Friday 18 January 2013

GREAT READS


Thanks to everyone for the book recommendations at Wednesday’s meeting. It’s always good to be introduced to writers we haven’t met before – and exciting to meet new characters with whom to engage. 


Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, are a married couple of detective writers from Sweden. They conceived and wrote a series of novels about the exploits of detectives from the Swedish Police Homicide Squad in which the character of Martin Beck was the main protagonist, plotting and researching each book together, they then wrote alternate chapters. There are 10 books in the series – available in English – the first of which, ‘Roseanna’, came out in 1965. 
No doubt due to the huge international success of Scandinavian TV dramas, Martin Beck is being revisited in the 21st Century. Last year BBC Radio 4 ran a series of 5 of the Beck stories in the Saturday Drama strand and will complete the dramatization in the Spring of 2013. Books, hardback, paperback, kindle etc are available from Amazon – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roseanna-Martin-Beck-Maj-Sjowall/dp/0007439113


Next up is Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø  -  http://jonesbo.com/ - where 9 titles (to date) are listed, together with a history of his protagonist Harry Hole. As the Literary Supplement (UK) said; ‘“Hole is all a fictional detective should be”.  Jo Nesbø’s ‘Phantom’ is the UK’s best- selling paperback this week, fighting off stiff competition from the film tie-in editions of ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Life of Pi’. The novel is also No. 1 on the official Swedish paperback list this month. Books available from Amazon here; http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jo-Nesbo/e/B001JOJT6C

Kate Atkinson � Euan Myles
Kate Atkinson is another prolific writer who comes highly recommended. A good current read is ‘Human Croquet’ – described on Amazon - where it is available for download and other formats – as ‘Part fairy tale, part mystery, part coming-of-age novel’ the book is ‘A stunning feat of imagination and storytelling, Human Croquet is rich with the disappointments and possibilities every family shares’.  




Noah Gordon’s first book came out in 1976 and was on The New York Times bestseller list for 26 weeks. ‘The Rabbi’ is the story of Michael Kind, a young rabbi who falls in love with the daughter of a Protestant minister. Since that early success, Gordon has written eight best sellers, including the Cole Trilogy, the first book of which follows Robert Jeremy Cole from his 11th century boyhood in England, through Europe to an Arab medical school in Persia, where he studies under the immortal physician Avicenna.  In 1999, the Spanish booksellers who attended the Madrid Book Fair voted ‘The Physician’ one of the ten most beloved books of all time. ‘The Physician’ is now in development for a film. Gordon’s website http://www.noahgordonbooks.com/novels.ht is a mine of information about him and his novels, including the most recent, the Spanish-set ‘The Winemaker’ described by Gordon as his ‘love letter to Spain’. 



All great reads – and if anyone has a copy of any of the above that they would be happy to lend to the group – ‘twould be much appreciated I am sure. See you on Wednesday.  Lisa. 


Saturday 12 January 2013

Competition Information updated list


Group/Organisation
Cost
Prize
Closing Date
Thynks Publications (short stories and poems)  QUARTERLY
WEB
PAGE
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr 2013
Pighog press
Pamphlet printed + 100 copies
10 poems of max 30 lines
Cost £15 entry fee
31st Jan 2013
Kent and Sussex open poetry Competition
£5 for 1
£4 if 3 or more
 
£1000
£300
£100
£50 x 4
31st Jan 2013
Slipstream Poets
£3 per poem
£10 for 4
£12 for 6
£250
£100
£75
£10 x2
 
31st Jan 2013
Open Poetry Competition
£5 per poem or over 4poems £4 each
£1,000 = 1
£300    = 2
£100    = 3
4 x £50
31st Jan 2013
NAWG Open Poetry Competition
£5
£250
£100
£50
31st Jan 2013
Prole Laureate Poetry
£3 1st poem
£2.50 for 2nd
£130. + pblctn
£30= 2runner ups
14th Feb 2013
Luman Camden Poetry Comp
£2.50 or 10 for £6
10 Bound copies of small poetry collection
14th Feb 2013
Grace Dieu Writers' Circle
 
£4 one poem or £12 for 4 poems, £3 for additional entry over four
1st prize £500; 2nd Prize: £200; 3rd Prize: £100; 4th Prize: £75; 5th Prize: £50
28th Feb 2013
Grace Dieu writers circle comp
£4
£12 for 4
£500
£200
£100
£75
£50
29th Feb 2013
Lightship First Poetry Book Competition
£20 for first 20 pages of a 50 poem collection
£1,000 and publication of 50 poems
31st March 2013
Fish Poetry Competition
£14 for 1
£8 subsequent
300 words
£1,000
31st March 2013
Words with Jam
Humour poetry competition
£3 for 1
£2.50 subsequent poems
£150
£100
£50
 
Quarterly 31st Mar 2013
Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY)
£5 for 3 poems
£1,000
£700
£300
30th Apr 2013
Ware Poets Competition
Special prize for the best sonnet
£4
£12 for 4
£600
£100
£250
30th Apr 2013
Templar Poetry
www.templarpoetry.co.uk
£20 for 18 – 24 pages
£250 advance + launch of short collection
7th May 2013
Poetry Space – FULL PUBLISHING SCHEDULE
THAT
NO
SUBMISSION
2014
 

 

 

Group/Organisation
Cost
Prize
Closing Date
Grace Dieu Writers' Circle
2,000 word story.
£5 one story
£3 for additional entries
1st prize £500; 2nd Prize: £200; 3rd Prize: £100; 4th Prize: £75; 5th Prize: £50
28th Feb 2013
Flash 500
£5 for 1
£8 for 2
1st prize £300
2nd prize  £100
3rd prize £50
31st March 2013
QUARTERLY
Lightship short memoir Competition
£12
5,000 words
£1,000
1st May 2013
Lightship One Page Story Competition
£8
300 words
£250
31st March 2013
Lightship First Act Competition
£18
6,000 words
Play  performed in London
31st May 2013
Lightship Short Story competition
 
£12
5,000 words
£1,000
30th June 2013
Fish Publishing  Memoir
£16
4,000 words
£1,000
31st Jan 2013
 
Fish Publishing Flash Fiction
£14 for 1
£8 other
300 words
£1,000
28th Feb 2013
Bath Short Story Award
£5 or 2,200 words
£500
£100
£50
30th March 2013
Blue Thumbnail Short Story Competition
£6  for 3,000 words
Retreat to Greece!
30th March 2013
Bristol Short Story Competition
£8 for 4,000 words
£1,000
£700
£400
17 x£100
30th April 2013
Look on Website
LOTS OF
COMPS
INFO
Dark Tales
£3 up to 5000 words
£100
£50
£25
Last day of every month
Exeters Short Story competition
£5 for 3,000 words
£500
£250
£100
31st March 2013
Five Stop Stories – Monthly Competition
1 entry: £4
2 entries: £7
3 entries: £8
for 1,000 -3,000 words
£50
Last day of each month.
Flash 500
£5 for 1 story
£8 for two
For 500 words
£300
Quarterly 1st Mar 2013.
Home-Start Bridgwater Short Story Prize 2013 all proceeds go to charity.
 
£7for 2,200 words
£500
£200
£100
21st Jan 2013
Leaf Books tiny weeny story competitions
£2 for 1
£10 for 6
Max 200 words
£100
28th Feb 2013
*Little House Short Story Competition
£5 for 2,000 words
£100
31st Dec 2012
Moth Short Story Prize
€8
€1,000
31st March 2013
Multi-Story
 
 
 
Playing Bingo Short Story Competition Theme “Bingo”
 
Free
1,500 - 3000 words
£300
£100
£50 x2
28th Feb 2013
Writer's Worldwide Prize
Theme “Travel”
£5 for 5,000 words
£1000
1st May 2013
Lots of
competition
info
I.B.P. Scribble competitions
Lots of competitions.  Ongoing.  Look at the details on the web page under competitions
 
 
ongoing