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 28^th 2013.

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.

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!

Managing a Masterpiece - The Stour Valley Landscape Partnership

2012 POETRY COMPETITION

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 Competition

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^thJuly 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

Anne Bartram

anne@skybluetheatre.com

We Will Remember Them

They shall grow not old,

As we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them,

Nor the years condemn,

At the going down of the sun

And in the morning

We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

Author Talk at Felixstowe Library

Our Ruth Dugdall gave a tremendous talk today on her career that has taken so much hard work and determination to get where she is today; three novels with a fourth close to finalisation.

It is nice for the Scribblers that she has shared excerpts from each of her novels at our meetings in the past and it emphasises how an unfailing desire to succeed has sown the seeds of success.

If you ever have the opportunity of attending one of her author talks then you should. Ruth is a terrific speaker and able to answer questions on a variety of topics in our field. And she's nice too!

Great afternoon, Ruth!

Meeting report for 6th November

We had a well attended meeting last light with eleven members present.  They were:
Dave, Tony, Dick, Liliane, Les, Cathy, Angela, Martin, Sandy, Ray and myself.

Apologies from Beryl, Carolyn, Angela Ashby and Caz

The subject from the last meeting was "November"

Tony was first and gave us a whimsical story of his boyhood which he assured us was mostly true called
NOVEMBER FIELD.

Dick was next with two poems, AUTUMN DAYS and THE TERRIBLE BLOW. Autumn days was a journey through the changes to the flora and fauna during November and the second was an interesting history lesson concerning Guy Fawkes and his band of plotters at the Houses of Parliament.

Liliane gave us ALL THE SAINTS AND ALL THE SPOOKS another of her interesting and well written family stories about how All Saints day was celebrated on the continent and how the children were sometimes scared by the trip to the cemetery and having to stand in the howling wind and cold looking at gravestones.

Les gave a short poem called POOR NOVEMBER and his feeling that November was for him one of sombre moods and dark nights.

Cathy gave us a touching tale of film extras and the trials of 4.30 am starts, standing in freezing weather waiting for costumes and then to the film of the tribulations and sacrifice of the war in the trenches.

Martin's story was called WICKED and was a sad tale of two best friends and how they enjoyed the Wizard of Oz and were frightened when dad took them to see by the Halloween story of the green witch. The two inseparables were finally separated when Kerry got very sick.

Angela gave us THE DRIVER a story of Santa in November going to Lakeside with a trailer ready to pick up toys for the children and getting pulled over and by a traffic policeman.

Sandy's story GROWING UP was another whimsical tale of her growing up with slightly eccentric parents.

Ray gave us BECAUSE THEY'RE YOUNG, a tale from his youth and a trip in the sixties to the Odeon to see Duane Eddy on the day that President Kennedy was assassinated. He told of the fears of the young people during that time and the time of the Cuban crisis when another war could so easily have been started.

My story was called THE BRIDGE AT BLOIS and told of a group of French resistance fighters and their explosive attacks on the Germans.

Dave was last to read and gave us IT BEGAN ON THE 5TH OF NOVEMBER. This told of a group of teenagers trying their skills at summoning ghosts with their seance using a Ouija board and finding the word 'heathens' spelled out to them with mysterious crashing and banging following, frightening them. One of the children later found himself the owner of the house with all its memories.

The next meeting will be on the 20th November with the subject matter for your stories being

"New Zealand"

Hope to see you all then.

Barry

TONIGHT

That's right!  Tonight! Our meeting at The Room at the Top... all welcome though a small charge has to be made to cover the cost of our accommodation. Start 7.30 - the homework assignment 1,000 words on 'November'.

Keep Scribbling!

Charity Function

Would you and your friends like to attend a charity concert on Saturday 17 November? Taking place  at St Clements social club it is in aid of CHILDREN OF PULILAN FOUNDATION who help underprivileged children in the Philippines. There will be music and dancing etc. and belly dancers. Admission of only £5.00 per person includes food.

For further details visit the website at www.thechildrenofpulilanfoundation.co.uk. Please confirm attendance with the organiser, Rexy Lang.

Grace Dieu Writers' Circle 2013 Short Story and Poetry Competition

Poetry Competition: A poem on any subject - maximum 40 lines.
1st prize £500
2nd prize £200
3rd prize £100
4th prize £75
5th prize £50.
Entry fees £4 for one poem or £12 for 4, and £3 for each additional poem.

Short Story Competition - maximum 2,000 words

1st prize £500
2nd prize £200
3rd prize £100
4th prize £75
5th prize £50.
Entry fees £5 for the first and £3 for each additional story.

Closing date 28 February 2013.

Full details and entry forms can be found on the website:
www.gracedieuwriterscircle.co.uk

Our Next Meeting

Tomorrow, 6th November, at 7.30 pm in The Room at the Top. A day when we produce our writing skills on 'November'.

Come along and enjoy the ambiance of our meetings, of the creativity on offer. It is certain to be another eclectic evening. Please remember that charges apply from this meeting for the hire of our accommodation.

Meanwhile, today, Guy Fawkes day, enjoy your firework displays but please, everyone, be safe.

This Saturday Ruth Dugdall will be at the Library for an author talk. I am sure Ruth would love to see some of our Scribblers in attendance. There may still be a number of free tickets available so please contact the Library direct.

Hope to see you at our meeting tomorrow,

Keep Scribbling!