Can't believe half the summer is already gone! If you're one of the lucky ones that's going on holiday or even if you have to stick around and continue your routine, this edition has something either for those in the relaxation or industrious mode.
Speaking of the industrious mode, Jens Kunze has been very prolific and creative and has s_ubmitted two pieces of work: one for "Black", July's writing challenge and a poem for your enjoyment. Please support him by leaving your feedback. Links to his writing can be found below. Also, don't forget to leave comments for Andrew Williams' piece on "Black".
So without further delay, enjoy this edition.
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FEATURED POST
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Everyday
is a Winding Road, Especially When You're Forcing
Yourself to Write to Deadline
How do you face the fear of your writing efforts becoming a reality, of exposing your thoughts to the world, open to criticism, crushing your dreams... Mark is finding out that there's always something that will prevent him from finishing. How do you tackle this issue? |
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WORD ON THE STREET
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WW1
Commemoration with the Power of Words
With the commemorations beginning for the centenary of the First World War, words are gaining ever more strength. From a "Letter to an Unknown Solder" to storytelling events, we've listed places where the word is "mightier than the sword". Check them out. |
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LITERARY ROUNDUP
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Poems
Please Me Prize 2014
Now in its 3rd year, this year's competition will be judged by Anthony Watts and will close on the 14th of September with the results published on the 31st of October. The choice of subject is up to the participants, although poems must be between 12-40 lines long excluding the title. The 1st prize will be £600 and the entry fee for 1 poem will be £5. The Artists' Quarter (TAQ) will create a selection of digital art to illustrate the winning and commended poems. |
Cafe
Writers Poetry Competition 2014
There are £2000 in prizes in this year's Café Writers Competition that will be judged by David Morley. There is a maximum of 40 lines per poem and the closing date for entries is the 30th of November. Café Writers is a Norwich based grass-roots writers' network supporting and showcasing work by established and new writers in all genres.
There are £2000 in prizes in this year's Café Writers Competition that will be judged by David Morley. There is a maximum of 40 lines per poem and the closing date for entries is the 30th of November. Café Writers is a Norwich based grass-roots writers' network supporting and showcasing work by established and new writers in all genres.
Poetry
Kit Summer Poetry Competition 2014
This year's competition, judged by Jim Bennett, is for poems on the theme of "films", with a first prize of £100. There are no style or length restrictions and entry is by email to comp@poetrykit.org. All entries must be received before midnight 30th September 2014.
This year's competition, judged by Jim Bennett, is for poems on the theme of "films", with a first prize of £100. There are no style or length restrictions and entry is by email to comp@poetrykit.org. All entries must be received before midnight 30th September 2014.
Kathy
Miles Wins Welsh Poetry Competition!
The Welsh Poetry Competition 2014 organisers have announced the winners of the 8th international competition and the overall winner was Kathy Miles for her poem "The Pain Game".
The Welsh Poetry Competition 2014 organisers have announced the winners of the 8th international competition and the overall winner was Kathy Miles for her poem "The Pain Game".
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FAVOURITE READS
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Cider
with Rosie by Laurie Lee
Reading Laurie Lee's Cider with Rosie gives you a sense of joy. A joy filled with nostalgia for childhood, fond memories and comforting thoughts. He magnificently captures growing up in the English countryside during the 1920's with its innocence and often turbulent times. |
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INTERESTING TIDBITS
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Summer
Homes that Inspired Famous Authors
Five authors from Mark Twain to F. Scott Fitzgerald have found solace and stimulus for their writing in their summer homes. See why they were such a lure and what books they influenced. |
Did you forget your book for those long hours spent relaxing
on the beach? Not to worry, libraries can be found near the water's edge
in France, Holland, Bulgaria and Australia to name a few. So if
you're caught without a book and in one of the places listed here, you're in
luck.
If you're on your way to LA and realize you have no book to wile away the hours on the beach, the Beach Book Bag program can also help. Introduced by the iconic Santa Monica hotel "Shutters on the Beach", you can order a book up to 24 hours in advance of when you check in and they'll buy it for you ready for your arrival at the hotel. Twenty percent of each purchase is donated to the Holiday Book Drive.
If you're on your way to LA and realize you have no book to wile away the hours on the beach, the Beach Book Bag program can also help. Introduced by the iconic Santa Monica hotel "Shutters on the Beach", you can order a book up to 24 hours in advance of when you check in and they'll buy it for you ready for your arrival at the hotel. Twenty percent of each purchase is donated to the Holiday Book Drive.
The "Jet-Lagged Poem" by the
Syrian-Brazilian poet Waly Salomão, who won Premio Jabuti, Brazil's
prestigious literary prize is well worth a read. You can even
listen to the poem read in the original Portuguese to get its distinct vibe.
Unconventional Books Get Published with Crowd Funding and
Private Investment
Thinking "out of the box" as it were has brought positive results to the four book projects below. They've all been able to reach the funding they needed to bring their books to life.
First up is an augmented reality comic book. Sutu, the interactive comic artist has created a story about Modern Polaxis, a paranoid time traveller and he's using Kickstarter, a crowd funding platform to raise the money he needs to produce it. Here's how it works: you buy the comic book and download the free Polaxis app from iTunes to your iPad or iPhone. You then point the camera to the printed page and the pages come to life. Pretty cool! With over 40 pages of animation and sound, he's combining technology with the story to create a genuinely immersive experience. He's already raised over $11,000 AUD.
The Paris-based indie publisher De Selby Press whose founders hail from theShakespeare and Company bookshop in Paris, are using Ulule, a French crowd funding site to fund an illustrated edition of "Dubliners". The striking illustrations are created by Stephen Crowe and the book also includes a new introduction by the writer Paul Murray. An exclusive version of the classic Irish ballad, "The Lass of Aughrim" by Irish Singer Lisa Hannigan is given as a reward for pledging money. They have already raised over €11,000 that will cover book production costs and plan to launch "Dubliners" at the Shakespeare and Company bookshop in September 2014.
Many might find the stream of consciousness in James Joyce's "Ulysses" hard to read. The Irish filmmaker Eoghan Kidney is producing a virtual reality video game as another way of experiencing and enjoying the book. The player inhabits the character of Stephen Dedalus and experiences Dublin on June 16 1904 first hand. Kidney is using the crowdfunding site Fund it and has raised over €4,000.
Would you have considered Dragon's Den as a source to fund your book idea? The personalized storybook venture"Lost My Name" is now valued at £2.5 million after receiving an investment of £100,000 from technology entrepreneur Piers Linney. It's now the highest ever-valued company to receive an investment on Dragon's Den. With Lost My Name, parents can design and buy a storybook based around their child's name. "It takes the letters of any name entered and creates an illustrated book involving words beginning with each of the letters, so the child finds their own name at the end of the story." Aimed for children between the ages of 2 to 7, the book costs £18.99.
Thinking "out of the box" as it were has brought positive results to the four book projects below. They've all been able to reach the funding they needed to bring their books to life.
First up is an augmented reality comic book. Sutu, the interactive comic artist has created a story about Modern Polaxis, a paranoid time traveller and he's using Kickstarter, a crowd funding platform to raise the money he needs to produce it. Here's how it works: you buy the comic book and download the free Polaxis app from iTunes to your iPad or iPhone. You then point the camera to the printed page and the pages come to life. Pretty cool! With over 40 pages of animation and sound, he's combining technology with the story to create a genuinely immersive experience. He's already raised over $11,000 AUD.
The Paris-based indie publisher De Selby Press whose founders hail from theShakespeare and Company bookshop in Paris, are using Ulule, a French crowd funding site to fund an illustrated edition of "Dubliners". The striking illustrations are created by Stephen Crowe and the book also includes a new introduction by the writer Paul Murray. An exclusive version of the classic Irish ballad, "The Lass of Aughrim" by Irish Singer Lisa Hannigan is given as a reward for pledging money. They have already raised over €11,000 that will cover book production costs and plan to launch "Dubliners" at the Shakespeare and Company bookshop in September 2014.
Many might find the stream of consciousness in James Joyce's "Ulysses" hard to read. The Irish filmmaker Eoghan Kidney is producing a virtual reality video game as another way of experiencing and enjoying the book. The player inhabits the character of Stephen Dedalus and experiences Dublin on June 16 1904 first hand. Kidney is using the crowdfunding site Fund it and has raised over €4,000.
Would you have considered Dragon's Den as a source to fund your book idea? The personalized storybook venture"Lost My Name" is now valued at £2.5 million after receiving an investment of £100,000 from technology entrepreneur Piers Linney. It's now the highest ever-valued company to receive an investment on Dragon's Den. With Lost My Name, parents can design and buy a storybook based around their child's name. "It takes the letters of any name entered and creates an illustrated book involving words beginning with each of the letters, so the child finds their own name at the end of the story." Aimed for children between the ages of 2 to 7, the book costs £18.99.
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NEWS PICKS
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Jack
White Moves Into Publishing
Jack White of White Stripes fame is starting a new independent publishing house"Third Man Books". With the goal of being eclectic and imaginative, it already has a few titles lined up for publication beginning with a poetry collection from prize-winning authors. In keeping with his music background, two vinyl LPs will come with one of the books as an added plus. |
In a past newsletter we mentioned Haruki Murakami's new book "Colorless
Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage" complete with
artistically designed stickers to decorate the book. When it was released
in Japan last year, it sold over 1 million copies in its first week. Not
a surprise then that bookshops throughout the UK are planning on making the
most of its popularity by promoting it through midnight opening parties,
breakfast parties and other events. Keep an eye out for them at a place
near you if you want to join in.
Elvis fans and collectors, don't miss the auction at
Graceland that will take place on the 14th of August selling 72 items that
belonged to Elvis. His library card when he was in the seventh grade with
his earliest known authentic signature is top of the desired list. Early
bids can be made on the auction
site and the auction itself will be live-streamed.
Will
Eva Green be in Tim Burton's New Movie Based on Ransom Rigg's Novel?
In our post "Effective Book Trailers: A Candid Conversation", we thought that the book trailer for "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs was quite engaging and Tim Burton is set to direct the movie. Eva Green it now seems is under negotiation to star in the film. Watch this space...the movie is to start production next February.
In our post "Effective Book Trailers: A Candid Conversation", we thought that the book trailer for "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs was quite engaging and Tim Burton is set to direct the movie. Eva Green it now seems is under negotiation to star in the film. Watch this space...the movie is to start production next February.
INTERACTION
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Writing Challenges
Please note that we are putting a temporary halt to future
writing challenges. We'd like to thank those who have s_ubmitted their
work for feedback and if you'd like to continue reading and reviewing what
has been written in the past, you can do so here.
In the meantime, we'd like to encourage you to read and comment on the stories written by Jens Kunze and Andrew Williams for the topic "Black". |
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Black:
Entry #2 by Jens Kunze
People still startle when they see us. The reaction usually follows the same pattern. They notice him and cannot help but stare. Some are outright scared from the looks on their faces. They look at him, then at me and quickly walk away. Others are rather curious and linger for a while. But as soon as they realise they've been staring at him, they blush and walk away. A rare few only show disgust. An old lady spat on the ground right in front of us once. Didn't say a single word; just uttered a retching sound to match her facial e_xpression and spat. A big bubbly pool of saliva mixed with yellow and green bits of snot. She wiped off the remnants from the corner of her distorted mouth, gave us another hateful look and walked away. |
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Black:
Entry #1 by Andrew Williams
The world is black. Alone in the dark, the dogs bark. Lying in bed, my head full of the things that she said - wishing me dead - no sleep, I keep counting sheep, until the alarm bleeps and I throw off the sheets. The night is the worst time. When it's light is the first time I find relief from the pain; it's always the same. But the light is a lie. I'm waiting to die, curtains drawn against the dawn. Work called again; I told them the pain remains. I think they know but I still won't go to the office. She'll be there, blonde hair, without a care. So I hide indoors, safe and secure, sure she won't find me. |
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s_ubmitted Writing
We will continue to accept writing submissions for short
stories, novels, poems, plays and scripts and would like to bring to your
attention the poem "The Light of Day" written by Jens
Kunze. Please leave your feedback.
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The
Light of Day by Jens Kunze
Morning: It starts slowly, gradually. The sky turns a dark blue that fades into ever lighter shades till finally, finally the first ray of sunlight appears. The air is still cold, as is the morning breeze that creates shivers down the spine. But there is light. It's instantly warm where it touches the skin and chases away the demons of the night. All is possible in that one instant. No action taken, no consequences inflicted. Nothings determined. It's luck; it's hope; it's prosperity and mystery. It's the beginning. |
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If you'd like to s_ubmit your own writing, you can
always do so here.
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Virtual Readers' Group
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We are also putting a temporary halt to our Virtual Reader's Group. All past book discussions can still be accessed here.
If you know anyone who belongs to a reading group that
would be interested in profiling it on our site, please direct them here.
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YOUR WORDS
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Many thanks to Mark at the Word for his post:
"Everyday is a Winding Road, Especially When You're Forcing Yourself to Write to Deadline"
If you'd like to contribute an article or write a book
review, please visit "Add
Your Words".
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SIGNING OFF WITH: Douglas Adams
"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise
they make as they go by."
