divided, robbed, ruled, killed By those who see you as prey. Embrace diversity Or be destroyed. In the 1998 follow-up, Parable of the Talents, a rightwing, rabble-rousing President promises to ‘make America great again’. Butler’s legacy was explored at this year’s New Suns feminist literary festival…

What is perhaps most astonishing about the success of Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse is it’s extraordinary longevity. I cannot think of any other book which has managed to be the top seller for two successive Christmasses and as I write this it is number four in the UK Amazon chart and number one in the US. Nearly eighteen months after it was published, that is the kind of long tail which makes publishers very happy indeed. It cannot be underestimated the degree to which huge bestsellers like these underpin the whole of publishing. They are phenomenally lucrative for the author and his agent, but most of all for the publisher. Publishing is enormously front loaded in terms of costs. From editorial – and…

Acquiring Julietta’s book was the most exciting week of my career. When Sue called me to tell me about Norman, I was instantly intrigued by the unusual and unique pitch and I knew I needed to get to know Norman and Sadie for myself. But a great pitch doesn’t mean you’ll love a book so I actually read it a little skeptically – desperate the know whether the big emotional promises Julietta’s writing was making would make for an authentically moving ending. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. Julietta had me hooked until the very last page as I laughed and cried my way through my first read. From there, it was a bit of a whirlwind. As an editor you’re always a little anxious that your colleagues won’t…

SPOTLIGHT ON… Rushmoor Writers The UK’s second oldest writing group, Rushmoor Writers in Hampshire, is this year celebrating its seventieth birthday with the publication of its latest anthology, The Thing About Seventy,’ writes Louise Page. In this celebratory collection – by new, seasoned, published and award-winning writers – their tales encompass love, loss, lockdown, dragons, abandoned houses, dead people, mystical crystals, supermarket rebellions and vanishing numbers. And in each, there’s a thing about seventy. Despite Covid-19 scuppering plans for physical launches and signings, and the online literary world currently saturated with new books, this group has overcome these and other challenges to produce this 148-page tome. It costs £7.99 in print or £2.99 as an ebook from Amazon. “It’s exciting and gratifying to be part of a writers’ group that’s…

‘When very young, I created daydreams and adapted them into performances for friends and family,’ writes subscriber Christine Dawe. ‘Aged twelve I appeared twice in Midsummer Night’s Dream, once as Titania then Oberon. ‘The Liverpool Echo published my short stories on their Children’s Page. At sixteen, it also featured my teenage fashion items. My love for writing and acting developed and flourished. Forbidden by parents to follow a showbiz career, I taught English in a huge comprehensive, and absolutely loved it. ‘Then came marriage to television actor/writer, Ray Dunbobbin, who spent many years in Brookside, The Liver Birds, Porridge, The Good Life and other sitcoms. We both expanded into voiceover careers, recording audio books by saga writer, Helen Forrester, Cyril Abraham, creator of The Onedin Line, and many others. Now…

‘History and English were two subjects I did well in at school (over 45 years ago), ‘writes new subscriber Carole O’Connor. ‘My book Women’s Suffrage in Scotland combined my love of both of these school subjects. ‘My parents emigrated to Australia with our family, but returned at the time I was due to take my O-level equivalent exams. On arriving back to the UK I went straight to work at sixteen. So no exam qualifications for me, although I did go onto train as a registered nurse and won a distinction on a journalism course. ‘I had been a subscriber of Writing Magazine previously – that’s how the book came about. ‘Publishers Pen & Sword were interviewed in the magazine a couple of years ago asking for women writers to…

‘Well, for a start, I wish I’d known that being a successful writer is all about the story, not about how good your English is! Nowadays, given that I’m the author of sixteen commercially-published sagas, this might seem a strange statement. So I’ll explain. ‘Although I’ve been making up stories in my head for as long as I can remember, as someone with dyslexia I struggled with English at school. Today, this common learning disability is widely recognised. But, when I went to school, children who couldn’t spell were regarded as stupid. Therefore, the thought that I could ever write a book, let alone have it published, never entered my head. ‘I’m not saying you should submit a misspelt, ungrammatical manuscript and expect any publishing house to accept it. So,…

As a change from writing rhyme and rhythm poetry why not try working on some syllabic poetry? The first to mind are always the Japanese varieties, as in the haiku with its three lines containing seventeen syllables with five in the first line seven in the second and five in the third. A great deal of Celtic poetry is written in syllabic forms. All of these are interesting to read as well as writing them, but it is also engaging to devise your own syllabic pattern. Writing a few words and setting them out in different combinations of syllabic lines can prove intriguing Attempt normative syllabics first, where the same number of syllables occur in each line. You can make the poem any length. For instance, let’s take a look…

Rest Of World is an international non-profit journalism organisation and digital publication. It was founded in 2019 by Sophie Schmidt who, after a decade living in places as varied as Beijing, London, Dubai, Yangon, San Francisco and Johannesburg realised that ‘technology manifests itself very differently in different places.’ Her idea therefore, was to create a site documenting what happens ‘when technology, culture and the human experience collide, in places that are typically overlooked and underestimated.’ Which is to say, outside of the western world. Recent stories have included an exploration of Asia’s booming online learning industry, an investigation into cryptocurrencies and a Buenos Aires hacker, and a look inside India’s digital crime unit. The editorial team are always looking for stories about ‘how people in the non-Western world are being…

Edna O’Brien, now ninety years old and one of Ireland’s most celebrated writers, was recently named Commander of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France’s highest and most prestigious cultural honour. O’Brien’s work spans over sixty years, from The Country Girls in 1960 (it was banned in Ireland on original publication) to her most recent book, Girl. The French embassy in Ireland described the author as ‘one of the greatest writers of the 20th century’ and that O’Brien ‘has built a special relationship with France and the French public both for the quality of her writing but also for her universal struggles, which received a particular resonance in France.’ O’Brien’s other books include Girls In Their Married Bliss and The Lonely Girl (which she adapted into the film…

That’s Life is a UK weekly print and digital tabloid-style magazine which publishes true life stories. A recent issue included these headlines: ‘Menopause, more like MEN, no PAUSE!’ ‘My Broody Fella Knocked Up Our Pal With Twins’ and ‘I Gave My Boy, 7, Cannabis, to Help With His Schoolwork’. Editor Claire Mullooly requires real-life health stories, particularly about overcoming unusual or life changing conditions and unique or rare health issues. Pitch by emailing clare.mullooly@bauermedia.co.uk or stories@thatslife.co.uk, or write to That’s Life! FREEPOST LON12043, H Bauer Publishing, London, NW1 1YU. Payment is a flat rate of £250 per story. You can also find Claire on Twitter @clareyy28…

The 2020 British Fantasy Award winners, given by the British Fantasy Society, have been announced as: Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award), The Bone Ships, RJ Barker; Horror Novel (the August Derleth Award), The Reddening, Adam Nevill; Novella, Ormeshadow, Priya Sharma; Short Story, The Pain-Eater’s Daughter, Laura Mauro; Collection, Sing Your Sadness Deep, Laura Mauro; Anthology, New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction for People of Colour, ed Nisi Shawl; Independent Press, Rebellion; Non-Fiction, The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas; Magazine, Fiyah; Best Newcomer (the Sydney J Bounds Award), The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates. For a full list of winners and more details visit www.britishfantasysociety.org/bfs/british-fantasyawards- 2020/…

Futurism is a US science and technology news website that publishes around 6-8 stories a day. Editor Jon Christian is always open to pitches for stories, and is particularly interested in coverage of space travel, climate and environmental stories, artificial intelligence, future transport, health and medicine, energy, genetics and brain-computer interfaces. Recent stories have included a European Space Agency plan to farm fish on the moon (to feed the staff of a proposed lunar base), British soldiers training for combat in virtual reality, and a report on how in rare cases some people have caught two coronavirus variants at the same time. The site has short blog posts, which it calls Bytes, and longer features, published in Neoscope. Bytes are usually under 300 words and pay $200. Longer features pay…

Family Tree, edited by Helen Tovey, is the leading family history title, aimed at anyone interested in researching and remembering their family history. Coverage reflects the wide range of topics that feed into family history, and includes news, informative features and the latest genealogical research advice. Content is presented in a friendly, accessible and knowledgeable way, bring family history to life in an entertaining as well as educational fashion. Pitches are welcomed from writers with substantial family history experience, and/or those who have uncovered a fantastic family history story. Website: www.family-tree.co.uk All About History is a popular history magazine edited by Jonathan Gordon. Covering historical time periods from Ancient Egypt up to the end of the Cold War. It’s targetted to a broad, enthusiastic readership, and aims to present world…

Hawkshaw Press is ‘a literary small press specialising in crime and detective fiction.’ Devil’s Party Press is their partner ‘publisher of second acts’. Hawkshaw Press is currently open to subs and the editorial team seek submissions of novel-length works no more than 100,000 words. The team want a book ‘full of intrigue, crime, maybe a few people die’. They like diverse characters, but ask that writers write from their own background. That is don’t have a main character who is of a different ethnic and cultural background if it isn’t your cultural background. Submit online a one-page synopsis of around 500 words plus the first 10-15 pages of the work. Submit everything through the Duosuma page as a doc or pdf file. Allow up to eight weeks for a response.…

A quarterly journal which devotes itself to the search for meaning in myths, symbols and religious traditions, Parabola welcomes submissions of original articles, translations, poetry and occasionally reviews, retellings of traditional stories and forum contributions. Check out the website to read content and gain an idea of what editors will be looking for. All issues are themed and for the next issue, with a submissions deadline of 1 June, the theme is Fire. Articles of 1,000-3,000 words should be ‘lively, penetrating material unencumbered by jargon or academic argument’ and be well researched, objective and unsentimental pieces focusing on religious or cultural tradition rather than dreams, visions or other personal experiences. Up to five poems may be submitted as a single file with each poem separated by a page break. Each…

Writers aged 11-18 are invited to submit stories, lyrics, poems, spoken word, games narratives, scripts, podcasts, plays, articles, journalism, essays and graphic stories for the Young Norfolk Writing Competition. To enter you must be studying, living in Norfolk or have a school or home address with an NR postcode. There are individual prizes, mentoring opportunities and the opportunity to have your work performed and published. Up to six pieces of writing may be submitted and, with the exception of graphic novels, audio entries of a maximum five minutes are acceptable. Graphic stories must be a maximum four sides of A4 pages and all other submissions no more than forty lines or one side of an A4 page. Submissions can be made using a Google account to complete the online application…

Blue Moon Publishers is a Canadian small press with an editorial team who believe that lives can be changed through literature. The editorial team know that, ‘Once in a blue moon, a story comes along that captures hearts and imaginations,’ and they hope to publish it. They want ‘fiction and non-fiction books that inspire, encourage, and motivate readers to make the world a better place.’ The list includes novels and short story collections as well as memoirs and guidebooks, from ‘women’s fiction to young adult… history, diversity, music, adventure, nature and environment, caregiving, grief and loss, cooking, and more.’ There are two imprints, Swan Parade Press, a regional imprint that features contemporary and historic stories of about the Press’s regional area and Next Chapter Press, an imprint featuring memoirs, guidebooks,…

STAR LETTER Getting better all the time Adam Hughes, I was so grateful to read your letter (Letters, WM, April) this morning. Your advice was very much needed, as I have been feeling particularly despondent of late. Just this week, I participated in a new workshop with experienced and successful writers. Being a ‘newbie’, I was apprehensive about sharing my writing. Then, when the first comment I received began with something like, ‘I think you’ve missed the mark here if I’m honest’, I was hurt. Also, reading through the other workshop submissions, I was overwhelmed with how beautifully crafted and impactful the writing was. I felt disheartened, as though I could never be as good as them. That my writing will never be worthy of publication. I definitely feel mediocre…

For many writers, the urge to write is often stymied by the issue of what to write about. Craft is not the same as creativity. As ever, trusting in the muse, in inspiration or in nebulous concepts of talent gets you only so far. Consistency and process are the keys to ceaseless creativity. How can you organise your time and your work so that you’re always coming up with outlets for your writing? Multitask your input Maybe you’re a poet. Or a novelist. Or a blogger. It’s easy to get caught up in your own small corner of creativity and focus only on that. However, creativity is very often a result of cross-fertilisation. Ideas can come from anywhere, but you have to be looking out for them. You’re probably already…

Kate Mosse is the founder director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, now 25 years old. ‘There was a Booker shortlist in 1991 with no women on it,’ she says. ‘If it had been an all-female list all hell would have broken loose. So a group of us got together and discovered 60% of novels published were by women but 9% were shortlisted. Literature is seen as white male narratives. Literary prizes are a way that readers hear about exceptional books. So prizes matter.’ The Women’s Prize first ran as the Orange Prize for Fiction in 1996. ‘We believed absolutely in this prize,’ says Kate. ‘And the rest is history. It’s transformed the landscape. It means being a woman who writes, and who reads, is always represented. Every year it…

Back in October 2010, I signed up for a creative writing course with the Open University and wrote a 1,500 word short story about a call centre operator helping people solve problems with their magical artefacts,’ writes subscriber Annie Percik. ‘A friend of mine read it and said he thought the idea could be expanded into a novel. He challenged me to write it and I mostly decided to give it a try just to prove him wrong, since I was convinced I would never be able to write something that long and involved. But I gradually expanded the short story over several years and it eventually turned into a novel. It’s a fantasy book about a world where there’s no electricity and everything runs on magic power. The hero,…

‘The year 2020 was, for me, marked as a very special year – it was the year I became an author,’ writes subscriber Lynn Johnson. ‘My debut WW1 saga about Ginnie Jones, The Girl from the Workhouse was published, first as an ebook, then as an audiobook and, in September as a paperback, much to my extreme delight, by the lovely people at Hera Books. It did very well in the competitive family saga market, and I watched it climb through the ratings, fascinated. ‘It so happened that, during the writing of Ginnie’s story, one of the other characters began to make herself known as a potential character for the next novel. Constance Copeland was a dear friend of Ginnie’s and had lots to say. I decided to interview her,…

‘I have always scribbled bits and pieces, poems, rants, sketches,’ writes subscriber Mary Searle-Chatterjee. ‘Most lie, unseen, curling at the edges, in old boxes under my bed. I was thirty before BBC Radio broadcast the comic travel pieces I had written about my new married life in India. Six years later, I returned to Britain. Motherhood and full-time work held back the flow of the creative juices. Worse still, my job included writing impersonal non-fiction, all telling and no showing. ‘Retirement arrived. Maybe this was the time at last to write a travel book with a difference, about the two years I spent at an Indian University. I had set off from Heathrow, in 1963, at the age of 21, equipped with a Commonwealth Scholarship, to study for an MA…

The annual Wells Festival of Literature creative writing competition is inviting entries in four categories. The Wells Festival of Literature competition categories are: • Open Poetry: Poems on any subject, no more than 35 lines. Prizes: 1st £1,000, 2nd £500, 3rd £250, Local £100. Entry fee, £6 • Short Story: Any subject, 1,000 to 2,000 words. Prizes: 1st £750, 2nd £300, 3rd £200, Local £100. Entry fee, £6 • A Book for Children: Stories on any subject aimed at readers aged 7+, allowing entrants to write either middle grade or teenage novels. Send the first three chapters or first thirty pages, whichever is the shortest, plus the synopsis. Prizes: 1st £750, 2nd £300, 3rd £200, Local £100. Entry fee, £6 • Young Poets: Poems on any subject, no more than…

The CWA has awarded its highest honour, the Diamond Dagger Award, to the UK’s bestselling female crime writer, Martina Cole. Martina Cole is the author of 25 crime dramas, with total sales of more than 17 million books. The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) awards the annual Diamond Dagger award to authors whose crime-writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence. ‘It means so much to me to be receiving this prestigious award from my peers at the CWA,’ said Martina. ‘I can’t believe it’s nearly thirty years since Dangerous Lady was published – some people dismissed me as an Essex girl and a one-book wonder – but as one of my favourite songs goes: “I’m still here”!’ Linda Stratmann, Chair of the CWA, said, ‘We are delighted to award the…

Prizes are £500, £250 and £100 in the fifteenth year of the International Welsh Poetry Competition, for original, unpublished poems on any subject and in any style. Winners, runners up and commended entries will be published in an anthology. This year’s judge is Kathy Miles. Entry fee, £6; closing date, 6 June. Website: www.welshpoetry.co.uk Comma Press and Manchester Metropolitan University will be holding a two-day online Publishing Conference aimed at aspiring and early-career publishers on 24 and 25 April. Website: http://commapress.co.uk/events/the-publishingconference-1/ Duncan Hamilton, who has won the William Hill Book of the Year for sports writing three times, will be be publishing his first novel, Injury Time, in July. ‘In journalism just one fact that is false prejudices the entire work. In contrast, in fiction one single fact that is…

The Mairtin Crawford Award 2021 is inviting entries in two categories – poetry and short story – to win first prizes of £1,000. Published and unpublished writers from the UK and Ireland may enter the award, which is run by Belfast Book Festival, with the proviso that they must not have published a full collection of poetry, short stories or a novel. Winners in each category will receive £1,000 and a five-night stay at The River Mill Writing Retreat. Runners up in each category get £250. This year’s judges are Lucy Caldwell (short story) and Moyra Donaldson (poetry) Submit 3-5 poems (each no longer than 60 lines) and short stories up to 2,500 words. All entries must be original. Short stories must be unpublished and so must at least one…

The Reading Agency has launched the Read, Talk, Share campaign to combat loneliness. The campaign is backed by Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts as well as authors Amanda Prowse and Natasha Devon. Expanding on The Reading Agency charity’s Reading Well and Reading Friends campaigns to tackle loneliness, support mental health and promote wellbeing through reading, Read, Talk, Share is made possible by a £3.5 million grant from the Department for Digital Culture, Media & Sport. It will work with libraries across the UK to tackle loneliness and support mental health through reading, talking and sharing as part of the UK’s Covid recovery. ‘Wherever you are or whatever your circumstances, a good book enables you to leave your reality and get lost in the story you can’t put down,’ said Nicola…

The OfiPress is a bimonthly magazine promoting Mexican literature around the world while also publishing international poetry, short stories, non fiction, interviews, reviews and translations. Submissions should not have been previously published and should not be a simultaneous submission. Short stories, on any theme, should be under 1,500 words and whilst all poetry will be considered, haikus are unlikely to be published. Translations of poetry and fiction from around the world are welcome and you should first have written permission from the author to publish their work. Have a look at the current issue and the magazine archives to see what editors are looking for. Although there is currently no payment for published work editors hope to be able to change this in the future. Submit, a single doc attachment,…

Win £1,000 in The First Novel Prize competition for unpublished and independently published novelists. The prize from Daniel Goldsmith Associates is for new fiction by unpublished or self-published authors. Entries may be novels in any genre for adult readers, over 50,000 words, plus a synopsis. Second prize is £250 and third £100. Entry fee, £25; closing date, 31 May. Website: www.firstnovel.co.uk Jane Friedman, former CEO of HarperCollins, has joined digital self-publishing platform Inkitt as an advisor and shareholder. Inkitt claims to have the world’s first bestseller-predicting algorithm, and offers work by 100,000 authors for an audience of 3.5m. They plan to build on Jane’s insight and experience from traditional publishing to build a powerful hybrid publishing model. Egmont Books is rebranding, and will now be Farshore, a name chosen to…

A biannual English language journal for ‘creative writing and image/text experimentation’ Expanded Field Journal is based in Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and invites national and international submissions of original and translated fiction, non fiction, poetry, comics and ‘other experimental works not easily classified within genre boundaries’. Content of the magazine can be read online. Format your work using a Times New Roman 12pt font and double spacing in a doc or docx document. If spatial layout is integral to your text’s ‘communicative or aesthetic intent’ you may ignore this formatting. Images/text works should be high resolution 300ppi images, submitted as a jpg file. Submit only one piece in one category at a time or a maximum of three poems. You should gain a response within three months. Email your work with…

Although based in Canada, 5 Otter Literary is a new literary agency representing authors around the world writing in English. ‘We represent literature across all audiences, categories, genres, and formats, for traditional publishing as well as audio, translation, and film/TV’ say guidelines. At the time of writing the agency does not represent stage plays or screenplays. In the first instance submit a query letter and the first ten pages of a completed fiction manuscript or a proposal for a non-fiction work. Check out the Agents page on the website to see which would be most likely to be interested in your work and submit one project only. You may submit to more than one agent but mention you have done this when submitting. Submit your work in the body of…

Novelist and site co-founder Victoria Strauss wrote recently on Writer Beware, a US website sponsored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America which serves to warn authors about problems with publishers, a warning about three publishing companies which should be approached with caution. With regards to Riverdale Avenue Books, Strauss writes that, ‘Writer Beware has received a number of complaints from Riverdale anthology and book authors who cite publication delays, poor copy editing, late or missing royalty statements, non-provision of contractually-promised print author copies, and poor communication…’ Concerning Breaking Rules Publications, there have been reports of, ‘late payment of royalties; non-payment of royalties, staff salaries, anthology flat fees, and story fees for publication in BRP’s magazines; failure to provide author copies; failure to provide books ordered and paid…

Space and Scotland quarterly print and electronic magazine, which covers space research in Scotland, is looking for volunteer writers, editors, photographers and proofreaders who are based in Scotland with access to Zoom, Skype etc. Get in touch to express interest, sending a CV. Details: email: spaceandscotlandmagazine@gmail.com; website: www.duncanlunan.com/spacesandscotland. asp This year’s Frankfurt Bookfiar will take place between 20 and 24 October as a hybrid event with the motto of ‘re:connect’. Walker Books is to publish a new personal memoir picture book from beloved children’s author Michael Rosen, Sticky McStickstick, about his illness and recovery from Covid-19. Michael is also planning an adult memoir about his Covid experience, with Ebury Press. At night, when the objective world has slunk back into its cavern and left dreamers to their own, there come…

With a belief that ‘an essential part of developing excellent stage, radio and screen plays is hearing your work read by professional actors’, The Script Readers are open to submissions of scripts for their monthly three-hour rehearsed script reading workshops. Previously these were held at London theatres but due to Covid-19 restrictions the workshops have been held via Zoom. Check website for any changes. The workshops are structured reading and discussion sessions with the writer, actors, directors and invited industry contacts. The readings are followed by constructive and creative discussion and writers have the opportunity to discuss all responses to their work and to ask for detailed feedback. There is a £40 fee payable towards the hire of the space and for the writer to provide hard copies of their…