Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2023 i Writing Magazine

It’s a good job that I love everything about Christmas as writing festive mysteries means I’m thinking about mince pies, stockings and mint-crisp air all year round. As everyone takes down their decorations in January, I’m still listening to carols and holding onto Noddy Holder; when Easter comes I’m wrapping up a festive plot; and in the heat of summer, I cool myself down by thinking up next year’s snowy murders. Adoring this time of year helps infuse my writing with loving descriptions of festive food, drink and decorations, but you don’t have to relish Christmas to write a festive mystery. Strong feelings for or against the time of year will infuse the story like poisonspiked raisins and give it your unique voice and authenticity. Sinister season’s greetings A festive…

At the age of 80, John Irving feels anything but an author in their twilight years. On Zoom, recovering from a bout of Covid that slightly delayed WM’s interview with him, the acclaimed author, screenwriter and former wrestler is slightly husky in tone but eloquent, affable, and in full flow and eager to talk about his latest novel, and his first for seven years – The Last Chairlift. Weighing in at almost 900 pages, The Last Chairlift is a proper hefty doorstop of a novel – and one which will delight fans of the American-Canadian novelist’s tragicomic work, which includes 20th-century classics The World According to Garp (1978), A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989) and The Cider House Rules (1985). The Last Chairlift – his 15th novel – shares many…

TAP HERE To read an extract from The Hollow Sea I always written stories, ever since I could physically pick up a pencil and put words down on paper. As a ‘I’ve ‘I’ve child, I filled notebook after notebook, escaping from the struggles of everyday life into my own imagination. I aspired to be a writer, but it felt like an impossible dream. I left school at 16 and carried on writing, but rarely showed my work to anyone, harbouring a vague sense of shame about my strange little poems and stories. I returned to education in my mid 20s, discovering a whole new world of literature to read, but still kept my own writing close to my chest. It wasn’t until my early 30s, finding myself suddenly and…

‘I am the son of a Cornish bard,’ writes subscriber Ben Batten. ‘Like my father, I was an English teacher and now, as he was, I am a writer in retirement, with three self-published poetry collections, a book of short stories and a memoir so far, all written since my wife died in 2016. Sue was one of my muses; Cornwall is the other, but my influences include Tennyson, Eliot, Frost and Causley. ‘Apart from juvenilia I had written little until a midcareer one-year secondment to the Central School of Speech and Drama reignited my desire to write, and Gerard Benson’s poetry tutorials fanned the flame. I won the Buckinghamshire Arts Association’s open short story competition in 1985, but poetry has been my preferred genre and I have had work…

‘I’m thrilled to announce that my second crime novel, Grave Issue, was published on September 16th 2022,’ writes subscriber Julia Vaughan. ‘I found my brilliant publisher, Cahill Davis Publishing, in the pages of this very magazine and submitted my debut novel, Daisy Chain, back in January 2021. They loved it and the publishing date of August 16th 2021 soon came around. They were equally excited about Grave Issue as Daisy Chain has received five-star reviews and some great comments. ‘My books feature the same characters, a cold case team in Shropshire headed by DCI Kath Fortune. She has a secret from her past that rears its ugly head. She thinks she’s put it to rest but Grave Issue sees a new twist that threatens her personal and professional relationships. ‘I’ve…

Novelist Jane Cable, who also writes as Eva Glyn, comes from a family of writers and other creative people, and says she is sure her background helped her to realise her own writing ambitions. ‘While I was growing up, it seemed entirely normal to want to write stories,’ she says. ‘My late father Mercer Simpson was a poet, literary critic and reader for the Welsh Arts Council. One of his (much older) cousins was John Hampson, an author and fringe member of the Bloomsbury Group.’ I asked Jane to tell me a little about the central characters in both her Jane Cable and Eva Glyn novels. ‘My characters vary so much,’ she says. ‘My first few books feature only contemporary characters. But, over the last couple of years, I’ve found…

Researching buildings allows us to uncover a multitude of factual information as well as stories, whether they’re about the Taj Mahal in India or a humble fisherman’s cottage in Cornwall. Both public buildings and private homes offer much to write about, including how they were built, and how their form and function have influenced individuals and communities. Irrespective of whether you adopt a current or historical approach, there are plenty of resources to explore. Basics Architecture attracts our visual sense. Therefore, the first step in the research process would involve looking at the building you’re interested in. If you can go and visit this building, do that – and spend some time taking in the details. If you can’t visit the building, use Google’s image search engine (https://images.google.com) to find…

The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, now in its 13th year, is a major prize for undiscovered female writers. Entries are invited for the 2023 award. The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize is given annually for novel manuscripts by unpublished, unagented women writers that combine literary merit with unputdownability. Novels may be literary fiction or fiction in any genre, and may be for adults, young adults or children. The winner will receive £1,500. All shortlisted writers will receive a one-to-one meeting with an agent at the Prize’s sponsor, Peters Fraser + Dunlop, where they will be given feedback on their entry. Novel manuscripts may be finished or unfinished. To enter, send the first 40-50 pages and a synopsis of three to five pages. The entry fee is £12. Only one entry is…

The Fish Poetry Prize is inviting entries of original, unpublished poems on any theme and in any style, up to 60 lines. There is a first prize of €1,000. The second prize is a week in residence at Anam Cara Writers’ and Artists’ Retreat and €300, and a third prize of €300. The top ten poems will be published in the Fish Anthology 2023 and the writers will be invited to read at the launch during the West Cork Literary Festival in July 2023. The judge is Billy Collins. The entry fee is €14 for the first poem and €9 for any subsequent entries. The closing date is 31 March 2023. Website: www.fishpublishing.com/ competition/poetry-contest/…

The 2022 Kindle Storyteller Award, a £20,000 literary prize recognising outstanding writing by authors who publish through Kindle Direct Publishing, has been won by Peter Gibbons for his novel, King of War. He said, ‘I am absolutely delighted and honoured to have won this year’s award. I have always dreamed of becoming an author and I would like to thank Kindle Direct Publishing for making that ambition a possibility.’ (GD) Publishers Simon & Schuster, Pan MacMilland and Canongate all announced that they would be giving staff a oneoff payment to help with the cost of living crisis. ‘For me, and maybe other writers, it seems like you’re either in the camp where you want to make a statement, and that’s where the story is coming from, or you have a…

The Cheshire Prize 2022 is for writing on the theme of sustainability. There are four categories in the annual contest run by the University of Chester: short stories up to 1,500 words; poetry up to 100 lines; children’s literature for a story up to 1,500 words or a poem up to 100 lines, aimed at children aged 7 to 14; scriptwriting, for playscripts suitable for radio, theatre or TV, no longer than 15 minutes. To enter, writers must have been born, live or have lived, study or have studied and work or have worked in the historical or modern county of Cheshire (including the Wirral, Warrington and Halton). There are three age categories: primary (age 4-11), secondary (age 11-17) and 18+. In each category there are cash and book token prizes.…

The culture wars continue apace in the US, with bestselling author Nora Roberts stepping in, along with more than 4,000 other donors, to keep a local library open, writes Gary Dalkin. The Patmos Library in Jamestown Township, Michigan, lost its local taxpayer funding in August by a vote of 37% to 62% following a campaign by members of the local community when staff refused to withdraw LGBTQ titles the campaigners objected to. Staff did make the title Gender Queer: A Memoir, by Maia Kobabe available by request only. Library director Amber McLain, and later interim director Matthew Lawrence resigned, saying they had been repeatedly harassed, as well as been accused of indoctrinating children. The result was the library had a funding deficit of $245,000, with closure looking a serious possibility.…

Now in its sixth year, the WoLF Poetry Competition 2023, from Wolverhampton Literature Festival, is inviting entries. The WoLF Poetry Competition is an international open contest for poetry on any theme. Enter original, unpublished poems up to 40 lines. There are first and second prizes of £400 and £150, and three third prizes of £25. An additional £50 prize will be awarded to the writer of the best poem by a writer living in a WV postcode. This year’s judge is Jane Commane (pictured). The entry fee is £4 for one poem and £10 for three. The closing date is 31 December 2022. Website: www.wolvesliteraturefestival.co.uk/ competition.html…

Any writers working in comics or graphic novels and wondering about the possibilities opened up by AI art apps such as Midjourney, DALL-E 2 or Nightcafe should visit https://campfirenyc.com/comics/ and download the three free graphic novels, Summer Island, Exodus and The Lesson, made available in PDF and CBZ format by Campire creative director, writer and digital artist Steve Coulson. Prepare to be astonished/ dismayed, depending on your point of view. Campfire have worked on How I Met Your Father, The Alienist, Watchmen, Westworld and Game of Thrones, so when they turn their attention to AI art as a storytelling tool it’s probably time for writers to start taking the new technology seriously.…

The Kingston Quakers Poetry Competition 2022 is in honour of poet and Quaker Geoffrey Weeden, who died last year aged 90. The theme of the competition, which is ‘Draw Breath’, comes from Geoffrey Weeden’s poem of that title. Writers may enter up to three original, unpublished poems on the theme, with a combined total of no more than 150 lines. There are three age categories: 9-12 (prizes £50, £20 and £10); 13-18 (prizes £100, £50 and £20), and 19 years and upward (prizes £200, £100 and £50). The entry fee in the age 19 and over category is £5. The closing date is 18 December. Website: https:// kingstonquakers.org/poetry-comp/…

The Teignmouth Poetry Festival Competition 2023 is inviting entries. Win a £600 first prize in the open contest that will be judged by Fiona Benson. The Teignmouth Poetry Festival Competition is an annual international prize for original, unpublished poems on any subject, up to 40 lines. In addition to the £600 first prize, there are second and third prizes of £300 and £200. All entries with a Devon postcode are automatically entered in the Graham Burchell Award for Devon Poets, which will be judged by Sue Proffitt and has prizes of £200, £100 and £50. The entry fee is £4.50 for one poem and £3.50 for any subsequent entries online, and £4 for one and £3 for each additional poem for postal entries. The closing date is 31 January 2023.…

The Bournemouth Writing Prize 2023 is inviting entries. The annual contest is aimed at furthering the careers of the writers who enter. The Bournemouth Writing Prize from Fresher Publishing has two categories: poetry and short stories. Enter original, unpublished short stories up to 3,000 words and poems up to 42 lines. The short story prize is £500, feedback from a literary agent or editor and a professionally produced recording of the work. The poetry prize is £500, feedback and advice from poet Antony Dunn and a professional produced recording of the winning work. Each entry costs £7. The closing date is 27 January 2023. Website: www.fresherpublishing.co.uk/ the-bournemouth-writing-prize/…

Describing itself as ‘a magazine about reading, for and by readers’ New York-based Oh Reader is published in print and online four times a year and is looking for non fiction/essay, humour and poetry to include ‘insightful stories, hilarious observations, fascinating interviews and a lot of wordnerdery’. Example stories can be read on the website. Fiction, book reviews and author interviews are not wanted. If you have an idea for a non fiction or humour piece, you should initially send a pitch. For poetry, submit completed poems. Submissions should be made using the form on the website and this will include questions on your unique point of view as a writer, what your piece is about and whether you have been published elsewhere. You should gain a response within 6-8 weeks.…

Microcosm Publishing & Distribution’s editorial team call themselves ‘a most colourful, authentic, and empowering publishing house and distributor.’ The team runs ‘a vertically integrated publishing house which equips readers to make positive changes in their lives and in the world around them.’ One of their annual events is the Bikes in Space anthologies. Currently the team want subs for the 12th anthology and seek feminist science fiction and fantasy stories. Give the team ‘original short fiction, in written or comics form, about bicycling from a feminist perspective.’ This year’s anthology wants stories, 500 to 6,000 words, to feature ‘gardens, plants, or other products of photosynthesis. All three of these elements (bicycles, feminism, greenery) should be intrinsic to the narrative.’ Think ‘green witches delivering remedies by bike, time traveling wheels embedded in…

Pangyrus is a literary magazine ‘dedicated to art, ideas, and making culture thrive,’ writes PDR Lindsay-Salmon. The team like works which will ‘bring readers to make unexpected connections across a wide range of ideas, genres, and geographies.’ As well as two print editions a year, publishing poetry, comics, memoir and fiction, Pangyrus publishes ‘topical opinion pieces and reviews two to three posts per week online’. The team seeks submissions of ‘well-crafted, thought-provoking essays, poems, stories, and comics,’ welcoming work in any genre and on all topics. Open to fiction, poetry and comics on January 15th, the team is currently accepting reviews. Query by email with a brief proposal of a book, movie, or TV programme to be reviewed. Lightning pieces are nonfiction essays which are relevant or connected to a…

A historic Oxford pub, The Lamb and Flag, which was a favourite watering hole of The Inklings – CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Charles Williams and other writers in their circle – which was closed in January 2021 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, reopened in October. The 17th century pub has been revived by The Inklings Group, a community interest company named after the famous literary group which once made it one of their main meeting places. The group has obtained a long-term lease on the property, which was once also frequented by Thomas Hardy. They released a statement saying: ‘We are determined to ensure that the next 408 years of this beloved pub will be as fun, interesting and impactful as the last 408 years. Our hope and…

Increases in the costs of energy, paper and printing, as well as import problems caused by Brexit, transport costs and the low value of the pound are set to see the price of books rise significantly over the next year. Some publishers are considering 10-20% increases, while others are reported to be considering using thinner, cheaper paper and cutting back on such features as foil lettering, coloured edges and illustrated endpapers. Juliet Mabey, co-founder of Oneworld, the awardwinning indie publisher, told the Guardian that hardbacks, either new titles or reprints, ‘which would have been affordable a year ago, are no longer cost effective’. If fewer titles are printed, while others are produced to a lower physical quality then it would seem inevitable that more readers will switch, at least for some…

God’s Cruel Joke is a new zine started in 2022, a quarterly literary magazine ‘dedicated to the propagation of thought-provoking works of written words that focus on the uncanny intersection of the profound and the profane’. Submit short stories, flash fiction, book excerpts, poetry, essays, memoirs, and reviews of ‘anything so long as it falls mostly in line with the mission statement.’ Genre fiction is accepted but literary pieces are preferred. Submit online: one short story, no more than 6,000 words, essay, memoir, or review per reading cycle. You may submit up to three poems and flash fictions. Payment is ‘a penny per word with a minimum provision of $30 USD for all pieces.’ Website: www.godscrueljokelit.com Blue Mesa Review is a well-established university literary journal. Submit fiction, under 6,000 words,…

The editorial team at US film quarterly print title MovieMaker Magazine and associated website are looking for freelancers to write short pieces starting at $100. They will pay between $100-$150 for short Q&As, with ‘multisource pieces’ starting at $200. Payment is up to $800 for feature articles for the print version of the magazine. As well as film, they also cover ‘cinematic TV’, which is to say the sort of big-budget television boasting production values only once found on a cinema screen, shows such as The Crown, The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power, or The Mandalorian. Check out the magazine at www.moviemaker.com. Recent stories have included ‘How an Engineer Solves the Problems of Screenwriting’, ‘Influencer Sets the Standard for Horror’s Fastest-Growing Sub-genre’, and an interview with veteran…

How do you celebrate a book launch? When I planned my debut launch back in pre-pandemic days, I was lined up for a launch in a major bookshop in London. Excitedly, I sent out invitations far and wide. I imagined myself in a little black number, graciously bowing to a rapturous audience after my first reading. Think Carrie’s book launch in Sex in the City, only my publicist wouldn’t arrive red-faced from a chemical peel, and mine would probably have slightly less glamorous attendees (sorry, mum). As I may have mentioned once or twice, by May 2020 Covid19 (in what I feel was a personal attack) stepped in and stole my limelight. Eventually, my launch took place in my bedroom/office via my first ever Facebook Live. It wasn’t exactly the…

Christine has been writing poetry and prose for many years and is widely published both nationally and internationally. She has performed her work at the Cheltenham Poetry Festival and the Cheltenham Literature Festival, and pre-pandemic she regularly read on local radio. She is delighted that her story has been chosen as a winner. I remember that Friday particularly. I’d set the table and buttered the bread ready for when mum got in. I’m allowed to do that, but she always says to wait until she gets in before putting the kettle on. I’d even done some of my homework, which she’d be pleased about. When I heard her key, I felt that happy flutter in my stomach which I always get when I know she’s home safely. ‘Hello, Sam. How…

TAP HERE To read an extract from Bedtime Story ‘When my partner was diagnosed with an aggressive leukemia, I turned to the bookshelf to find a tale to help our two young sons. Bedtime Story, my own recently published book, details the quest to find what practical lessons children’s literature – with its innocent orphans and evil adults, magic, monsters and anthropomorphic animals – can teach about hard times and resilience in real life. I discovered many of our best-loved writers, from the Brothers Grimm to Frances Hodgson Burnett and Tolkien and Dahl, suffered childhood bereavements, and these losses often shaped their enchanted worlds. ‘During lockdown in Australia, I wrote Bedtime Story around home schooling. As any working parent knows, they were challenging days, but writing about escaping through books…

The Very Important Writers Club (a very tongue-in-cheek name) formed during 2020 in response to so many of us feeling disconnected from our writing community during the multiple lockdowns that year, writes Sarah Hindmarsh. We were a small group at the start, but our writing experience ranged from complete beginners to authors with big publishing contracts. These days there are about twenty five of us, all carefully chosen for the ability to be nice, supportive people as well as having a love of writing. No drama llamas allowed! We meet on Zoom, an arrangement begun out of necessity and continued out of convenience. The best thing about being in the group is always having someone to write with. At any given time if we put a call out on our…

‘I am a writer, and an actor, and a private tutor,’ writes subscriber Virginia Betts. ‘I have been a subscriber since 2019 when I had my first short story published in a book, and a poem in Acumen. I thought I would share my writing progress since I last appeared in Writing Magazine. ‘I’m a really busy tutor – one of the busiest in Suffolk, and I specialise in neurodiverse learning. Just before lockdown I started writing, and during lockdown when I tutored online I found time to write more. I wrote a collection of short stories with the idea of a nod to the Victorian Gothic classics, but with modern, universal themes and mostly modern settings. The book, The Camera Obscure, was published on June 30th 2022 by Austin…

‘A couple of years ago I read in WM that Vulpine Press – anew indie publisher – was open for submissions,’ writes subscriber Lucinda Hart. ‘At that time I had published one novel through a so-called hybrid scheme but I was desperate to get proper representation. My existing book had not been marketed at all. It couldn’t sell because no-one knew about it. ‘I sent off a sample of The Broken Air under its original title and waited. It was lucky I contacted the publishers after a while because they had asked for the whole book but the message had gone into junk (since then I check my junk every few days). ‘The Broken Air was published on 23rd June, and is set in my home county of Cornwall. It’s…

If you’re a fan of science-fiction, you might well already have heard of cyberpunk and steampunk. Both have fascinating and distinct aesthetics, and over time have developed strong identities as unique threads of the genre. The grimy, dystopian ‘high-tech, low life’ of cyber-punk was a term coined by Bruce Bethke as a title for a short story in which he wanted to capture an emerging trend in the genre of renegades and outsiders in society using technology and computing, hence ‘cyber’ and ‘punk’ being combined. The subgenre has often been best embodied since by the works of William Gibson, but if you want to know more about the origins of the word you can check out Bethke’s short story at www. infinityplus.co.uk/stories/cpunk.htm Steampunk is even newer as a term, coined…

The Rialto Nature and Place Poetry Competition 2023 is inviting entries. This year’s competition for nature poetry will be judged by Ian McMillan. The Rialto Nature and Place Poetry Competition is being run by The Rialto poetry journal in association with the RSPB, Birdlife International, Cambridge Conservation Initiative and The University of Leeds Poetry Centre. Poems may be in any style or form, on any aspect of nature and place. There is a first prize of £1,000 and second and third prizes of £500 and £250. Poems may be up to 40 lines, and must be original and unpublished. Writers may enter up to six poems in one batch. The entry fee for the first poem in a batch is £7, and £4 for any subsequent poems in the same…

The Bridport Prize 2023 is inviting entries in four categories. The international Bridport Prize is a highlight in the writers’ competition calendar. For the 2023 Bridport Prize, entries are invited in the following categories: • Poetry: The prizes are £5,000, £1,000, £500 and 10 x £100. Enter original, unpublished poems up to 42 lines on any theme and in any style. The entry fee is £12 per poem. • Short story: The prizes are £5,000, £1,000, £500 and 10 x £100. Enter original, unpublished short fiction up to 5,000 words. The entry fee is £14 per story. • Flash fiction: The prizes are £1,000, £500, £250 and 5 x£100. Enter original, unpublished flash fiction up to 250 words. The entry fee is £11 per flash fiction. • The Peggy Chapman…

The BBC World Service – The International Radio Playwriting Competition 2023 invites writers from outside the UK to create audio drama for an international audience. There are two categories: English as a First Language and English as a Second Language. The two first prizes can come from either category. Both winners will receive a cash prize of £2,500 and attend an award ceremony in London and see their plays recorded before being broadcast and streamed on the BBC World Service. To enter, submit a script approximately 53 minutes in length (45-65 pages, word count 9,000-10,000) with a maximum of six central characters. Scripts must be original and must not have been professionally produced. Entry is free. The closing date is 12 February 2023. Website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunities/bbc-internationalradio-playwriting/…

The editorial team at the new Grendel Press has a quirky sense of humour and a love of monsters both real and within. Hence the name Grendel: the press intends to make a name for itself so that readers know if they want to find a story about a monster that is more than a monster, or a hero that is more than a hero, Grendel Press is the place to find it. Currently the team ‘accepts short story submissions, 3,000 to 7,000 words that fit into their chosen genres of ‘dark fantasy, horror, and romance.’ For its launch in 2023 the press is looking to publish anthologies with the following themes: • Stories about paramnesia, that is ‘a condition or phenomenon involving distorted memory or confusions of fact and…

McFarland Books is a leading independent publisher of academic nonfiction based in the US. It publishes books about ‘pop culture, sports, military history, transportation, body and mind, literature, history and medieval studies, among other topics.’ It has nearly 7,000 books in print and insists on high literary standards – its books win prizes. Submissions should have ‘a preface, an introduction, notes, a bibliography and an index.’ Other components that might be needed, ‘depending on the nature of the book, are acknowledgments, a foreword (written by a third party) and appendices.’ It’s open to submissions without an agent. A proposal should include a general description, an outline or descriptive table of contents, estimates of total word count and completion date, a preface or introduction, comments on how the book differs from…

In what will generally be welcomed as good news for both writers and readers, a US federal judge has blocked the attempt by Penguin Random House to take over Simon & Schuster in a $2.2 billion merger. Stephen King, despite being published by S&S, told the court hearings, ‘You might as well say you’re going to have a husband and wife bidding against each other for the same house. It’s kind of ridiculous. Consolidation is bad for competition.’ The case was brought by the US Department of Justice, which argued that the deal between the two companies would ‘substantially’ damage competition in the publishing industry. Just five companies control 90% of the US publishing market, and if the deal had gone ahead the merged company would have had 49% market…

The Shirley Jackson Awards, given for outstanding achievement in the literature of horror, the dark fantastic, and psychological suspense, were announced at the end of October during the Boston Book Festival. The jury decided the most outstanding works of 2021 were: Novel, My Heart Is a Chainsaw, Stephen Graham Jones (Saga Press); Novella, Flowers for the Sea, Zin E. Rocklyn (Tordotcom); Novelette, ‘We, the Girls Who Did Not Make It’, E. A. Petricone (Nightmare Magazine, February 2021); Short Fiction, ‘You’ll Understand When You’re a Mom Someday’, Isabel J. Kim (khōréō magazine, August 2021); Single Author Collection, Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons: Stories, Keith Rosson (Meerkat Press). The award for best Anthology was a tie between: Professor Charlatan Bardot’s Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional) Haunted Buildings in the Weird, Wild…

Neil Gaiman, riding high off the success of the Netflix adaptation of The Sandman, has made an album with the FourPlay String Quartet called Signs of Life.You can hear the first single from the album, ‘Bloody Sunrise’, and watch the very Gothic video. Find out more at https:// www.gaimanfourplay.com.The album will be out by the time you read this. (GD) ‘I started writing in 2014. For the first year or so I roamed from room to room, trying to get away from my husband and children to write flash fiction, short stories, little bits of memoir. Printed drafts and notebooks began piling up. It must have been bad, because my notterribly-tidy husband suggested I take myself and my bits of paper out to the shed. We cleared it, moved the…

The Past Forward Essay Competition 2023 is for writing on a local history topic within Wigan Borough. The Barbara O’Neill Local History Writing Competition is inviting articles on local history within the geographical boundaries of Wigan Borough. There are three categories: • Adults: Up to 1,000 words (prizes £100, £75, £50, 5 x£25) • 11-16 years: Up to 500 words (prizes of gift vouchers worth £20, £15 and £10) • 10 years and under: Up to 200 words, prizes of gift vouchers worth £20, £15 and £10 Winning articles will be published in Past Forward magazine. Entry is free. The closing date is 16 January 2023. Website: https://writ.rs/pastforward…

Irish literary heavyweight Colm Tóibín has stepped down as president of the long-running Listowel Writers’ Week Festival after its announcement that the volunteers who had run the festival since its launch in 1971 were to be replaced with a professional literary curator. Tóibín voiced his support for the volunteers, expressing the opinion that the festival has genuine roots in Listowel because of its literary community. Artist and poet Fiona Hooper, from Crawley, whose mother is in a care home due to Alzheimer’s, crowdfunded more than £1,400 for Alzheimer’s Research UK when she published her collection The Poetry of Painting. ‘As a prospective writer I would urge you to not only read good books – read terrible books as well, because they can be more inspiring than the good books...That is…

Writers use Twitter all the time. It seems counterintuitive, that wordsmiths whose life is longform prose would willingly restrict themselves to 280 characters, writes Gary Dalkin. But perhaps that’s the appeal, the very restriction means you can’t spend too long on a tweet when you should be writing a book, story or feature. What then does the purchase of the social media giant by Elon Musk, self-proclaimed ‘free speech absolutist’ (and world’s richest person) mean for writers, who are on the one hand, generally in favour of free speech, but on the other tend to be opposed to racist, sexist, homophobic, and otherwise prejudiced, bigoted and hateful rhetoric? At the time of writing some were already packing their digital bags and deleting their accounts, while others were adopting a ‘wait and…

The Kent & Sussex Poetry Society Open Poetry Competition 2023 is an annual international contest with a first prize of £1,000. The Kent & Sussex Poetry Society is inviting entries of original, unpublished poems in any style and on any subject, up to 40 lines. The first prize is £1,000, and there are second and third prizes of £300 and £100. Four runners up will each receive £50. This year’s judge is Jonathan Edwards. The entry fee is £5 per poem, or £4 each for three or more poems. The closing date is 31 January 2023. Website: https://kentandsussexpoetry.com/…

CILIP (The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals), the UK library and information association, has awarded its Honorary Fellowships for 2022 – the organisation’s highest recognition – to six people who have made an outstanding contribution to the library and information world. Among them is Bernardine Evaristo, whose novel Girl, Woman, Other, jointly won the Booker Prize in 2019 alongside Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments, making her the first Black woman to win the Booker. CILIP noted that, ‘Through her work, she has encouraged a new generation of readers to find themselves in literature and to go on to imagine a better, more inclusive and representative world.’ Evaristo was awarded an Honorary Fellowship ‘in recognition of outstanding contribution to literacy, reading and representation in literature’. Details of all six winners can…

America’s 50 biggest-selling magazine titles have collectively seen an 8% yearon-year fall in circulation, from 145 million to 133 million. During the pandemic titles maintained 95% of sales. The winners of the 2022 QuietManDave Prize are Kathryn Aldridge-Morris in the flash fiction category with Double Lives, and Sara Hills in the flash non-fiction category with Door Slam, 1980.The prize is run by Manchester Writing School in conjunction with Manchester School ofTheatre.The winners received £1,000. Samuel Gulliksson has won the #Ulysses100 Literature Competition celebrating the 100th anniversary of James Joyce’s modernist classic, which invited entries of stories inspired by a Ulysses character – with a Swedish twist! ‘One of the beauties of novels is that they’re not about one thing, they’re complex things and they’re about different matters but also that…

More than half of the writers surveyed recently by the Writers Guild of Great Britain have said that rising food and energy prices are impacting on their ability to sustain a writing career. More than 250 writers were surveyed. Of these, 55% reported that rising costs detrimentally affected their ability to engage in writing work, which included having less time to work as a writer and to apply for funding, development schemes or other opportunities. 67% reported having to rely on savings to make ends meet, and 37% had to rely on a partner’s earnings. More than 70% had earned less than £18,000 in the last financial year, and more than 80% worked as freelance writers which demonstrates how precarious the work situation is for the authors, screenwriters, playwrights, dramatists…

Win a £1,500 first prize for the opening chapters of an unpublished crime novel in the Crime: First Chapters competition from The Plaza Prizes. Entries are invited for the opening chapters of crime thriller novels of any kind. The first prize is £1,500, publication on the Plaza Prize website and a one-to-one tutorial and detailed feedback from judge Sam Blake. There are second and third prizes of £300 and £100. To enter send the opening chapters of an original, unpublished crime novel, up to 5,000 words, plus a 300-word plot synopsis. The entry fee is £20 for the first entry and £10 for any subsequent entries. The closing date is 31 December. Website: https://theplazaprizes.com/competition/crimemasterpiece/…

The surviving manuscript of George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel 1984 has been published in a bound limited edition by SP Books. The text, which is the only substantial Orwell manuscript to survive, includes pages that the author discarded. A foreward has been written by Orwell biographer DJ Taylor, whose biography will appear in 2023. Harriet Evans, Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin, Abie Longstaff and Nicholas Rankin have been elected to the Society of Authors’ Board. They took their seats after the SoA’s AGM on 17 November, joining Charles Harris, Dorothy Koomson, Juliet McKenna, Anne Rooney, Hugh Roberts, Margaret Skea, Tim Tate, Philip Womack and SoA Management Committee Chair Joanne Harris, who was unanimously re-elected Chair in January 2022 and will serve until 2024. ‘I am going to write fire until it comes…

There’s a Facebook group about writing, books and publishing that I admin called Sophie’s Place On-Line, and as an experiment on the day the clocks went back I attempted to break time, or at least subvert the law of cause and effect, with a post about timeslip novels, writes Gary Dalkin. I wrote my post and scheduled it to be published at 1.59am on the morning of Sunday 30 October. My expectation was that the post would go live, then a minute later the clocks would go back, and anyone unfortunate enough to be awake and puttering about on Facebook might see it and comment as much as 59 minutes before it was published. Well, the idea amused me, if no one else. I am here to tell you Facebook…

QI used to spend a lot of time working on my writing, but I became ill and was forced to take a long break. Now I want to get back into it, but I’m not sure where to start. What would your advice be for writers in this situation who want to return to writing? AThis is a scenario many authors find themselves in, and one we’ve come into contact with before. Firstly: you’re not alone! It’s not uncommon for writers to go a long time without writing or even looking at their work, for a variety of reasons. Life can get in the way sometimes, and that’s not always a bad thing. A long break can actually do wonders for your creativity, and if you’re struggling to reimmerse yourself…

The philosophy of Northants Writers’ Ink, a writers’ group in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, is clear: writing is the only thing that matters, writes group founder Michael J Richards. The consequences of this approach include: • Group discussions disallow anything unconnected to writing. • The desire to share only the best writing and improve it are inbuilt into every meeting. • Knowing that arrogance and egotism lead to mediocrity, members offer – and actively seek out – constructive, supportive criticism. • Workshops, external speaker visits and similar activities are purposively focused. • The group’s internal writing competitions are fiercely fought. Northants Writers’ Ink meets seventeen times a year – one meeting every three weeks. Membership is limited to fifteen. It’s stable and friendly. Meetings often go over the allotted three hours. The…

‘It can be tricky to know when to end a series, especially if the books in it are well received,’ writes subscriber Roger A. Price. ‘Giving up a comfortable slipper for a new one that isn’t broken in, it’s a risk. Even if the books are standalone episodes; the main protagonists usually remain and deepen with the added nuances that each new book brings. So, it’s a big decision; unless your hand is forced in some way. Then you have a free pass. ‘Maybe your publisher doesn’t want anymore – an easy one. Or perhaps the sales of your previous ones have dipped – because if they do it’s always the writer’s fault isn’t it? It’s not of course, but we are an easy target sometimes. Perhaps the editorial is…

W intrystories can offer an atmospheric read and provide a whole range of storytelling opportunities. But with so many wintry stories for children already in existence, how can you create one with a unique angle? Here are some top tips. Stretching an idea Seasonal stories are plentiful. A disastrous Santa Claus, or a lost animal in winter, a wintry wish... all of these are quite commonplace. It doesn’t mean that you can’t write a story like this, but you have to consider what you can offer in your book that isn’t already covered by previously published titles. There are two prongs to this: firstly, be aware of the stories already in existence; and secondly, strengthen your concept so that originality isn’t so much of a problem. The first of these…

1. When and where did your journey as an author begin? I was previously a physiotherapist, but I had to retire early for health reasons. I figured that if I couldn’t do the job I loved, I was going to follow my dreams. I joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association via their New Writers’ Scheme in 2010, had twins in 2013, then I received the Katie Fforde bursary in 2015. My first contract soon followed. 2. What is (or has been) your proudest moment as a writer? I’ve had several of those. They include writing in difficult circumstances, having books published in seven languages, and being shortlisted for two awards in different countries. But I think the actual proudest was being approved for a mortgage as an author. I remember being…

WINNER Julie Bissell, Sible Hedingham, Essex FIRST PLACE £100 When Doug saw the damage to the counter top on my truck, he went berserk. “What did you do to it?” He demanded. “I cleaned it!” I said. “Like I do every night! With the stuff you told me to use!” Doug ran his fingertip across the scratch. It was deeper than I’d thought, and the edges of the scratch looked like they’d melted. “Exactly the stuff I told you to use?” he asked. “Not any cheap stuff out of the corner shop?” “Exactly the stuff!” I said. “I can show you the can, if you think I’m lying.” Though maybe I’d run out of the expensive sanitiser he’d told me I had to use and bought a can of the…

Could 2023 be the year you self-publish your first book? As technology advances, self-publishing is becoming a simpler process. However, the same technology creates more opportunities, which can make it feel complicated and confusing. Do we have to use Facebook advertising? Why are authors creating short videos on TikTok? Should we go exclusively with Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited? Or should we self-publish on as many platforms as possible? Whenever I get confused, I remember the acronym used by the US Navy throughout the 1960s: KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid (because I’m forever calling myself Stupid). Here are ten simple steps to self-publishing your first book. KISS 1: Book first First, write the book! We can’t self-publish something we haven’t written. Writing a book and self-publishing a book are two different…

Entries are invited in two separate categories for short poems and longer poems in the Magma 2022/2023 Poetry Competition. The categories in the annual contest are: • The Judge’s Prize for poems between 11 and 50 lines. This year’s judge is Victoria Kinnefick. • The Editors’ Prize for poems up to 10 lines. In each category there is a first prize of £1,000, a second prize of £300 and a third prize of £150. All six winning poems will be published in Magma. Winning and commended poets will be invited to read their poems at a Magma competition event in spring 2023. The entry fee is £5 for the first poem, £4 for the second and £3.50 for the third and any subsequent poem. The closing date is 31 January…

The 54th year of the Booker Prize saw the award go to the Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka for his second novel, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, writes Gary Dalkin. The author received the Booker trophy from Camilla, the Queen Consort, and the £50,000 prize from Damon Galgut, who won the Booker in 2021. The award ceremony was at the Roundhouse in London in October. Karunatilaka explained in an interview with the Guardian why it took eleven years to write a follow-up to his debut novel, Chinaman: ‘Well, life happened. I got married, had kids, two toddlers running around. That slows things down. I didn’t want to write about the present situation – by that, I mean just after the war had ended, 2010, 2011 (the Sri Lankan civil war).…

Unique pitches that show ‘the best examples of progress and possibility anywhere in the world’ are invited by Positive News, a quarterly print magazine. Most articles are also published on the website. The articles published are not essentially happy, feel-good or hero-related stories. They should firstly inform, inspire and entertain. What is wanted is solid journalism: ‘rigorous reporting on relevant issues with a focus on solutions’. Articles should have ‘social relevance and include independent voices and/or data’. It is suggested you check out the website archive as subjects that have not been covered before are required. To pitch an article idea, submit a concise summary of your story saying how you would execute and structure the piece and what data/research you would include. You will be expected to use interview…

Dead Fish Books aspires to be a multigenerational micropress whose speciality is ‘Retro-Spec: Retro Speculative fiction written for modern readers,’ writes PDR Lindsay-Salmon. The press likes: ‘Exciting, actionpacked adventures with thrilling characters, but also inclusive and sexpositive.’ Think ‘Space Opera that is handicap accessible, Fantasy with strong female characters, Horror with everything, or LGBTQAS-friendly Romance with consent-enabled sex.’ It’s keen on ‘horror with everything.’ Currently closed to novel-length books, the team is concentrating on the anthology Yay! They’re Here!, ‘a pulp resurgence where everyone can find a hero to root for’, featuring stories about ‘an African American Conan’s, Genderqueer Lensmen, Deaf Gothic Vampire Hunters, and little-known monsters from nondominant cultures.’ Submit stories, retro sf, fantasy, and horror; open and affirming, between 2,000 to 6,000 words, for ‘Yay! They’re Here!’ The…

2022’s last quarterly WriteTime contest for writers over 60 is inviting entries. The quarterly WriteTime competions are for original, unpublished short stories on any theme, up to 1,500 words, by writers aged 60 and over. In each contest there is a first prize of £50 and two runners up prizes of £25. Winners are published online, and the best are selected for showcase anthology publication. The entry fee is £3 for one story and £5 for two stories. The closing date is 31 December 2022. Website: https://writetime.org/…

Khadija Abdalla Bajaber has won the inaugural Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction for The House of Rust (Graywolf Press). The $25,000 cash prize is to be given annually to an outstanding ‘single book-length work of imaginative fiction.’The jury was Adrienne Maree Brown, Becky Chambers, Molly Gloss, David Mitchell, and Luis Alberto Urrea.The Prize was awarded in a virtual ceremony in October. (GD) Independent Los Angeles publishers Unnamed Press and Rare Bird have joined forces to open a bookstore North Figueroa Bookshop, which operates from the same building where both publishers have their offices. ‘MyTwitter handle at the moment is “Malorie Blackman is away”, so I’m very rarely on it. I spend so much time writing, I don’t want to spend my entire life on a computer. I want…

Culture, current affairs and travel are the content of Netherlandsbased The Cognoscenti subscription newsletter. Pieces are invited which ‘leave the reader hopeful, entertained and informed’. It does not publish listicles or ‘puff ’ pieces, ie anything looking as though written by a publicist. The magazine has Long Read features of 3,500-7,000 words with headings and Short Read articles and reviews of 1,000-3,000 words. Payment rates are €500 for Long Reads and €200 for Short Read articles, all payable within 30 days on receipt of an invoice. Completed pieces are not wanted and story ideas should first be pitched. It is advised you think local stories for a global audience. ‘Niche topics are fine if they have a broader meaning, unique tie-in, or point of interest.’ Pitches should be short and…

Book covers are important. They must be eye catching, intriguing and the blurb must whet the appetite and prompt people to buy and read. Publishers are well aware of this. Selfpublishers must be too and if graphic design, illustration or persuasive writing is not one’s forte then it is an area in which getting professional help may be sensible and useful. The requirement here goes beyond design though. There is a need for a cover to present clear and factual information. I thought of this recently when I bought a new hardback (non-fiction) book by a favourite author only to discover that it was a compendium of previous material in shorter books that I had bought and read. Very disappointing, though an understanding bookshop returned my money. The cover did…

Harry Josephine Giles has won the 2022 Arthur C. Clarke Award, the UK’s most prestigious award for science fiction, for Deep Wheel Orcadia (Picador), receiving £2,022 and a specially engraved bookend. The short novel is the most unusual title to win the Clarke Award in its 36 years, being a science-fiction verse novel written in the Orcadian dialect, as well as being the first full-length book in the Orkney language in over 50 years. The published book contains a parallel translation in English by the author.…

Literary blogging platform Substack has become increasingly popular with writers, so much so that even famous dead authors are signing up, writes Gary Dalkin. Now George Orwell’s work, starting with his first book, Down and Out in Paris and London, is being published for free on the site, and in daily email chunks of 1,000- 1,500 words. The project is called Orwell Daily and is run by the Orwell Foundation, which is also responsible for the Orwell writing prizes. Orwell Foundation director Jean Seaton said: ‘One of the things we’ve seen with other recent serialisations on Substack is that the format enables people to read alongside each other and to start conversations about the books, whether that’s with friends or through the app and social media. It is a kind…

Bandcamp is a US-based website which allows musicians and composers to sell their music as downloads directly to fans, paying a better rate than streaming services such as Spotify. Over the course of its existence it has paid out over $1 billion to artists. Bandcamp also has a website called Bandcamp Daily, an online music magazine. Senior editor Mariana is always open to pitches for the feature called RESONANCE, a personal essay series on ‘exploring our emotional relationship to music’. Payment is $375 US per essay and you can pitch Mariana by email at mariana@bandcamp.com. She writes on Twitter that she is particularly interested in ‘essays that explore the unusual and unexpected connections we make with music in our lives i.e. if u pitch me about a record that helped…

Workers Write! is inviting submissions of nightclub-related stories and poems for issue 19, which will be Tales from the Club. Submissions should be written from the perspective of anyone who works in a nightclub, discotheque, bar, cabaret, pub or any nightspot, including bartenders, bouncers, promoters, entertainers, managers, strippers etc. Writing may be between 500 and 5,000 words. Previously published writing may be considered. There is a payment of $5 to $50 depending on length. The deadline is 31 December. Website: www.workerswritejournal.com Night Terror Novels Publishing will be inviting submissions for a new Nightmarish Novelettes series from 1 January. Submit horror fiction between 15,000 and 25,000 words. Submissions may be in any of the horror sub-genres. Selected novelettes will be published in the series and their writers will receive £75 and…

The Of Gods and Globes anthology started by a group of writers for fun, writes PDR Lindsay-Salmon. It was so successful the team is now putting together volume three. The editorial team wants writers to send a story, ‘under 7,500 highly preferred, under 10,000 accepted, 15,000 absolute outer limit.’ Writers should choose ‘a name – or a personification – from any mythology that is represented in that culture’s constellations and is represented in that culture’s mythopoetic or fantastic mythos.’ Take the story from that base. For example, a story based on ‘Jupiter’ counts because he’s both a planet and a god. A story based on ‘Nimrod’ counts because he’s both a constellation and a mythic hunter. But a story based on planet PSR B1257+12 B does not count, nor does a…

The winners of the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards 2022 are: Fiction: Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, Juno Dawson; Non-Fiction: The Transgender Issue, Shon Faye; Poetry: The Fire People, Lemn Sissay;Young Adult Fiction: All That’s Left in the World, Erik J Brown; Children’s Fiction: Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good, Louie Stowell; Breakthrough author: Alice Oseman, author of the Heartstopper series; Reader’s Choice: Heartstopper, Alice Oseman. Douglas Stuarts’ Booker Prizewinning novel Shuggie Bain is to be adapted for a BBC drama. Stuart will adapt his own novel with A24. ‘It is only when you open your veins and bleed onto the page a little that you establish contact with your reader. If you do not believe in the characters or the story that you are doing at that…

Christmas will be on the horizon when you read this, unless, of course, you’re saving Writing Magazine until the quiet time between December 27th and the new year. Whichever, allow me to tell you what I did on the lead up to Christmas last year. In an effort to fool myself into thinking I was being productive, I decided to make a writers’ advent calendar. The idea was the opposite of run-ofthe-mill advent calendars where you take something out each day. My plan was to put something in and that something was going to be my daily word count. I stuck the back and front of a cornflakes box together, then pencilled in 25 little doors and cut them out using a scalpel. I can’t remember why I bought it…

An award winning non profit environmental magazine published online five days a week and quarterly in print, Earth Island Journal is the media arm of the Earth Island Institute. The Journal covers the whole spectrum of environmental issues from wildlife and public health, from public policy and the politics of environmental protection to environmentally related film, music and books. It doesn’t publish poetry and fiction. The stories of individuals and communities who have achieved success with environmental actions are especially sought and on-the-ground stories from outside North America are more than welcome. As the magazine has an international readership, pitches for stories on local issues should have a national or international interest or implication. If you have an idea for a story, first submit a query. Describe how you think…

The Curae Prize, for writers who are also carers, will launch in January 2023. The Curae Prize has been set up by novelist Anna Vaught, who has personal experience of juggling creative writing and caring. There will be two categories: short fiction and creative non-fiction. In both categories the wordcount is up to 4,000. In each category there will be a prize of £500. There are also mentoring, editing and development prizes. Writers may enter in one category. Entry is free. Entries will open on 1 January and close on 15 March. Website: https://thecuraeprize.uk/…

The Scottish Arts Club Short Story Competition 2023 is inviting entries, and has a new prize, the Write Mango Award. The international competition, which was launched in 2014 with a first prize of £300, now has a first prize of £3,000. There is a second prize of £500 and a second prize of £250, and winners are offered a year’s free membership to the Scottish Arts Club. There is also the Isobel Lodge Award, worth £750, which is open to unpublished writers living in Scotland, and the Write Mango Award, which is newly introduced this year, and is for fun, amusing, bizarre and delicious stories. Winners and longlisted writers will be published in the next anthology. To enter, send original, unpublished short stories up to 2,000 words. The entry fee…

Apollo Publishers is a celebrated independent publisher based in New York. The editorial team publishes a ‘compelling range of narrative and illustrated adult nonfiction’ and are proud of the multiple awards their books have won. The team is considered a fresh and innovative addition to the publishing world and has published over sixty titles. Submit ‘exclusively timely and topical nonfiction for adult trade audiences.’ Topics may cover a broad spectrum, as long as they are relevant today and are likely to be relevant in the years to come.’ Read the publisher’s list, guidelines and comments on the website. Submit online using their form. Include a short book description and author bio. Response time is ‘reasonable.’ Payment: Rights and royalties are discussed with the contract. Website: https:// apollopublishers.com/…

W ritingcan be a solitary occupation, of course, but preparing to write is different. People get mentioned in this column regularly: people you meet or contact for information (whether intentionally or by chance) can contribute so much to your content. Others may be unwittingly useful; they get a mention and perhaps add to the description of a scene or event without you doing more than observe them. Still others you may want nothing to do with and avoid. No one wants a crying baby near them on a plane. My fantasy of hearing one of the flight crew say, ‘I’m sorry Mrs Stephens, but your baby is way too loud and will have to go in the hold’ is sadly unlikely ever to come to pass. A point I have…

Quiller Publishing is a UK press with a general and a specialist equestrian imprint. Last year it was acquired by Amberley Publishing. Quiller publishes a wide range of titles focusing on countryside subjects, sports and pursuits. ‘These include practical books on dog training, gamekeeping, shooting, fishing, food and drink,’ said editor Angeline Wilcox. ‘We also publish humorous gift books, and titles about farming and natural history. Our list features some biographies and autobiographies of notable people associated with our specific areas of interest.’ Quiller also has its Kenilworth Press imprint, which is devoted to equestrian titles and handbooks. ‘Kenilworth Press is the exclusive publisher for the British Horse Society training manuals and is the distributor for The Pony Club’s Manual of Horsemanship,’ said Angeline. Quiller Publishing is also the UK…

The CWA’s prestigious annual CWA Debut Dagger prize for unpublished crime writers is inviting entries for 2023. The Debut Dagger is for unpublished, unagented crime writers looking for agent representation and a publishing contract. The winner receives £500. Writers entering the competition must be unagented, and must never have had a publishing contract for a novel of any kind. They must not have self-published their entry, or any piece of writing of more than 20,000 within five years of the closing date. To enter, submit the first 3,000 words of the crime novel manuscript and a synopsis up to 1,500 words. The entry fee is £36. The closing date is 28 February 2023. Website: https://thecwa.co.uk/awards-and-competitions/ the-daggers/debut-dagger…

J write, we try to divide the day’s tasks evenly between us,’ J Mexplains. ‘On a typical day one of us will make breakfast for the kids and prepare lunches, while the other drives the children to school. Then we will both settle down to write in our respective offices between 9 and 2:30 or so. At that point, whichever of us didn’t drop off in the morning will leave to pick up the children and run them to their activities; the other will continue to write until about 5:00. The next day we swap duties. M Miro is an award-winning Canadian poet and author. He and his wife are both writers and have a system which enables them both to work. ‘Because we have small children, and we both…