Birmingham Writers’ Group

One day creative writing workshop
Writing competitions are a fabulous outlet for short stories,
potentially leading to prizes, contracts and an enhanced CV. But what do judges
look for? How can you tailor your work for a chance of success? Where can you
find information on upcoming competitions? Sue Moorcroft, head judge for the
Writers’ Forum Fiction Competition, has put together this lively workshop to
help you find your way of writing to win. The day will include an explanation
of short story structure and how to use it, getting your point across, theme,
characterisation, eye-catching openings and satisfying endings. Sue will
explain what a hook is and why you need one and the other ingredients for a
first page to encourage the judges to read on. The short story form is a gem -
why not learn to polish yours?

As well as being an award winning novelist, Sue Moorcroft writes short stories, serials, articles, courses,
writing ‘how to’, is the head judge for Writers’ Forum fiction competition and a creative writing tutor. Her novel Love & Freedom won the Best Romantic Read Award 2011
and she’s a Katie Fforde Bursary Award winner.

Website www.suemoorcroft.com,
blog http://suemoorcroft.wordpress.com/. Follow sue
on Facebook sue.moorcroft.3 and Twitter @suemoorcroft.

Venue: Mackworth Library, Prince
Charles Avenue, Mackworth, Derby DE22 4BG.

Cost: £25, booking essential, includes tea and coffee throughout the day

To book a place or for more information telephone 01332 642410 or email mackworth.library@derby.gov.uk

One day creative writing workshop

A novel is a complex undertaking and sometimes it can be hard to
see the wood for the trees. This workshop will help those who are planning,
writing or revising a novel to take a constructive overview. By examining the
elements that all stories have in common, we will look at narrative as a
journey and strengthen structure. We will explore character archetypes, such as
heroes, mentors, gatekeepers and shape-shifters, and identify how they apply in
your own work. A range of approaches to developing work will be discussed,
including outlines, synopses and diagrams.

Judith Allnatt is an acclaimed short story writer and novelist. Her latest
novel, The Poet’s Wife, was shortlisted for the East Midlands Book Award
and her first novel, A Mile of River, was selected as Simon Mayo’s Book
of the Month on Radio 5 Live and was shortlisted for the Portico Prize for
Literature. Short stories have featured in the Bridport
Prize Anthology, the Commonwealth Short Story Awards, and on BBC Radio 4. Judith lectures on creative writing at various universities
and freelance and is currently working on her third novel, to be published by
Harper Collins in 2014.

Venue: Mickleover Library, Holly End Road,
Mickleover, Derby DE3 0EA

Cost: £25, booking essential, includes tea and coffee throughout the day

To book a place or for more information telephone 01332 718926 or email mickleover.library@derby.gov.uk

James Brogden is a writer of Urban Fantasy/Horror novels. His first, “The Narrows”, was published in 2011 by Snow Books.

He will talk about his career so far, his new book and how he managed to get published.

PLACE: Briar Rose Hotel, Bennett’s Hill

TIME: Doors open at 7.30 pm for an 8pm start.

http://www.birminghamsfgroup.org.uk/

Admission : £4 non-members, £3 members

Saturday 11 May 2013, 10am to 3.45pm: Writing Fiction for Women’s
Magazines with Joanna Barnden

One day creative writing workshop

Looking to write short stories? Looking to SELL them? This
commercially focused one-day workshop will help you develop your writing style
to create sharp, entertaining and saleable stories for the women’s magazines.
Led by widely-published short story writer Joanna Barnden, this friendly but
purposeful course will take you through all the basics of honing your stories
and offer plenty of advice and tips on how to catch an editor’s attention and
see your work in print.
Newly turned 40, Joanna hopes she’s in the prime of her writing
life! With two children and two stepchildren all safely in education she is
free to write more or less full time. She has an M.A. in English Lit from
Cambridge University, lectures in creative writing for the Open University, and
has been writing commercially for 10 years.
Published regularly in Women’s Weekly, Take a Break, My Weekly,
People’s Friend and Yours, Joanna has had over 150 stories and
serials published. One of her historical serials, Running Against the Tide,
has been taken up as a novel and will be published by Robert Hale in January
2013. Although Joanna has moved towards longer fiction in recent years, short
stories are still her passion and a vital part of her writing income. Having
built her portfolio slowly, she firmly believes that she could have
dramatically shortened the time it has taken her to achieve her current success
with a bit more creative and commercial know-how. These are what she aims
to provide on this course.

Venue: Mickleover Library, Holly End Road, Mickleover, Derby DE3
0EA

Cost: £25, booking essential, includes tea and coffee throughout the day

To book a place or for more information telephone 01332 718926 or email mickleover.library@derby.gov.uk

Encouraging news from TOR UK. They are open to submissions.

If you have a complete and unpublished science fiction, fantasy or horror novel, written in English of between 95,000 – 150,000 words, then take a look here:

http://torbooks.co.uk/2013/01/29/submitting-a-novel-to-tor-uk/

£9,000 bursary for current arts students and recent graduates

Uni Fee Fund

Saddled by student debt? Whether you’re a first-year student or a graduate, if you embarked on a BA or BMus in 2006* or later, you could benefit from having £9,000 wiped off your Student Loans Company balance by arts charity IdeasTap.

For a chance to win, simply tell us in 100 words or less what you could offer to IdeasTap’s network in exchange for the money.

It could be an idea or a service, for example “This is how you could improve your site…” or “I’ll run this Spa event for your members…” ­

the more imaginative, original and feasible the idea, the better!

Find out more and apply by 29 March at www.ideastap.com/unifeefund

The 2013 Bristol Short Story Prize is open to all writers, UK and non-UK based, over 16 years of age.

Stories can be on any theme or subject and entry can be made online via the website or by post.

Entries must be previously unpublished with a maximum length of 4,000 words (There is no minimum).

The entry fee is £8 per story.

The closing date for entries is April 30th 2013.

Prizes:

1st £1000 plus £150 Waterstone’s gift card

2nd £700  plus £100 Waterstone’s gift card

3rd £400   plus £100 Waterstone’s gift card

17 further prizes of £100 will be presented to the writers whose stories appear on the shortlist.

All 20 shortlisted writers will have their stories published in the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Volume 6.

The winning story will, also, be published in Bristol Review of Books magazine.

The 20 shortlisted writers will be invited to an awards ceremony in Bristol in October 2013 when the winners will be announced and the anthology launched.

Any shortlisted writers unable to attend the awards ceremony will be sent their prizes.

The awards ceremony will be part of the 2013 Bristol Festival of Literature.

Judging panel : Ali Reynolds (literary consultant, former Random House editor)

Bidisha (writer, broadcaster, critic) Anna Britten (author and journalist)

Chris Wakling (novelist, Creative Writing tutor)

Full details and rules at www.bristolprize.co.uk

The Nottingham Festival of Words is looking for volunteers who’d like to help, either during the Festival or in the run-up to it. Volunteering is a great way of getting involved in the literary scene in Nottingham, meeting other people, and developing skills in areas like event organisation, media, and marketing. You’ll also be playing an important role in bringing a new and much needed Festival to the city, one which we hope to establish as a key event in the region’s arts calendar.
If you’re interested, get in touch with Robin Vaughan-Williams, the Nottingham Writers’ Studio Develoment Director, who will send you further information about volunteering: admin@nottinghamwritersstudio.co.uk, 0115 959 7947.

For more information on the festival, visit the website at nottwords.org.uk

To celebrate Belper’s first Literary Festival, as part of the wider Belper Arts Festival, they are launching a short story competition which offers aspiring writers the chance to have their work published for the first time. Entrants may submit, by 1st March 2013, an original, previously unpublished fictional story on any subject or genre. The maximum word limit is 2500. There is an entry fee of £5 per story. The best story will be published and will receive a prize of £200.00. To obtain an entry form, please contact Kathy kathyf100@hotmail.com

Would you like to write a one act play for the stage and enter it in a competition where short listed plays are given full performance, judged by the audience, considered for publication and given a written assessment by a publishing company?

The winning playwright will also receive a cash prize of £200

Every play will be read in its entirety by a minimum of two judges and entrants will receive two lots of feedback on request, at no extra charge!

A shortlist of up to ten plays will be drawn up and posted on the Sky Blue website.  Local actors and a production team will be assembled by professional directors to rehearse the plays for performance at the Junction Theatre in Cambridge 6^th and 7^th July 2013 where the audience will vote for the winner.

Plays must be submitted on line and full details can be found on our website http://skybluetheatre.com/newplaywriting.php