Meeting report

Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on Tuesday 21 February 2017

Present:  Dave, Anne, Jim, Beryl, Dick, Gerry, Cathy
Apologies: Mairead, Liliane, Jane, Di, Tony, Steve

Business:
Despite a low turnout, partly due to illness of some members, we enjoyed listening to six cracking competition entries for the Jack Wilkinson Trophy night. We were delighted that Dick was able to join us for the evening, and share the reading with Beryl. Our thanks to them both.

After hearing all the stories, we faced the difficult task of judging, because as ever, the standard of all work was very high.
Eventually Dave was despatched to calculate the scores, and the results were as follows:

First place – Jim, with ‘Milk bottles’

Second place – Beryl, with ‘Now we are six’

Third place – tie between Anne’s ‘The magic shop’, and Dave’s ‘Forgotten’.

The remaining stories were Dick’s ‘Just a bone’, and Gerry’s ‘There’s something I want to show you.’
Gerry duly presented the trophy to Jim, with the obligatory photocall, then we settled to have a quick coffee break before enjoying a brief flash fiction exercise.

The topic for this was ‘Lost in the woods’, and it really fired our imaginations. Listening to each other’s work afterwards was a lovely way to end the evening, and we all went away feeling that it had been a good night.

MEAL AT THE ORWELL: Don’t forget – 7 for 7.30 on Tuesday 28 February.

Next meeting: 7 March, when the topic for the 1000 word homework is ‘coincidence’.

The Meal

This is just a note to remind you that our meal at The Orwell is this Tuesday. For those who have booked to come along, please arrive at 7.00pm for 7.30 meal.

Looking forward to it already!

See you there,

Our new trophy holder

Jim receiving the Jack Wilkinson trophy
from previous winner, Gerry.

And the new holder of the trophy is:

A superb evening's stories in the competition all read by Beryl and Dick. Sad the attendance was lower than we would have liked but with illness and hospitals together with holidays etc., we made do! Main thing is that we hope our ailing members soon overcome their problems.

The first three stories for the Jack Wilkinson Memorial Trophy,  in reverse order, were:

=3rd The Magic Shop by Anne and Forgotten? by Dave.

2nd   Now we are six by Beryl

and the winner was:

Jim with his rather humorous story Milk Bottles.

Congratulations Jim. In fact to everyone who made this part of the evening a success.

To round off we had a fifteen minute flash fiction exercise with the subject "Lost in the Woods" which resulted in some amazing short stories!

For those attending the meal on Tuesday 28th, we will meet at the Orwell at 7pm for a 7.30 sitting.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 7th March with the homework theme "Coincidence". A maximum of 1,000 words please.

Until next time...

Keep Scribbling!

The Jack Wilkinson Memorial Trophy

Jack's Memorial competition is almost upon us. This Tuesday, 7.30 start in The Room at the Top. It's time to make a challenge and try and lift the trophy from Gerry though I dare say Gerry won't want to give it up too easily!

Just in case you are a little unsure of the rules for the evening, they are:

It is only open to attending members. 

·         The entry should be up to 1,000 words written for children or, alternatively, a story that has a child included as an integral character. 

·         Whenever possible, independent people will read out member's work. 

·         Members will vote for their favourite work of the evening. 

·         When votes have been counted then the writer with the top marks will be awarded the trophy.

·          In the event of a tie then Caz will have the casting vote. In the absence of Caz then a secondvote will be taken to choose one of those stories as winner. In this case only, it is permitted for writers to vote for their own story.

·         The trophy does not need engraving; instead the winner will receive a certificate for their achievement.

·         The Jack Wilkinson Memorial Trophy will be held twice yearly. 

Winners must undertake to return the trophy at the next staging of the competition.

Looking forward to seeing you Tuesday so, until then,

Keep Scribbling!

Competition and events

Jim has discovered the following award - for full details see the link he has enclosed. Thanks Jim. It's really worth a punt. 

"Amazon and the Metro newspaper are launching a new literary award and the book only has to have a minimum of 5,000 words!

Some of the Scribblers may be interested.

amazon.co.uk/storyteller

Best wishes

Jim"

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Hey All,

Apologies for late notice but next writers' cafe is sneaking up on us:

* on   Monday 20th February

* starting 7:30pm

* at La Tour Cycle Cafe on 17 Tower Street, Ipswich

Next time I'll try to issue a bunch of dates in advance. Best of intentions and all that.

See you then!  

Ed

@ipswriterscafe

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Felixstowe Library Newsletter February 2017 Harry Potter Book Night We're happy to report that Harry Potter Book Night was again a sell out with 60 children visiting us on 2nd February for an evening of magical fun.  We were joined by a group of local actors who became characters from the books and threw themselves wholeheartedly into their roles. One of the children's activities involved writing reports for 'The Daily Prophet' newspaper. The newspaper has now been compiled and includes photos of the children so, particularly if you were here on the night,  please come in and see this fantastic publication! We've also displayed photos taken during the evening and children's comments. You can see them and more here: https://www.facebook.com/FelixstoweLibrary/ and here:  https://www.facebook.com/FelixstoweBookFest This event was held in conjunction with Felixstowe Book Festival and we're delighted that the children's events for the festival will again take place in the library, on the weekend of 1st-2nd July. So there will be plenty of exciting news to follow about that. Last month we mentioned that some of our periodicals were no longer available to read in the library due to financial cuts. Happily one, The Lady, has now been re-instated as a kind lady has offered to donate her copies.  Information and displays We are really excited about a new seafaring display that will be in the library commencing 18th February. This will combine a selection of books such as Down to the Sea in Ships by Horatio Clare, recommended by one of our readers, with input from The Seafarers Centre, Felixstowe. If you are a knitter, it will be of interest to you too! What have boats got to do with knitting? If you're intrigued please come into the library and have a look under the huge picture of a container ship. There will be a display for Fairtrade Fortnight between 27th and 11th March, with the stand manned on 4th March. Forthcoming Events Suffolk Libraries Presents We still have tickets left for our next film screening. On Friday 17th February we will be showing Shakespeare’s  Twelfth Night. Filmed in 2013 at the Globe Theatre this production has an all male cast including Mark Rylance, Stephen Fry and the late Roger Lloyd Pack.  The Times called it a “finely balanced, intelligent production”.  One not to miss if you’re a Shakespeare fan. Tickets are £7.50 and the film starts at 7pm.  Tickets have sold out for our  Friday 17th March showing of the critically acclaimed The Importance of Being Earnest starring David Suchet as Lady Bracknell. Let us know if you would like to be added to the waiting list. Mini March Fest If you've been into the library lately you may have noticed our display of books by authors coming to the Mini March Fest, run by Felixstowe Book Festival,  on Sunday 5th March. The day will start with a visit from the hugely popular novelist Erica James who will talk about her 20th book, Song of the Skylark.  She will be followed by  Liz Trenow who has been to Felixstowe several times and is a very good speaker.  Liz will talk about her latest novel, The Silk Weaver.  For In remembrance: the poetry and music of the First World War there will be an ensemble of young readers and musicians.  Finally, John Nightingale will talk about his crime mystery novel, The Appearance of Murder.  John was named as Ian Rankin's pick for his Christmas stocking!  See here for further information and tickets: https://felixstowebookfestival.co.uk/3925/mini-march-onsale Copyright © 2017 Felixstowe Library, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up to hear about forthcoming events at Felixstowe Library. Our mailing address is: Felixstowe Library Crescent Road Felixstowe, Suffolk IP11 7BY United Kingdom

Meeting report

Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on Tuesday 7 February 2017

Present:  Dave, Liliane, Anne, Daniel, Jim, Mairead, Steve, Beryl, Di, Tony, Cathy
Apologies: Dick, Jane, Gerry

Business:
Wonderful to have such a good turn out again, despite the bitter cold.

A warm welcome to Beryl on her return – not quite with a spring in her step, but close enough with her new knee!

Dave read out a letter from Dick, which explained that, at 81, he gets very tired in the evenings. Also, he greatly dislikes cold weather, so he won’t be joining us for meetings until April time, when it will be lighter and warmer in the evenings. If there is something special occurring, he may come along if Dave gives him a lift. We all hope that he’ll come along to the Jack Wilkinson trophy meeting on 21 February, and do some readings for us – after all, that’s a special meeting!

Press release about Scribblers: attendance at meetings has been up recently, and Ruth has told Dave that an ex-Scribbler, Sue Smith, may be returning to meetings. Under the circumstances, the press release won’t, after all, focus heavily on recruiting new members.

Meal at Orwell on 28 February. Menu choices were made, and deposits paid. Mairead will pass booking information on to the hotel.

FBF – Cathy informed the group that there is a Mini Festival on 5 March – details on FBF website, and lots of info at Felixstowe Library.

Thanks as ever to Mairead for chocolate treats – which disappeared in record time!

Reading of work inspired by last time’s chosen theme ‘Anything but beige’. Definitely not an easy theme to work with, as almost everyone agreed, but some terrific stories came out of it nonetheless – it seems that the harder the theme, the better the results.

Di: Anything but beige

Tony: Anything but beige

Steve: The market

Beryl: Anything but beige

Daniel: Dummies

Dave: Bowled over

Jim: Sex on the beach

Anne: Anything but beige

Liliane: Paula’s wedding

Next meeting: 21 February, when it is the Jack Wilkinson trophy night. A 1000 word story either about or for children. Full conditions of the evening are on the Scribblers weblog. Beryl and Dick/Cathy to be readers.

All a bit beige...

Hi Scribblers,

What a really interesting and well attended meeting that produced many really diverse tales - each and every one of them so totally different to the others. It was a pleasure listening to them all.

We have a fair interest in the meal and, with deposits paid, Mairead will book and confirm Tuesday 28th February at the Orwell Hotel. The menu selections were accepted and individual choices have been made.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 21st February when we host The Jack Wilkinson Memorial Trophy once again. This is an in-house competition for attending members only and calls for a story for or about children.

Until then,

Keep Scribbling!!!

Our next meeting and our forthcoming meal

Just a reminder that our next meeting is on Tuesday in The Room at the Top with our usual 7.30 start time. The subject for the homework was set as "Anything but beige..." so we wait to hear your 1,000 word creations. Can't really wait!

Next item is a reminder that our meal is due to be held in the Orwell on Tuesday 28th February. Attached is the menu kindly sent in by Mairead. We need to know who will be coming along to the evening so perhaps you can let us know on Tuesday and if I might remind you to please bring a deposit of £5 along to allow us to confirm the booking. 

If you are unable to be at Scribblers this week then please will you email me and let me know your attendance and choices (see below). Should you wish to bring along your spouse or partner (or even both!!!) then a deposit will be needed for each person.

It would be helpful if you can let us know of your meal choices - as you will see from the menu we have to choose three items from each course. Cathy has suggested the following:

Starter: 

Tomato and Basil Soup

Terrine of Suffolk Ham

A cocktail of prawns and crayfish.

Main:

Roast loin of pork

Local cod fillet

Butternut squash tangine

Desserts

Chocolate brownie

Eton Mess

Fresh fruit salad.

If you would prefer a different choice then we will have to decide this Tuesday which meals to include - then democratically the highest number will have to be included. I hope this makes sense, if not we'll try and explain better on Tuesday.

Apologies for the delay in sending the menu round.

Until Tuesday,

Keep Scribbling!