More poetry, please!

One of the highlights of my week is listening to Poetry Please on Radio 4 (Sundays at 4.30pm) with Roger McRough. I love reading and listening to poetry and occasionally pen the odd poem myself (some are very odd...).  An excellent opportunity to air your poetry tendencies is to enter a competition.  So why not have a go and check out this tasty trio of poetry comps:

In order of submission deadlines...

Kent & Sussex Poetry Society:
2012 competition closes for postal entries on 31 Jan so you'll need to get this your entry in the post straight away!  But could be worth it for the prize pot is particularly generous.

• Deadline 31 January
• 1st - £800, 2nd - £300 and 3rd - £150 with 4 runner-up prizes of £75.
• 40 lines maximum of original and unpublished poems (any form or style).  
• Entry fee is £5 per poem (make cheque payable to Kent & Sussex Poetry Society)
• Typed on single side of A4 - no identifying details on poem
• Include separate sheet with your name and contact details (& list of poems submitted)

2012 Lumen / Camden Poetry Competition:
Run by Ward Wood Publishing and Lumen, Camden Poetry this competition is in aid of the homeless and will be judged by Carol Ann Duffy (current Poet Laureate).  Nice to see that all proceeds, including those from the publishing sales of anthology, will go to the London Homeless Cold Weather Shelters.

• Deadline for entries 14 February
• 40 lines maximum of unpublished poems
• Winner will see their work published in a 20-page collection by Ward Wood (and will receive 50 copies too) & get to read their work at a Lumen, Camden Poetry evening
• Entry fee is £2.50 for single poem or £10 for six
• For postal entries cheques should be made to Cold Weather Shelter 
• Online entries via the website and entry fee payable through Paypal

The 2011 competition raised £2,000 for this charity.

Cardiff International Poetry Competition 2012:
Worth a go as the top prize is £5,000 (think how many chocolates cakes that could buy).  However because of the tempting prize fund this is likely to receive many entries... but if you don't submit then you can't win it.

• Closing date is 2 March
• 1st - £5,000, 2nd - £500, 3rd - £250 and 5 runners-up get £50.
• 50 lines max for original, unpublished poems on any style and subject (single sides of white A4 & send 2 copies of each poem entered)
• Need an entry form which can be downloaded from website
• Entry fee is £6 per poem

Do check out website for FULL entry rules etc as £6 is a lot to throw away for an incorrect submission!

Let me know if you enter any poems and how you get on...

What do you call a writer of short stories?

2012 is going to be a good year for short stories as several publishing houses launch anthologies or ranges of short story collections....Bloomsbury are publishing 5 short story collections READ HERE for more details over the first five months of the year – hence they’ve dubbed 2012: Year of the Short Story. [Perhaps it would be more fitting if they published twelve anthologies...]

January 19 saw the publication of the first anthology from Lucy Wood – her collection of Cornish folktales 'Diving Belles'.  You can also listen to these on Radio4Extra, starting today at 11am (Monday 23 January) and continuing each weekday at 11am until Friday.  Listen in or download for later.  I've heard extracts and the stories sound intriguing and quirky.  Her writing has been likened to that of the great adult fairy-story teller, Angela Carter.  This is one to go on my reading list...

In January the Daily Telegraph launched its contribution with the Short Story Club, which incorporates a monthly competition (FREE entry) for short story writers... Helen Yendall writes here on her blog in more detail.

So if a novelist writes novels then what do you call someone who writes short stories (shorts)?  A shortie, perhaps?  Hmm... the indoor writer is already vertically challenged (and a bit sensitive about it) so I don't think she'll go for that label.
Which leads onto the question of: what do you call someone who writes Flash Fiction?  No comment from me...

Read, read, read

When I'm reading I'm as happy as these piggies wallowing in fondant mud.  Looking back at 2011 and my literary notebook I counted up 64 books happily digested.  So to uphold my prestigious role as Literary Pig my mission statement for 2012 is: READ, READ, READ...

Right now I'm reading 3 novels for the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance 2012, but here are the top truffles from my reading list of 2011:

Most memorable reads 
- all compelling tales that left a lingering impression long after reading:
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Vanishing of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

Funny reads
 - made me laugh out loud in parts and all children's books! (hoping to search out some humour for adults this year):
Frozen in Time by Ali Sparkes
Henry's Tumour by Anthony McGowan

Page-turning reads 
- gripping addictive stories
Any Roy Grace novel by Peter James
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collier
Room by Emma Donaghue

Tearjerkers
- either made me weep buckets or simply resonated with their power to stir deep emotions
War Horse by Michael Murpogo (I'm taking several boxes of tissues when I see this at the cinema)
Shadow by Michael Murpogo (yes this man truly is a god amongst children's writers)
The knife of never letting go by Patrick Ness

Short story anthologies
- these made me sit up in astonishment, demonstrating the incredible range of themes and emotions that can be explored through shorts
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (adult fairytales composed with the most exquisite prose)
Burning Elvis by John Burnside
Mortality by Nicholas Royle (Warning: some of these stories are so original and creative they read like a slap in the face, at times very sexually explicit but never, ever dull)

These are just a few of the best reads of 2011.  Now I'm looking forward to rooting out some new authors and genres for 2012.

Do share what you like to read and any great books you've enjoyed...

Barbara Large at West Sussex Writers' Club

Those who braved a chilly January evening last week to attend the monthly meeting of the West Sussex Writers' Club were treated to a motivating talk given by Barbara Large entitled 'Giving and receiving criticism'.  Barbara is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Winchester.  She lectures in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of Winchester and is also the Director of the very successful annual Winchesters Writers' Conference.  Barbara spoke with energy on the importance of criticism to a writer.  We may all dread receiving feedback but she convinced us how our work can be improved and achieve publication through the acceptance and incorporation of criticism.  Her talk was dotted with positive examples and stories of writers who reached their goals, with some warning tales of those who didn't listen to feedback and suffered as a consequence.

Barbara also shared many top tips on preparing your work for submission and getting a manuscript into the best possible shape.  One new tip I took away was reading aloud and recording a story, then listening to the reading.  I often read out my work but hadn't thought of recording the story.  Listening to a spoken story really will highlight the clunky or overlong sentences, problems with dialogue and show up any lumps and bumps in the narrative rhythm.  I'm going to try this out - if I can just sneak back the dictaphone from handsome hubby.

Can you write a chocolate, Sci-Fi Winter story?

If you like the challenge of writing short stories to a set theme then these 3 competitions could be for you.

Who could resist penning a story on the theme of 'CHOCOLATE'?  Just think of the research opportunities.
Choc Lit (click here for more details) are looking for short stories up to 1,500 words on the central theme of chocolate - eating it, drinking it, cooking with it, or anything else.

• Closes on 31 JANUARY
• Prizes are 1st - £200 + publication on website and box of chocs,  Runner-up - £50 +  box of chocs
• Stories must be unpublished
• Entry fee £3 (cheque or paypal), postal or email entries accepted

Or if Sci-Fi is your obsession then what about the James White Short Story Competition (click here for more details).  This is for Sci-Fi short stories up to 6,000 words.

• Closes midnight 31 JANUARY
• Winner receives £200 and story will be published in Interzone magazine
• Stories must be original and unpublished
• This is for non-professional writers only (qualifying criteria are defined on the website)
• FREE ENTRY, entry online via website

And if you're struggling through the blustery British winter then how about Author Essentials' (click here for more details) Winter Short Story Competition - where stories must be under 2,500 words and on the theme of ‘Winter’. This can include anything from a wintery setting, a festive character or even a frosty reception!

• Closes 31 JANUARY
• Prizes are 1st - £100, 2nd - £50, 3rd - £25 and top 25 stories will be published in Winter Anthology
• Stories must be previously unpublished
• Entry is £3.50 per story, enter by post or email

Go on start the New Year by writing a themed story ... and let me know how you get on

Keep writing ...

12 Days of a LitPig Christmas: 12

On the 12th day of Christmas my LitPig brought to me ...

TWELVE TERRY PRATCHETS

ELEVEN PENGUIN CLASSICS

TEN FALCO MYSTERIES

NINE BILL BRYSONS

EIGHT PENELOPE LIVELYS

SEVEN KATE ATKINSONS

SIX UNSUED COOKBOOKS

FIVE CRIME FESTS

FOUR DAVID MITCHELLS

THREE MARGARET ATWOODS

TWO HOMER SAGAS

and

A BOX SET OF ROALD DAHL BOOKS

Each day I want to share the writing of an author that I read for the first time in 2011.   These are my personal choices - you may know many of them, but perhaps one or two will be new to you ... So why not try a new author in 2012.  

December 2011:

ANNE TYLER - Digging to America

Anne's beautifully constructed prose simply flows off the page.  This is a subtle novel, without any major set pieces but populated with believable characters who do real and sometimes unlikeable things.  Two quite different American families adopt Korean baby girls on the same day and this tells the story of both families from that first day.  One family is a typical 'all American' clan complete with pushy mom and drift-along dad.  The other are of Iranian descent, but born in the US.  The challenges of adopting a new nationality while still trying to cling onto the disappearing traditions of a left-behind culture are portrayed sympathetically and with surprising good humour.  My favourite character was the Iranian grandmother, a complex woman living in a brash uncomplicated world.  The ending leaves you wanting more of both families.  It ends on an upbeat note and trumpets the importance of having friends in your life, perhaps even more so than family.


Incredibly Tyler published her first novel in 1964 when she was 22 years old.

Other novels by Anne Tyler:

If morning every comes (1964)

The tin can tree (1965)

A slipping-down life (1970)

The clock winder (1972)

Celestial navigation (1974)

Searching for Caleb (1975)

Earthly possessions (1977)

Morgan’s passing (1980)

Dinner at the homesick restaurant (1982)

The accidental tourist (1985)

Breathing lessons (1988)

Saint Maybe(1991)

Ladder of years (1995)

A patchwork planet (1998)

Back when we were grownups (2001)

Digging to America (2006)

Noah’s compass (2010)

12 Days of a LitPig Christmas: 11

On the 11th day of Christmas my LitPig brought to me ...

ELEVEN PENGUIN CLASSICS

TEN FALCO MYSTERIES

NINE BILL BRYSONS

EIGHT PENELOPE LIVELYS

SEVEN KATE ATKINSONS

SIX UNSUED COOKBOOKS

FIVE CRIME FESTS

FOUR DAVID MITCHELLS

THREE MARGARET ATWOODS

TWO HOMER SAGAS

and

A BOX SET OF ROALD DAHL BOOKS

Each day I want to share the writing of an author that I read for the first time in 2011.   These are my personal choices - you may know many of them, but perhaps one or two will be new to you ... So why not try a new author in 2012.  

November 2011:

STEPHENIE MEYER - Twilight

I planned to read this as a research project to understand what made this book and the Twilight series so successful in the YA market.  I didn't expect to enjoy the experience, but grew quite fond of Bella and her odd choice of boyfriend, which shows you should never pre-judge any book before reading.  What did surprise was how well this has sold - over 100 million copies worldwide for the whole Twilight series - considering the slow pacing of book 1.  Twilight is not a fast read and for large chunks of the book not a lot actually happens, but it builds in atmosphere and you just have to read on to find if Bella does get her vampire.  In fact everything about this book seemed to go against all advice for writing for the YA/teen market, as it didn't have: short chapters, fast paced plot, lots of dialogue.  Allegedly 'Pride and Prejudice' was the inspiration behind Twilight and yes that can be seen in the initial stages of Bella and Edward's simmering relationship, but I think Jane Austen got to the point far quicker ... 

Twilight series:

Twilight (2005), New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), Breaking dawn (2008)

Other novels:

The short second life of Bree Tanner (2010)

The host (2008)

12 Days of a LitPig Christmas: 10

On the 10th day of Christmas my LitPig brought to me ...

TEN FALCO MYSTERIES

NINE BILL BRYSONS

EIGHT PENELOPE LIVELYS

SEVEN KATE ATKINSONS

SIX UNSUED COOKBOOKS

FIVE CRIME FESTS

FOUR DAVID MITCHELLS

THREE MARGARET ATWOODS

TWO HOMER SAGAS

and

A BOX SET OF ROALD DAHL BOOKS

Each day I want to share the writing of an author that I read for the first time in 2011.   These are my personal choices - you may know many of them, but perhaps one or two will be new to you ... So why not try a new author in 2012.  

October 2011:
PATRICK NESS: The knife of never letting go

This is the first book in the Chaos Walking trilogy and was Patrick's first book for children, or Young adults as this written for 12+, and won the Guardian Children's Fiction prize.  It is set in the future, where people can read each other's thoughts (and animals too! The squirrels are hilarious).  Just think what sort of hell this would be.  The story is told by Todd as he reaches the age of thirteen - to become a man in the eyes of his community.  But his reality is truly a man's world as all the women and girls have died.  At first I struggled with the very masculine voice of Todd and the tone of the writing, but then quickly became absorbed and gripped by his story.  The writing is at times blunt and simple, but that's exactly what a thirteen year old boy talks like.  By the end of volume one I was rooting for Todd and his companion, galloping to find out what happens to them.  But there is a tragic finale to this book, one that really shook me - I read the last pages through tears.  Masterfully this left me wanting to read on - now I have book two 'The ask and the answer' and can't wait to start reading...

Other novels by Patrick Ness:

The Chaos Walking trilogy:

The knife of never letting go (Walker Books, 2008), The ask and the answer (Walker Books, 2009), Monsters of men (Walker Books, 2010)

A monster calls (Walker Books, 2011)

For adults:

The Crash of Hennington (Flamingo, 2003)

Topics About Which I Know Nothing (HarperPerennial, 2005)

12 Days of a LitPig Christmas: 9

On the 9th day of Christmas my LitPig brought to me ...

NINE BILL BRYSONS

EIGHT PENELOPE LIVELYS

SEVEN KATE ATKINSONS

SIX UNSUED COOKBOOKS

FIVE CRIME FESTS

FOUR DAVID MITCHELLS

THREE MARGARET ATWOODS

TWO HOMER SAGAS

and

A BOX SET OF ROALD DAHL BOOKS

Each day I want to share the writing of an author that I read for the first time in 2011.   These are my personal choices - you may know many of them, but perhaps one or two will be new to you ... So why not try a new author in 2012.  

September 2011:

MAGGIE O'FARRELL - The Vanishing of Esme Lennox

I read this very quickly as the story grabs you and the prose keeps you hooked to the very end.  Esme Lennox is an elderly woman who is released from an institution, where she has spent all of her adult life, into the care of a younger relative.  The point of view changes across several characters and flashbacks to Esme's youth in Indian and then Scotland.  We learn how and why Esme came to be taken from her family and put into a mental institution and the conclusion is tragic.  This was an intense, but totally absorbing novel with a sudden and dramatic ending.  I am definitely seeking more of Maggie's novels to read in 2012.

Other novels by Maggie O'Farrell

• After You'd Gone (2000)
• My Lover's Lover (2002)
• The Distance Between Us (2004)
• The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (2006)
• The Hand That First Held Mine (2010)

12 Days of a LitPig Christmas: 8

On the 8th day of Christmas my LitPig brought to me ...

EIGHT PENELOPE LIVELYS

SEVEN KATE ATKINSONS

SIX UNSUED COOKBOOKS

FIVE CRIME FESTS

FOUR DAVID MITCHELLS

THREE MARGARET ATWOODS

TWO HOMER SAGAS

and

A BOX SET OF ROALD DAHL BOOKS

Each day I want to share the writing of an author that I read for the first time in 2011.   These are my personal choices - you may know many of them, but perhaps one or two will be new to you ... So why not try a new author in 2012.  

August 2011:

MICHAEL MURPOGO - War Horse

If you haven't yet heard of War Horse by Michael Murpogo then trust me you will know all about it by the end of January 2012, following the release of Steven Spielberg's blockbuster movie.  The book was actually written in 1982 but has been reprinted numerous times and now is probably Michael's best known novel (since the opening of the successful West End play - a surperb experience).  Yes this is a book for 8+ children, but its a cracking read.  You immediately know that you are in the capable hands of an expert storyteller and soon become immersed in Joey's world.  Like its famous equivalent 'Black Beauty' the story is told from the horse's viewpoint (Joey).  As with Anna Sewell's equine classic you will need to read this with a large box of tissues readily to hand.  I blubbed at the end, of course, but also cried about four other times throughout the novel ... and it's a very short book!  The most memorable aspect is the balanced portrayal of the military characters.  Their nationalities become irrelevant as they are all written with humanity and sympathy.  

Wryly Michael Murpogo is reputed to have said he will be remembered as the writer of Steven Spielberg's War Horse.  Thankfully many of us know him to be a master storyteller of many, many tales.

To say Michael Murpogo is a prolific writer is an understatement - here are his other novels:

It Never Rained: Five Stories (1974)

Living Poets (compiler with Clifford Simmons) (1974)

Long Way Home (1975)

Thatcher Jones (1975)

The Story-Teller (compiler with Graham Barrett) (1976)

Friend or Foe (1977)

Do All You Dare (1978)

What Shall We Do with It? (1978)

All Around the Year (with Ted Hughes) (1979)

Love at First Sight (1979)

That's How (1979)

The Day I Took the Bull By the Horn (1979)

The Ghost-Fish (1979)

The Marble Crusher and Other Stories (1980)

The Nine Lives of Montezuma (1980)

Miss Wirtle's Revenge (1981)

The White Horse of Zennor: And Other Stories from below the Eagle's

Nest (1982)

War Horse (1982)

Twist of Gold (1983)

Little foxes (1984)

Why the whales came (1985)

Words of Songs (libretto, music by Phyllis Tate) (1985)

Tom's Sausage Lion (1986)

Conker (1987)

Jo-Jo, the Melon Monkey (1987)

King of the Cloud Forests (1988)

Mossop's Last Chance (with Shoo Rayner) (1988)

My Friend Walter (1988)

Albertine, Goose Queen (with Shoo Rayner) (1989)

Mr. Nobody's Eyes (1989)

Jigger's Day Off (with Shoo Rayner) (1990)

Waiting for Anya (1990)

And Pigs Might Fly! (with Shoo Rayner) (1991)

Colly’s barn (1991)

The sandman and the turtles (1991)

Martians at mudpuddle farm(with Shoo Rayner) (1992)

The King in the Forest (1993)

The war of Jenkins’ ear (1993)

Arthur, High King of Britain (1994)

Snakes and Ladders (1994)

The Dancing Bear (1994)

Blodin the Beast (1995)

Mum's the Word (with Shoo Rayner) (1995)

Stories from Mudpuddle Farm (with Shoo Rayner) (1995)

The wreck of the Zanzibar(1995)

Robin of Sherwood (1996)

Sam's Duck (1996)

The butterfly lion (1996)

The Ghost of Grania O'Malley (1996)

Farm Boy (1997)

Cockadoodle-doo, Mr Sultana! (1998)

Escape from Shangri-La (1998)

Joan of Arc (1998)

Red Eyes at Night (1998)

Wartman (1998)

Kensuke’s Kingdom(1999)

The Rainbow Bear (1999)

Wombat Goes Walkabout (1999)

Billy the kid (2000)

Black Queen (2000)

Dear Olly (2000)

From Hereabout Hill (2000)

The Silver Swan (2000)

Who's a Big Bully Then? (2000)

More Muck and Magic (2001)

Out of the Ashes (2001)

Toro! Toro! (2001)

Cool!(2002)

Mr. Skip (2002)

The Last Wolf (2002)

The Sleeping Sword (2002)

Gentle Giant (2003)

Private Peaceful(2003)

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (2004)

I Believe in Unicorns (2005)

The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips (2005)

War: Stories of Conflict (compiler) (2005)

Albatross (2006)

It's a Dog's Life (2006)

Alone on a wide, wide sea(2006)

Beowulf (2006), illustrated by Michael Foreman

Born to Run (2007)

The Mozart Question (2007)

Hansel and Gretel (2008)

This Morning I Met a Whale (2008)

Kaspar: Prince of Cats (2008)

The Birthday Book (editor, with Quentin Blake) (2008)

Running Wild (2009)

The Kites Are Flying! (2009)

An Elephant in the Garden (2010)

Not Bad for a Bad Lad (2010)

Shadow (2010)

Little Manfred (2011)