There are just a few hours left of 2012 here in the UK... For the Scribblers the year has been fascinating with an eclectic collection of stories and poems all delivered with the love of the written word utmost at all times. We have seen some members leave the regular meeting place but we have welcomed new members also.
As 2013 approaches so the Scribblers will face new challenges with their creativity and will rise to them. Let us hope that come the end of the New Year we will have seen more writers published and, perhaps, broadcast on radio.
We have received messages of goodwill from our friends in Brisbane, Belinda and Geoff for the New Year. Shame there are so many miles between us for Belinda was a tremendous asset to our group during her spell in England.
Our next meeting is on Tuesday 8th January 2013 at 7.30pm in The Room at the Top when we will hold our AGM so, anything members wish to raise please let either Barry or Dave know. The AGM which, hopefully will be quite a brief affair, will be followed by another of our popular four word writing exercises.
Finally Rebccah Giltrow has published an interview about the Felixstowe Scribblers on her thoroughly absorbing blog which can be viewed here.
Happy New Year Everyone!!!!
Monday, 31 December 2012
Tuesday, 25 December 2012
Memory of a loved one.
THE EMPTY PLACE
Clarity of thought, of memory, of will,
Warms the heart from the wintry chill,
Then set the festive dinner table,
One place, solitary, no label.
For there should sit in the family
group,
The one to complete the genetic loop.
Yet absence from this place again,
The toast, then tears, memory, pain -
Thirty-five years have coldly gone,
Since the seat was last taken on.
So why the need for this pretence?
Prolonging the agonising absence.
Of course, we know, we care, we love,
Our beloved one in His care above.
The loss, the death, so cruelly fated -
Earthly life now celebrated.
Saturday, 22 December 2012
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Report of the final meeting of 2012
Well then, here endeth 2012 for the Scribblers. It has been another good year although one with fluctuating membership. It is pleasing to get a steady trickle of new members and I hope they have enjoyed the experience. The year ended last night with a four word exercise and a small get together and a good time was had by all.
The members attending were Angela A, Angela L, Beryl, Liliane, Martin, Tony,Dick, Dave, Caz,myself and a Scribblers welcome was extended to Barry M, who attended for the first time.
We began our four word session with Dick whose four words were RESOLVE, TRAIN, FAVOURITISM and TREE. His piece centred on a chap who was intending to get to London from Norwich to attend an audition but circumstances conspired to make him miss his appointment.
Liliane was next with her NURSE, PERCEPTION, HEALING and WARDROBE an amusing tale of the crotchety Mrs Ponsonby-Smythe and how the good nature of her private nurse was sorely tested when the old lady was insisting there was a man in her wardrobe.
Next came Martin with INVIGORATING, IRRITATING, SUBMARINE and PALACE. These were a few lines in his own style, of Tiger, the cat, who lives in a manger in the Holy Land and was present when Jesus and Mary came to visit.
Then we had Barry M's STOCKING, MERRY, POINTLESS and PARANORMAL. This was a short tale of an old man who was reminiscing to his son of the days of old when milkmen used to come chinking up the path and how he had be hearing the same noises from his bed on the 7th floor of a high rise.
Next we had Beryl with PARATROOPER, PATIENT, PACIFY and QUICKLY. The chap had always wanted to be a paratrooper but discovered in training that he suffered from vertigo. His second job was a security guard / night watchman and then we were told how he rescued a potential suicide by climbing out onto a high ledge.
We then had Angela A with PERSISTANT, CRYSTAL, INNOCENT and TRIVIAL. This was concerning the 27 year old mystery of the purloining of the decoration from the top of Harrods Christmas Tree each year.
Caz three words were ORPHAN,ZULU,PRETENTIOUS and MORONIC. A short story of a reporters trip to meet the Zulu chief with his obnoxious cameraman who turned out to be brilliant at his job.
Tony had IMPATIENT, OFFENSIVE,PARALLEL and ANGEL. This was a tale of 'The Lord of the Angels' a fantasy tale for Christmas.
Angela L had HOPE, SNOWMAN, CONFIDENT and PARACHUTE. A story of Ben and his mum on a trip to Lapland to meet Santa. Ben did not believe in Santa because he always wished for his daddy to be home but never was.
Dave had DOCTOR,ANGULAR, MONKEY and MARSUPIAL a tale of a farmers visit to Dr Monkey with stomach pains and the doctor proposing to swap the man's potatoes for bars of what the farmer thought to be chocolate but proved to be Ex-lax.
As for me, I had DESPAIR,REQUIREMENTS, FERN and HOPE. I gave the meeting a few words on the agony of a man looking for work and applying for a job well above his station, with some success.
I would like to wish all our members, those who can attend and those who can't a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.The next meeting will be on the 8th January and will be another four word exercise for a short time after the AGM.
Happy Christmas and see you in the New Year.
Barry
The members attending were Angela A, Angela L, Beryl, Liliane, Martin, Tony,Dick, Dave, Caz,myself and a Scribblers welcome was extended to Barry M, who attended for the first time.
We began our four word session with Dick whose four words were RESOLVE, TRAIN, FAVOURITISM and TREE. His piece centred on a chap who was intending to get to London from Norwich to attend an audition but circumstances conspired to make him miss his appointment.
Liliane was next with her NURSE, PERCEPTION, HEALING and WARDROBE an amusing tale of the crotchety Mrs Ponsonby-Smythe and how the good nature of her private nurse was sorely tested when the old lady was insisting there was a man in her wardrobe.
Next came Martin with INVIGORATING, IRRITATING, SUBMARINE and PALACE. These were a few lines in his own style, of Tiger, the cat, who lives in a manger in the Holy Land and was present when Jesus and Mary came to visit.
Then we had Barry M's STOCKING, MERRY, POINTLESS and PARANORMAL. This was a short tale of an old man who was reminiscing to his son of the days of old when milkmen used to come chinking up the path and how he had be hearing the same noises from his bed on the 7th floor of a high rise.
Next we had Beryl with PARATROOPER, PATIENT, PACIFY and QUICKLY. The chap had always wanted to be a paratrooper but discovered in training that he suffered from vertigo. His second job was a security guard / night watchman and then we were told how he rescued a potential suicide by climbing out onto a high ledge.
We then had Angela A with PERSISTANT, CRYSTAL, INNOCENT and TRIVIAL. This was concerning the 27 year old mystery of the purloining of the decoration from the top of Harrods Christmas Tree each year.
Caz three words were ORPHAN,ZULU,PRETENTIOUS and MORONIC. A short story of a reporters trip to meet the Zulu chief with his obnoxious cameraman who turned out to be brilliant at his job.
Tony had IMPATIENT, OFFENSIVE,PARALLEL and ANGEL. This was a tale of 'The Lord of the Angels' a fantasy tale for Christmas.
Angela L had HOPE, SNOWMAN, CONFIDENT and PARACHUTE. A story of Ben and his mum on a trip to Lapland to meet Santa. Ben did not believe in Santa because he always wished for his daddy to be home but never was.
Dave had DOCTOR,ANGULAR, MONKEY and MARSUPIAL a tale of a farmers visit to Dr Monkey with stomach pains and the doctor proposing to swap the man's potatoes for bars of what the farmer thought to be chocolate but proved to be Ex-lax.
As for me, I had DESPAIR,REQUIREMENTS, FERN and HOPE. I gave the meeting a few words on the agony of a man looking for work and applying for a job well above his station, with some success.
I would like to wish all our members, those who can attend and those who can't a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.The next meeting will be on the 8th January and will be another four word exercise for a short time after the AGM.
Happy Christmas and see you in the New Year.
Barry
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2012 draws to a close
Our final meeting of the year was held last night with a healthy attendance and a very interesting and entertaining four word creative writing exercise. Suffice to say out little party was a wonderful way to close down our year.
Details of the meeting will follow.
Details of the meeting will follow.
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
Sunday, 16 December 2012
A new competition
Belper
Short
Story
Story
Competition
To celebrate Belper’s first Literary
Festival, as part of the wider Belper Arts Festival, we 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. Second
prize is a £50 book voucher kindly donated by Scarthin
Books.
Friday, 14 December 2012
Coming soon...
Our last meeting of the year is really creeping up fast... it makes me wonder where all the time has gone... all those stupendous meetings... so... we're letting you get away with homework this time. Instead there will be a short four word writing exercise. You know what to do! Provide four words, each on a separate small slip of paper, bring along something to write with and the rest will be left to your creativity.
The writing exercise will be shorter than normal as we wish to end the evening with our little party - so please feel free to bring along some nibbles or snacks etc., but please! Not too much!
Hope to see you in The Room at the Top at 7.30 next Tuesday 18th December.
Keep Scribbling!
The writing exercise will be shorter than normal as we wish to end the evening with our little party - so please feel free to bring along some nibbles or snacks etc., but please! Not too much!
Hope to see you in The Room at the Top at 7.30 next Tuesday 18th December.
Keep Scribbling!
Thursday, 6 December 2012
TRIBUTE TO A TEXAN LEGEND
It's twenty
four years on and twenty four years gone,
Since
December six, eighty-eight,
And
his final song had echoed out
Within
his homeland Texas State.
The
voice that passed away that day,
Was
more than desperate and sad -
He'd
never sing alive again
And
that, my friends, was all so bad.
Yet in
our minds, our hearts, our homes,
Melodies
linger on and long,
Down
the volume, he'll still be heard
So
high above his mourning song.
A man
whose life was full of grief,
His
wife hit by a killer truck
Claudette
died on her motorbike.
Then
another tragedy struck.
Two
sons died in the burning flames -
Gone
were Tony and Roy DeWayne -
At his
Hendersonville homestead.
Just
how could he survive the pain?
Deathly
anguish and bitter thoughts,
Replaced
with professional calm
He
rose again above his grief,
His
loyal fans were in his palm.
Each
song he sung, a masterpiece
The
Texan sang so beautiful,
Etched
on the world's eternal disc
Voice
unquavering, powerful.
Listen
to his ballad "Claudette",
His
"Crying" and his "Blue Bayou".
Then
"It's Too Soon to Know" and yet
If
"Only the Lonely" weren't true.
"In
Dreams" of his "Pretty Woman",
Was he
"Running Scared" from "The Crowd"
Way
down to his "Sleepy Hollow"
To
write and sing, vibrant, aloud.
Record,
perform, on stage his act,
Immense
applause that will not end.
As the
world pays great homage to
"'Roy
Orbison"' - Texan legend
Woodbridge Xmas Holistic Health and Craft Fayre
Something for everyone at our 11th Annual Woodbridge Xmas Holistic Health and Craft Fayre –
Our biggest and brightest yet now with over 40 different types of stands!
Date & time: 10am to 4pm Sunday 9th December
Venue: Woodbridge Community Hall, Station Road, Woodbridge IP12 4AU
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Rebeccah Writes
You can read the recent interview between Rebeccah Giltrow and Dave Feakes by visiting the following weblink:
http://rebeccahgiltrow.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/writer-dave-feakes.html
You can also read her interview with our Ruth Dugdall.
http://rebeccahgiltrow.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/writer-ruth-dugdall.html
Enjoy!
http://rebeccahgiltrow.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/writer-dave-feakes.html
You can also read her interview with our Ruth Dugdall.
http://rebeccahgiltrow.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/writer-ruth-dugdall.html
Enjoy!
Our meeting held 4th December 2012 at The Room at The Top.
Apologies
from: Angela A, Cathy and Barry who we hope
will get well soon.
Present:
Sandy, Martin, Angela L, Beryl, Tony, Liliane, Dick, Les, Dave (back in the
chair again!).
Guest:
Janet.
First
a note from Debra at the Library,
A
big thank you to all those people who attended our author event earlier this
month. Ruth Dugdall gave a fascinating talk and we had some very positive
feedback. If you were unable to come I would strongly recommend that you
look out for her at the Felixstowe Book Festival in which she is taking part
next year. The festival, organised by Meg Reid, is the first of its kind
in this town and is scheduled for the weekend of 15-16 June. Plans are well
underway as you will see if you visit the festival web site http://www.felixstowebookfestival.co.uk/: It promises to be a super
weekend with an exciting line-up of authors including Barbara Erskine, Sophie
Hannah, Mark Mower, Adele Geras and Martin Edwards. Events will take
place at various venues including Felixstowe Library. To keep in touch
with what is afoot I am sure Meg Reid would be delighted if you would sign up
to the free E newsletter (see link on home page of the festival web
site). We will be contacting you again in the near future with book
recommendations. Kind regards, Debra Rowe.
We
welcomed Janet to our group tonight. She is not a creative writer but is seeking
help from an established writer with a project to write a handbook to help
people suffering with some mental issues. Whilst those present were unable to
offer any assistance it was agreed to circulate the rest of the membership to
see if anyone would be interested in helping. Preferably it would be someone
perhaps semi-retired, and there would be some payment available. Janet is not
on the internet so if anyone is interested please contact Dave at scribblers@btinternet.com
who will put you in touch with Janet.
The
homework theme was ‘Moonlight’ and in true inimitable style the Scribblers once
again came up with a richness of their creative abilities with every work so
different. It was again another evening to enjoy.
First
up was Les with ‘Night Vision’, a poem that centred round the moonlight shining
on the bedroom room and all the visions it encompassed including the one with
his dear Joan who promised they would be together forever.
Next
was Dick with a truly dramatic ‘Thank God for Ethel Parker’. Wartime and with
night approaching the hapless Warden cursed the bright moonlight that lit up
the East End of London, fully aware of what was to come from the Luftwaffe.
Directing his wife and family to a new shelter he was overcome with agony when
the shelter took a direct hit only for the joy to see them all after going to
the Underground with Ethel Parker.
Liliane
offered yet another episode from that fascinating family. Marina was a young flirtatious
woman who wanted more than just a romance with her first cousin Carlo. Under
the influence of drink she persuaded him to take her to his bed...
Tony
provided us with a humorous tale ‘All by Himself in the Moonlight’ which is an
excerpt from “Following Wind” his second book. It seemed there was a lot of skulduggery
when butchers new products were already on sale at the local inn which led to
the search for the culprit.
Beryl
maintained her high level of entertainment with “Werewolf”. Dillys was on duty
in the intensive care unit when she saw the fifth room bathed in moonlight.
Young Johnny was wrapped in bandages and had tubes inserted. It transpired his
father was a werewolf who attacked both his mother and Johnny.
OAP
was an interpretation by Angela about the lives of an owl and a pussycat who
went to sea in their love boat and found a Caribbean island where they lived
happily ever after – OAP being the Owl and the Pussycat.
Ever
the creative one, Martin came along with a series called “Short Pieces About
Moonlight”. Each short work was totally different and being delivered in his
staccato style brought a great deal of belief and understanding to his work.
‘Missing
Image’ written by Sandy was so believable. A wartime survivor with memories of
Dunkirk, Harry had been sitting at the bar when last orders were called. He
went home, forgot that his wife had died two years earlier then joined the
coach trip to Dunkirk where he hoped he would meet his old colleague. There on
the wall of remembrance he saw his friends name then felt the pain in his chest.
My
offering was ‘Moonlighting’ covering a whole range of moon related topics from the
man in the moon to a witches coven in the woods; Neil Armstrong stepping onto
the moon. Rugby players mooning out of a coach window; illegal moonshine and
moonlighting ended with in fear of a Chinese stealth space ship that set up a
colony on the moon to control our dramatic fluctuations in the weather...
So
there we have it, another diverse evening of entertainment.
Next
up will be the final meeting of the year on Tuesday 18th December at
7.30pm. It will be a short creative writing session so please bring along four
words each on a separate piece of paper, and pencil and paper. This will be
followed by a little Christmas party so if you would like to bring a long a few
offerings it will help make us to close off the year in our own enjoyable way.
Until
then,
Keep
Scribbling
Dave
Prole Books
Website: www.prolebooks.co.uk Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Prole/236155444300?v=wall News blog at: http://prolebooks.blogspot.com/ Twitter at:
I hope you can share some of the information, below, with your members.
The 2013 Prole Laureate Poetry competition is now open. There are brief details below.
How to enter
|
Prizes
|
Timescale
|
Judge
|
By email (preferred) – include entry in body of text with contact details, paste in PayPal transaction number so we can cross reference.
Entry fees: £3.00 for a single entry, £2.50 for subsequent entries.
PayPal payment option here:
If you'd rather enter by post, send entries to:
Brett Evans
Prolebooks
15 Maes-y-Dre
Abergele
Conwy
LL22 7HW
Cheques (GBP only please) should be made payable to: Prolebooks
|
Winner - £130, publication in Prole issue 10 and on our website.
Two runners up, each receiving £30 and possible publication on our website.
Winners will be paid by PayPal - or by cheque if they have a bank account operating in GBP.
|
Closing date for entries, February 14th 2013.
Winner announced in issue 10 of Prole and on our website by April 19th 2013.
|
DA Prince:
DA Prince is a poet and reviewer with a long-standing appreciation of the energy and individuality of 'small' magazines. She has two pamphlets with Pikestaff Press, and in 2008 HappenStance Press published her full-length collection,Nearly the Happy Hour. Publication of her second collection is due in 2014.
|
Full detail are on our website here: http://www.prolebooks.co.uk/page6.html
Issue 9 of Prole has just been released and can be purchased here: http://www.prolebooks.co.uk/index.html
We are open to submissions of fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry. Full guidelines for submission are here:http://www.prolebooks.co.uk/page3.html
Thank you for your support.
Best wishes,
Brett evans
Phil Robertson
Co-editors, Prole
https://twitter.com/#!/Prolebooks Reader/writer blog: http://readwriteblog.prolebooks.co.uk/
From our friends at the Library
Firstly, a big thank you to all those people who attended our author event earlier this month. Ruth Dugdall gave a fascinating talk and we had some very positive feedback. If you were unable to come I would strongly recommend that you look out for her at the Felixstowe Book Festival in which she is taking part next year. The festival, organised by Meg Reid, is the first of its kind in this town and is scheduled for the weekend of 15-16 June. Plans are well underway as you will see if you visit the festival web site http://www.felixstowebookfestival.co.uk/ It promises to be a super weekend with an exciting line-up of authors including Barbara Erskine, Sophie Hannah, Mark Mower, Adele Geras and Martin Edwards. Events will take place at various venues including Felixstowe Library. To keep in touch with what is afoot I am sure Meg Reid would be delighted if you would sign up to the free E newsletter (see link on home page of the festival web site). We will be contacting you again in the near future with book recommendations.
Suffolk's Libraries IPS Limited
Felixstowe Library
Crescent Road
Felixstowe
IP11 7BY
Monday, 3 December 2012
Our next meeting...
Tomorrow, Tuesday 4th December, 7.30 pm in The Room at The Top, Felixstowe Library. Homework assignment 1,000 words on 'Moonlight'. Certain that will bring a plethora of creativity.
See you there...
Don't forget...
Keep Scribbling!
See you there...
Don't forget...
Keep Scribbling!
Saturday, 1 December 2012
BEACON VIRTUAL SERVICES - update
BEACON VIRTUAL SERVICES
Do
you have a book you want to publish?
Fact
or fiction; long or short.
Look
at these figures.
British
pounds sterling GB£99
Canadian
dollar CAD155
US
Dollars US$160
Euro
Eur122
South
Africa rand ZAR1382
What
do we provide? Publishing to Amazon Kindle
Access
to your book by Kindle and other digital devices.
You
retain copyright
We
provide advice on pricing, royalties.
No
hidden extras -we can provide extras, but they are not hidden
Low
costs – high levels of service. Guaranteed.
Advice
on strategies for further marketing your work is also available.
What
next?
Tell
us briefly about your book – title, author name, length, readership, fact or
fiction.
Fast
& efficient service! Like it used to be, and with us still is.
Friday, 30 November 2012
Write Yourself Into This Heroic New Book - £300 In Prize Money 1
Can you write a poem or short story for a book being produced for
Operation Shoebox UK , a charitable organisation which supports British
servicemen and women based overseas, particularly in Afghanistan ?
The book is the idea of Operations Director Ian Whiteway, who in 2005,
set up the scheme sending parcels to troops.
Ian said, “With the help of United Press we are putting together a book,
funds from which will go directly to help our forces. We are looking for poems
and short stories from people all over the UK . You don’t have to be directly
connected to the services and your entry does not have to be on a military
subject.“
Operation Shoebox UK is an entirely voluntary organisation, with a UK
wide network of over 40 regional co-ordinators, they have over 22,000
supporters all making and helping to provide goodie boxes to be shipped out to
Afghanistan .
“The boxes contain treats and gifts the troops could never get out
there,” said Ian, Operations Director at the organisation. “It is a huge morale
boost to our boys and girls, the general public probably don’t even realise how
amazing it is to receive a shoebox from a stranger, someone who cares enough to
take the time to make up a shoebox.”
The competition will be split into categories and judged by a professional
panel; winning entries will be published in the book, due out in time for
Christmas 2013.
The competition is open to all UK residents and the categories are:-
under 12’s; under 18’s; over 18’s. Three prizes of £100 for the
categories have been kindly donated. The winner of each age group will
receive the following:- Under 12’s £100 for Argos ; under 18’s £100 for
Primark and over 18’s £100 for Marks and Spencer.
Full terms and conditions with details of how to enter can be found on: operationshoebox.co.uk or unitedpress.co.uk.
If you want to enter now you can e-mail your short story or poem (any
length) to info@unitedpress.co.uk Please put ‘”Shoebox Book” at the top of your entry and you must specify
which category you are entering for:- under 12’s; under 18’s; over 18’s.
Or post your entry to United Press, Admail 3735, London , EC1B 1JB . You
must include your full name and postal address including postcode. The
closing date is February 28th 2013.
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Report of the meeting held on 20th November
Last night was a well attended meeting and brought forth a varied selection of stories as per usual.
We had apologies from Dave with bad back, Cathy was busy with work, Lesley has not attended yet but intends to and I think Carolyn is in the USA.
Those who did attend were Mai, Susan, Beryl, Les, Dick, Two Angelas, Liliane, Sandy (Birthday girl), Martin, Ray, Tony and yours truly.
The subject matter of the work was New Zealand.
Tony was first to read his work and gave us 'The Rings of the Lords' a story of kidnapped children and the Gods wishing for domination over the village and the eventual turning to stone of the children and artefacts from the villagers.
Les gave us 'A compressed history of New Zealand' in which we heard his version of the colonisation of the islands by a Scottish family.
Dick's story was 'A first encounter' and told of a ship visiting New Zealand long ago when the natives were an unknown quantity and of the expedition sent ashore for supplies during which not a shot was fired.
Liliane gave us 'The weird side of New Zealand and told us of the many volcanoes and of the seemingly lack of dangerous animals on the islands.
Beryls 'A most resourceful woman' was based on fact and told of a woman who always thought she was the daughter of a Maori chieftain only to be told of her mothers amazing resourcefulness during a convict voyage from England and her part in a takeover of a later vessel in the Tasman Sea.
Angela A only had time to complete the first part of a girls thoughts of the different climate and countryside from Suffolk to New Zealand.
Angela L gave us 'Land of dark secrets' giving us the darker side of New Zealand and how the gang culture is sometimes as rife the other side of the world as it is in the Western world.
Susan gave us a hurriedly tinkered with poem of a group of girls revisiting place they had been before.
Mai gave us 'The muffin box' a tale of physical violence on board an aircraft between a female flight attendant and a cocksure male colleague.
Sandy gave us 'A sporting moment' which was a hurriedly finished story of a young woman's intended journey to New Zealand to get over her broken heart.
Martin gave us 'My twin brother from New Zealand' a wonderfully put together play cum prose of a stolen pearl necklace which is hidden in all manner of strange places.
Ray gave us 'The man from hell' a story of two brothers fighting on opposing sides during the Boer War and the eventual tracking down of a man with a false name by his brother to New Zealand and his failure to have the will to kill him.
My contribution was based on a true story of a failed kidnap attempt and the naming of 'Cape Kidnappers'
We had a break half way through and were able to sample the delights of Sandy's Victoria sandwich cake.
The next meeting will be containing the subject of 'Moonlight' and will be on the 4th of December.
Thanks to all who attended and made it an entertaining and informative evening.
Barry.
We had apologies from Dave with bad back, Cathy was busy with work, Lesley has not attended yet but intends to and I think Carolyn is in the USA.
Those who did attend were Mai, Susan, Beryl, Les, Dick, Two Angelas, Liliane, Sandy (Birthday girl), Martin, Ray, Tony and yours truly.
The subject matter of the work was New Zealand.
Tony was first to read his work and gave us 'The Rings of the Lords' a story of kidnapped children and the Gods wishing for domination over the village and the eventual turning to stone of the children and artefacts from the villagers.
Les gave us 'A compressed history of New Zealand' in which we heard his version of the colonisation of the islands by a Scottish family.
Dick's story was 'A first encounter' and told of a ship visiting New Zealand long ago when the natives were an unknown quantity and of the expedition sent ashore for supplies during which not a shot was fired.
Liliane gave us 'The weird side of New Zealand and told us of the many volcanoes and of the seemingly lack of dangerous animals on the islands.
Beryls 'A most resourceful woman' was based on fact and told of a woman who always thought she was the daughter of a Maori chieftain only to be told of her mothers amazing resourcefulness during a convict voyage from England and her part in a takeover of a later vessel in the Tasman Sea.
Angela A only had time to complete the first part of a girls thoughts of the different climate and countryside from Suffolk to New Zealand.
Angela L gave us 'Land of dark secrets' giving us the darker side of New Zealand and how the gang culture is sometimes as rife the other side of the world as it is in the Western world.
Susan gave us a hurriedly tinkered with poem of a group of girls revisiting place they had been before.
Mai gave us 'The muffin box' a tale of physical violence on board an aircraft between a female flight attendant and a cocksure male colleague.
Sandy gave us 'A sporting moment' which was a hurriedly finished story of a young woman's intended journey to New Zealand to get over her broken heart.
Martin gave us 'My twin brother from New Zealand' a wonderfully put together play cum prose of a stolen pearl necklace which is hidden in all manner of strange places.
Ray gave us 'The man from hell' a story of two brothers fighting on opposing sides during the Boer War and the eventual tracking down of a man with a false name by his brother to New Zealand and his failure to have the will to kill him.
My contribution was based on a true story of a failed kidnap attempt and the naming of 'Cape Kidnappers'
We had a break half way through and were able to sample the delights of Sandy's Victoria sandwich cake.
The next meeting will be containing the subject of 'Moonlight' and will be on the 4th of December.
Thanks to all who attended and made it an entertaining and informative evening.
Barry.
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
It's tonight... Tuesday 20 November...
Our next meeting - it's tonight! 7.30 at The Room at the Top, Felixstowe Library. Homework assignment is for 1,000 words on 'New Zealand.' - wonder what happened to the old one?
Hope to see you there!
Keep Scribbling!
Hope to see you there!
Keep Scribbling!
Saturday, 17 November 2012
Managing a Masterpiece - The Stour Valley Landscape Partnership
2012 POETRY COMPETITION
OPEN TO ANYONE WITH A SUFFOLK ADDRESS
OPEN TO ANYONE WITH A SUFFOLK ADDRESS
This is your chance to write an original poem on a theme relating to the art and artists of the Stour Valley .
The winner in each category will receive a cash prize of £200 (plus £50 each for two runners-up) and will have their poems published in a celebratory book and have the opportunity to read their poem in public.
Managing a Masterpiece Poetry Competition Theme Your poem may be inspired by the work of painters like Gainsborough, Constable, Munnings, Nash, by writers like Adrian Bell or Ronald Blythe, by the characters in the paintings like Cornard Wood, TheHaywain or Flatford Mill, or by the changing landscape, agriculture and farming, or new priorities reflected in the art of the Stour Valley and its communities….
All we ask is that your poem is from your own imagination and that it makes a connection to the theme of this competition. This aim of this project is to enable local writers of different ages to look at how the Stour Valley has inspired artists over the centuries.
Deadline for receipt of entries: 22 December 2012
Writing Competition
Playwriting CompetitionWould 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 6th and 7thJuly 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.phpAnne Bartram
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