Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on 6 February 2018
Present: Liliane, Dave,
Bridget, Tony, Steve, Gerry, Kay, Anne, Mairead, Cathy, Derek, Beryl, Liz
Apologies: None
Business:
Firstly, we were delighted to welcome our newest member Diane to
the group. She certainly chose the right evening to try us out – pretty much a
full house, and with all present having something to read out, it gave her a
good insight into the kind of work we all do.
Felixstowe Book Festival (FBF). The organiser, Meg Reid, had
emailed Dave to put forward a new idea for local writers within the FBF, as
below. The HLL in the text refers to His Lordship’s Library, a room in the
Orwell Hotel, where the FBF is largely based.
I wanted to find a different and fresh format to promote local
writers and had this suggestion from Mark Brayley. The format is similar to an
event he is chairing for Essex Book Fest.
Suggested blurb:
Cafe Culture Saturday 30 June 5.45-7.30 HLL
"Bringing together local and regional writers including
Felixstowe's own Scribblers, Orwell Writers and Cafe Poets, Mark Brayley and
Emma Pey host an evening café discussion on what success looks like in our art form. Story tellers, wordsmiths and bards bring your experiences
and something to read to celebrate your own success in our open mic."
We would have a cafe type lay out in HLL and say people could get
their drinks etc from the bar. There would be a discussion as above and
everyone would be invited to share a piece of writing if they wish.
There was a mixed response to this, as it appears that Scribblers
may only have this slot, instead of running a flash fiction workshop as we’ve
done at previous festivals. However, we await further information from Meg –
and in principle the idea was fairly well received.
Post Christmas Meal – Mairead will email everybody with menu/cost
options for both The Alex (whose prices have increased considerably recently)
and The Orwell Hotel.
Readings of homework:
‘The cape’ was the topic, and despite many of us commenting on how
hard we found it to write to this theme, it was obvious, as the readings
progressed, that our struggles had produced some really fine work. We heard
tales of war, illicit love (Liliane’s twist on Red Riding Hood!), mystic folk
songs, criminal activity, true life travel to the North Cape, ghosts, fly tying
(as in fishing) …….. and more! To keep our strength up for both reading and
listening, Mairead had provided some delicious cakes and chocolates – both much
appreciated – thank you Mairead.
Next meeting: This will be on 20 February,
and is a competition for the Jack Wilkinson Memorial Trophy. Competition rules:
write up to 1000 words with children in the theme i.e. a story either for,
including, or about children. Each entrant prints their work, (no names or identifiers
to be on it), and places it face down on the table when they arrive. Two
readers, usually Beryl, Cathy or Dick Bradshaw, read the entries out. Listeners
make personal notes as entries are heard, then select their top three pieces of
work in order of preference (1 – 3). The marks are added up (usually by Dave),
and the winner is presented with the trophy by the current holder, in this case
Anne.
