Meeting report

Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on Tuesday 16 August 2016

Present:  Dave, Mairead, Beryl, Dick, Richard, Liliane, Di, Jane, Gerry, Jim, Mel, Barry, Cathy
Apologies: Steve, Caz, Carolyn

Business:   None

With a full house, we decided to get down to hearing the Jack Wilkinson entries straight away – with eleven stories to read between them, Beryl and Dick had their work cut out. Our thanks to them for, as ever, doing an excellent job.

The variety of work was tremendous, and the standard extremely high. After voting, there was a tie for first place, so we had a second vote to choose between the two top stories. Our thanks go to Mel for counting the votes at both stages.

In first place was Gerry, with ‘The Egg’

Missing the first place by a whisker, but coming in an excellent second, was Jim’s story ‘Wrigglin’ in the rain’

In third place was Mel, with her story ‘Marvin’

The remaining stories were as follows:

The holiday, by Dave
Childhood (a poem’), by Richard
Little Maya's Seashore Game: A tale told in paragraphs and quatrains, by Mairead
The French experience, by Barry
Tom’s complaint, by Di
Cat, by Beryl
The little green men, (a poem), by Dick
The Matchmaker, by Jane

We all enjoyed coffee and chocolatey things (thanks Mairead!), then Dick presented Gerry with the trophy. Photos taken and the winner’s certificate given, the meeting was called to a close.

Dave has passed on the following competition details:

THE GBP PRESS SHORT STORY PRIZE 2016/17 is open to submissions!
Choose between £1000 or 12 months of editorial support; the winning author will also be interviewed and profiled in The Bookseller, the UK's most popular publishing magazine.
With this year's judges including Guardian columnist Chris Power, the Art Council's director of literature Sarah Crown, and Wellcome Book Prize-shortlisted author Alex Pheby, your story will be read by some of the finest literary critics in the UK.
Further details, key dates, and submission guidelines can be found at:
http://galleybeggar.co.uk/2015-short-story-prize
Galley Beggar Press is a multi-award-winning publisher, founded in 2012 by Sam Jordison and Eloise Millar with the goal of supporting ambitious writing. Since its inception, Galley Beggar Press authors and books have been longlisted, shortlisted, and the winners of over 20 of the world’s most prestigious literary awards – including the Folio Prize, the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Dylan Thomas International Prize, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, the Wellcome Book Prize, the Desmond Elliott First Novel Award, and the Gordon Burns Prize for Fiction. Short story award listings include the EFG Sunday Times Short Story Prize, the Tom Gallon Award, the Saboteur Award and the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize.
A reminder, too, about the Writers’ Café session at 7.30pm, Monday 22 August, in Ipswich. Details on Suffolk Writers website.

Next meeting
This will be on 6 September, in THREE week’s time. The topic is ‘Autumn’, as chosen by our worthy winner of the Jack Wilkinson memorial trophy, Gerry. Work of up to 1000 words.