Edwin Morgan Poetry Competition 2011

There's still time to enter the Edwin Morgan Poetry Competition.  Poems of up to 60 lines are welcomed. With a first prize of £5000 and lesser prizes of £1000, £500 and £50 (x 2), this is one of the richest poetry prizes in Britain and last year attracted over 1000 entries. This year's judges are the poets Vicki Feaver and Kona MacPhee. 
Full details: http://edwinmorganpoetrycompetition.co.uk/index.php/poetry-competition-2011 - the closing date is Friday 10th June 2011.

Harry Bingham: Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook Guide To Getting Published

Bingham, Harry, Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook Guide To Getting Published (London: A & C Black, 2010), 361 pages, 978-1408128954

A “what happens after you think you’ve finished your book” book, giving a chronological guide to the road to publication and beyond.  Focused on the realities of publishing in the present day, and biased somewhat towards mainstream UK mass-market fiction (though with relevant asides to literary fiction and non-fiction publishing practices) this is an informal, though informed, writer’s-eye perspective on contemporary publishing.  The message is consistent throughout: you’re publishing in commercial contexts, so be realistic and professional at all times, and modulate your expectations accordingly.  Bingham (a successful writer who also runs a publishing consultancy) provides a clear overview which makes a fascinating counterpoint to the rather more academic, top-down view of the industry given in John B Thompson’s Merchants of Culture.  

Creative writing competitions update

Wasafiri New Writing Prize 2011

Now in its third year, the competition is open to anyone worldwide who has not published a complete book.  They are looking for creative submissions in one of three categories: Poetry, Fiction or Life Writing.

To enter, simply fill in the application form (via the link below) and send it with your entry and fee of UK Sterling £6.00 if entering one category, £10.00 for two and £15.00 for three categories (see terms and conditions via the link). Payment can be made by Paypal.  Details:  http://www.wasafiri.org/prizes.asp

Flash 500 short fiction competition

Now in its second year, this quarterly open-themed competition has closing dates of 31st March, 30th June, 30th September and 31st December. The results will be announced within six weeks of each closing date and the three winning entries each quarter will be published on this website.  Entry fee: £5 for one story, £8 for two stories.  Optional critiques: £10 per story.  Details:  http://www.flash500.com/

Laurel House short story competition

Each story entered will receive a 400 word critique.

The winner will receive £100, a full and comprehensive LHCW critique with suggested markets, an online tutorial and publication on our website.
First runner up will receive a full LHCW critique and publication on our website. Stories should be up to 4,000 words – double spaced, in a word document. Entries are judged anonymously so please include a cover sheet 
with your name, email address, home address and title of story.  Details: http://laurelhousecreativeworkshops.webs.com/index.htm

 

Red Telephone 2011 Young Adult Novel Competition

Red Telephone Books offer you the chance to get published! Manchester’s Red Telephone Books want a talented author of young adult fiction to join them in 2011. First prize in their novel competition is publication... Guidance for entrants and more information about Red Telephone Books is at: http://theredtelephone.co.uk/2011YANovelCompetition.aspx

Diana M Raab (ed): Writers and Their Notebooks

Raab, Diana M. (ed), Writers and Their Notebooks (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2010), 203 pages, 978-1570038662

A collection of essays from a range of (mostly American) writers on journalling. The best piece is perhaps the first appendix, which summarises the set of essays here, but if nothing else the book gives an impression of the usefulness/necessity of keeping some form of writing journal (uses here include alternative diary, plotting tool, confidant, aide memoir, confessor, playpen/sandbox). There’s plenty of writing discussed, verging from the confessional to the therapeutic, and some enjoyable material on the performative aspects of writing, the practice of pen/paper interfaces. Some of this will appeal to stationery obsessives too (black moleskine notebooks and black Schneider .6 Xtra Document Rollerball pens for me, please) as well as to those who keep diaries, use jotters, and just plain like the physical and emotional aspects of that act of writing.

Writing competitions, events and opportunities - further 2011 update

Rubery Short Story Competition 
Competiton closes 30th September 2011
http://www.ruberybookaward.com/enter-the-short-story-competition.html


WordAid Poetry Anthology call for submissions
After the success of last year's Did I Tell You? in aid of Children in Need, WordAid are producing an anthology in aid of Shelterbox who provide 'emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for families around the world who are affected by disasters at the time when they need it the most.'WordAid is calling for poems for the anthology on the theme of 'Survival' - emotional, physical, environmental, or any other kind of survival you can think of.  Details here: http://wordaid.blogspot.com/p/calls-for-submissions.html


Lincoln Hay Day
A one day (28th May 2011) collaboration with the Hay Festival.  Events listings here:  http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/EventsDetails.aspx?eventcode=58957


Giggle Magazine
1,000 word short story competition.  Deadline 20th June 2011.  Entries must be funny!
http://bit.ly/mcALFO 


A Very Short Story competition
1,000 words.  Deadline 31st May 2011.  Details: http://averyshortstory.co.uk/default.aspx


Creative Print "10 Best Short Stories" competition
3,000 words.  Deadline 30th June 2011.  Details: http://bit.ly/lTBk8i

Hawksmoor, by Peter Ackroyd

Ackroyd, Peter, Hawksmoor (London: Penguin, 1993), 217 pages, 978-0141042015

London, 1711.  Nicholas Dyer, architect and junior colleague to Sir Christopher Wren, is engaged on a commission to rebuild seven London churches destroyed in the 1666 fire.  Dyer, a diabolist, intends to consecrate each church by committing a murder in the grounds of each one in turn.  London, present day.  Hawksmoor, a murder squad detective, begins to investigate a series of murders, perhaps committed by a vagrant; the bodies are each found by London churches.   Both men are troubled by signs and portents, by loneliness and by the corruption they experience around them.  Dyer is contemptuous of his colleagues and his master, but slowly the weight of the killings takes him over.  Hawksmoor also is troubled, by his separation from the world, by his lack of progress in the case, by the perception that he’s burning out. 

Taking Iain Sinclair’s Lud Heat as his jumping-off point (which also uses the idea that certain London churches – in reality those designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor – can be psychogeographically linked to inscribe an Eye of Horus across London), the present and the past begin to align, with Dyer’s and Hawksmoor’s activities and investigations being linked through time; by the novel’s end, they are all but merged.   The 18^th century scenes are written in facsimile of contemporary writing; this is thick and redolent stuff, joyful at the possibilities of language and sinister as Dyer’s intentions and his misanthropy becomes the more evident, turning to psychopathy.  These first person sequences effectively remove the reader from the present into Dyer’s time; we’re in his world and invited to collaborate with him.  One sequence is performed as though a Restoration comedy, with stage directions and asides to the audience/readership.  Part of this is Ackroyd showboating; you have to elect to go with him, but it can be exhilarating and awesome to read.  Hawksmoor is not an easy read; it’s thick with imagery and ideas, and risks falling apart with the B-movie conceit at its centre.  As a lesson in writing, though, it’s well worth reading/re-reading.  As an exemplification of some of the possibilities of applying certain psychogeographical ideas into fiction, it works too.  Plus it goes into dark, bleak places that most novels don’t.       

BBC Writers' Room / CBeebies writing opportunity

As CBeebies enters an exciting new chapter with the move to Salford, BBC writersroom has teamed up with the BAFTA winning channel to launch a brand new competition, Get a Squiggle On! This exciting opportunity gives new talented writers from different backgrounds and experiences an opportunity to develop their professional skills working with the CBeebies team.  


Whether you have written for a pre-school audience or are new to writing completely, this opportunity is open to anyone who can connect with a young audience through original stories and compelling characters. The competition aims to inspire writers to be as creative and imaginative as they like in order to write a 20-minute live action script that will captivate young minds. It can be in any contemporary genre, including Drama, Comedy, Music, Dance, Puppets, Educational (with a light touch) or a combination of more than one - this is a unique chance to let imaginations run wild and write for the most excitable and receptive TV audience.


A shortlist of 20-25 writers will be invited to a masterclass, where they will hear from experienced writers and CBeebies experts, and get an invaluable opportunity to hone their writing skills. The lucky final 8-10 shortlisted writers will spend an intensive residential week developing their work, bolstering their writer’s ‘toolbox’ and craft, and working with the CBeebies team.  


Kate Rowland, BBC Creative Director of New Writing and Head of BBC Writersroom, said: “It’s a pleasure to be working with CBeebies as it plays such an important role in offering original programming for the under-six audience. It’s at this age when our emotional engagement with characters and stories truly starts”. 


A selection of tailored learning resources are available on the BBC writersroom website to help get people inspired and guide them through the competition process.


Details of how to enter and full terms and conditions of the competition are available here.


The closing date for entries is Thursday 14th July so Get a Squiggle On!

Derby Alt Fiction 2011 Festival Volunteer Opportunity

There's a great opportunity for someone with a love for SF, horror and fantasy and who is either in travelling distance of Derby or who doesn't mind staying there for a few days!  Derby's Alt.Fiction festival is looking for volunteers to help run festival events.  


There's a great chance here for you to beef up (or Quorn up, if you're a veggie) your CV and meet some fine people too.  Full details here: http://www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk/services/opportunities/495/

John B Thompson: Merchants of Culture

Thompson, John B, Merchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (Cambridge, Polity Press, 2010), 432 pages, 978-0745647869

An in-depth examination of the state of current publishing.  Thompson limits his study early on: to mainstream prose fiction in the UK and the US and is careful about the claims he makes.  Based on hundreds of interviews across the industry over the last five years with a range of industry figures, the book documents how the mainstream publishing landscape has changed/is changing over the last two decades.  Chapters examine (among others) the rise/fall of the big chains, supermarket incursion into book retail, the growth in importance of literary agents, the effect of online sales and distribution, ebooks/ereaders, changes in publishing corporations. 

It’s fascinating and it feels persuasive throughout, and goes to some pains to understand the stresses within the publishing industry which to some extent mimic those in related entertainment/media industries (online threat, shrinking windows of opportunity, uncertainty, the need to push bulk sales of some product to keep money flowing, the squeeze on less obviously commercial material).   There’s a danger that the book will become obsolete quickly without updates (hopefully the paperback edition will address what’s shifted since last summer), as there’s an underplaying of the importance/impact of ebook and ereader sales, but this is a tremendous primer into the political economy of the publishing industry.  Highly recommended.

China Mieville: Kraken

Mieville, China, Kraken (London: Pan, 2010), 400 pages, 978-0330492324

London, 2007.  And a natural historian takes pride in caring for the museum’s prize exhibit, a preserved intact giant squid.  Except some people are starting to pay more than the usual curious attention to the beast…

Though the novel begins by taking itself impressively seriously, there’s a descent after the first fifty pages into knockabout but inconsequential magical fun.  An engagingly cthuloid premise is somewhat squandered as the narrative falls apart into a series of loosely-connected chases, random magical rules and an easily-guessable ultimate villain.  There are ideas by the truckload and some great gags along the way but the whole thing is way too freewheeling – a dark fantasy Family Guy episode, where narrative plausibility is chucked away in the chase for the next cool notion and jokey reference.   Maybe I came at the book with the wrong expectations, having been impressed by Mieville’s bleak, rigorous and persuasive The City & The City.  To me this felt like an indulgence; hopefully Mieville’s got it out of his system for a while and can get back to the good stuff.

China Mieville: The City And The City

Mieville, China, The City & The City (London: Pan, 2010), 373 pages, 978-0330493109

A body in an alley.  Maybe an ordinary enough crime to investigate at the beginning of a mystery, but not here.  Not in the twin cities of Beszel and Ul Qoma.   We’re in an Eastern European somewhere, and there are whiffs of partioned / divided urban spaces across time and space: Belfast, Berlin, Budapest, the West Bank – take your pick.   Except this is different: the two cities occupy the same physical territory but different conceptual spaces.   Yes it’s an SF novel.  Yes it’s a noir thriller with a downbeat cynical protagonist.   Yes it’s a murder-mystery with a larger conspiracy behind the initial crime.  But it’s more than that.  This is a book which will speak to anyone who’s walked through a city and seen some things, then made the same journey on a different day and seen something else.  If you’re interested in interstices, liminal spaces, or in human geography, in urban politics and/or in balls-to-the-wall shootouts (there’s a truly mind-bending assassination), then this may be the book for you.  It’s really that good, and an object lesson in the usefulness of genre (in the hands of someone who knows what they’re doing) to get across complex and resonant observations on the way people live their lives in diverse societies.   

In The Blink Of An Eye, by Walter Murch

Murch, Walter, In The Blink Of An Eye (Los Angeles: Silman-James Press, 2001), 146 pages, 978-1879505622 

Drawn from lectures given by celebrated editor / director / sound designer and frequent Francis Coppola collaborator Walter Murch (they worked together on the three Godfather films, The Conversation and Apocalype Now), with a second section the focuses on the shift from analogue to digital film editing, In The Blink Of An Eye explains Murch’s approaches to cutting and reassembling a film. 

As a document of a little-appreciated aspect of filmmaking it’s useful, much in the way that a writer’s craft memoir might be; from understanding the specifics of how another individual approaches their work, one may start to understand their own.  It works also in the sense that the book is a meditation on patience, on trial and error, on trusting one’s own judgment but being open also to change, to the myriad possibilities in constructing a scene and to being receptive to constructive criticism.  A book on editing that can work as well if read as though it were written specifically about rewriting.  

Smith, by Leon Garfield

Garfield, Leon, Smith (London: Puffin, 1968), 226 pages, 978-0141319711

London, mid-18^th century.  Smith is a twelve-year-old, and an accomplished thief;  he knows the city in and out, he’s friend to the dispossessed and he lives his life in the moment, caring only to stay one stap ahead of the constables and the noose which will surely follow, and dreaming of both scoring that big last job or one day being a highwayman like his friend and mentor Lord Tom.  Smith robs a man, picking his pocket.  He then witnesses the man’s murder; killed by two assassins who want the item Smith’s just lifted; a document that Smith, being illiterate, can’t read.  We follow Smith across London as he works to understand the document and the stakes he’s now playing for, a journey that takes him from polite socety to gaol, from being a trusted confidant to being pursued across city and countryside alike. 

Smith is evocative, fast-paced, packed with well-sketched vivid characters and wears its history lightly.  There’s chases, thefts, gunfights, a prison break, deceit, the promise of fortune and the threat of the hangman.  It’s packed with material and a fantastic sense of period language.    

It’s a novel that’s been in the back of my mind for some time, and only on re-reading it has it become evident just how much.  Aspects of the first versions of my own work have antecedents in Smith (and also in its forebear Oliver Twist: to some extent, Smith is a rewriting of Twist, except with The Artful Dodger as the protagonist).  Reading it again has been hugely useful, if only  in crystallising ideas about the kind of novel that I don’t want to produce.  That might not read like praise, but it really is, and going back to it (it’s a book that’s come up in tutorials a couple of times, and one I should have re-read earlier) has been beneficial in reorienting my approach to what I’m doing.    

You Write On / The Next Big Author competition now open

Bloomsbury, Little Brown, Orion and Hodder publishing houses have got together, partly under the umbrella of creative writing peer review site You Write On for their Next Big Author competition.  Upload 5-7,000 words new-minted words from a novel project (the caveat is they've got to be fresh!) between now and the end of May 2011.   They'll be subject to a peer-review process as part of the judging.  The prizes are professional critiques from the publishing houses.  It's free to enter and full details are available here: http://www.thenextbigauthor.com/

Tim Powers: On Stranger Tides

Powers, Tim, On Stranger Tides (London: Corvus Books, 2011), 978-1848875128

Cult fantasy author Powers’ book On Stranger Tides is the unnofficial inspiration for the Disney Pirates of the Caribbean series.  The movies may take their titles and some of the iconography from the theme park ride, but the mix of pirates and magic, plus analogues for several of the lead characters, came from Powers.  To some extent this has been addressed with Disney buying the rights and using the skeleton of the book’s plot (a search for a fabled fountain of youth; a race-against-time against villainous pirate Edward “Blackbeard” Treach) for the newest film.  The book’s been out of print in the UK for some years; the chief pleasure for me at least with the new release is that someone’s seen sense and made On Stranger Tides available again.

Puppeteer and fortune-hunter John Chardagnac is almost arrived in the Caribbean when his vessel is overrun by pirates.  Given the choice by his captors between being set adrift in a rowboat or joining the crew, Chardagnac stays aboard, trying at once to stay alive, rescue the young woman he’d become smitten with and get to the uncle he was travelling to settle some family business with. 

Chardagnac adopts to the pirate lifestyle; picking up weapons skills, rising through the crew from entertainer to cook to quartermaster, developing his magical (Powers uses the term “sorcerous”) proficiency.   Yes, it’s an escapist fantasy and thus perhaps not for all, but what convinces throughout is Powers’ attention to details and to logic.  The period (we’re very early 18th century) is convincing, the magical rules and regulations are rigorous and consistently applied, the weapons knowledge and the maritime terminology is equally well used; there’s some of the best shipboard description and evocation of life this side of Patrick O’Brien’s Maturin/Aubrey novels.  It’ll be a shame if the book gets overlooked because of the films that have robbed from it.

Smitten with Scrivener

Ah, I might be in love.  Don't worry, this isn't some oddly over-personal statement of undying affection for another human.  Software.  Specifically, Scrivener.  Now up till recently it's been Mac only, but here's now a beta (free trial that isn't quite ready to be sold yet, and thus may be a bit wobbly) for Windows available.  

I've had a play about and it's splendid.  I'm not a Mac user by nature (I've got one - don't ask me the model, but it's a laptop and it's white and it sits in a drawer unless it's needed for work), perhaps because I'm one of those kinds of people who can't get on with obtrusive technology.   I learned my few computing-related attributes with Windows machines and I'm unlikely to shift much now.  Perhaps luckily, my wants are few: word processing and internet browsing capabilities (Chrome for me, ta) and I'm happy, computer-wise.  But I like to write.

My writing to present is a mix of off and online; notebooks, journals, MS Word, Post-Its, scrappy bits of paper.  I've looked at writing software in the past but haven't been convinced.   I'm not sure I'm quite there yet with Scrivener, but it feels right and I reckon I'm going to buy the Windows version when it becomes available.

Like I said the Windows beta is available now.  It's free and can be downloaded here:   http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivenerforwindows/ - there's a Linux version if that's how you roll.  You'll get 30 days of playing time with it; that's more than enough to find out if the finished article is likely to be useful to you or not.  As of right now, I'm impressed and I'm eager for more.  

It won't do everything; it's more a planning and preparation tool than a final draft device.  Don't delete Word/your WP software of choice (though you can export to a range of formats).  Give it a chance though.  I'm going to do the same, and will report back, to the negative or positive, once the Windows version is out.

Writing competitions and opportunities - another dose

A handful of writing competitions/opportunities:


Society of Women Writers and Journalists Life Writing Competition
Entries of up to 3,000 words from women writers in two age categories (20-40 and 40+ years); any form of life writing is acceptable (for example blogs, diaries, memoirs, biographies, correspondence).
Entries cost £7 against first prizes of £3,000 in each age bracket.  The closing date is 30th September 2011.  Full details here.


Creative Ink "Dear John" Competition
Creative Ink Publishing is looking for short (600 word) "Dear John"-style letters/emails.  Winning entries will be filmed, and there's a first prize of £100.  Full details here.   


Park Publications: "A Country Story" Competition
2,000 word short stories required on the above theme.  Closing date 1st June 2011, with a first prize of £75.  Full details here.


The Guardian International Development Journalism Competition
16 shortlisted writers will be taken out to either Asia or Africa on assignment by The Guardian.  To try out for shortlist selection, write an article between 650-1,000 words on an aspect of global poverty.  A longlist of 40 will have their work showcased on The Guardian's website.  Entry is free and the deadline is 13th June 2011.  Full details here, including more information about themes central to the competition aims.


A Vogel Dormeasan Write A Short Story For Bedtime Competition
Entries should be between 1,500-3,000 words.  Neither children's writing nor erotica please.  There's a £500 first prize and several lesser prizes and publication chances.  Entry is free.  The deadline is 28th October 2011 and more details can be found here.

William Peter Blatty: Dimiter

Blatty, William Peter, Dimiter (New York: Tor Books, 2011), 323 pages, 978-0765364333

Albania, 1973.  A man is tortured at length by the secret police, who believe him to be a murderer and/or a foreign national illegally in the country.  He withstands the torture and escapes.  Israel, 1974.  A series of deaths and unexplained happenings around a hospital and an early Christian shrine.  An investigation ensues. 

Dimiter is an odd novel.  Essentially a rewriting/inversion of Blatty’s The Exorcist sequel Legion (Dimiter shares a number of plot elements and character relationships from that earlier, and rather better book), it’s a story that makes what little sense it does only after the final reveal and though there are some incidental pleasures along the way, a lot rides on the reader’s willingness to take the final pages in the manner the author intends.   The book’s overwritten, and clearly of some personal significance to Blatty; he wrestles with any number of portentous topics.  There are some jokes along the way, and a pleasing affection for classic Hollywood movies (Blatty’s a screenwriter who made his mark writing comedies in the 1960s before turning to religious horror).  The thriller elements only work in retrospect, and for some won’t be effective; Blatty’s conceit relies entirely on the building of mystery rather than on the developing of an involving narrative and answering some questions/posing others along the way.  

Dimiter is also a serious book; Blatty takes his big ideas to heart and expects us to do the same.  His irony-free approach is unfashionable though may well mark Dimiter as a cult book for the future for a minority; others may well not buy into either the conceit or the way the story’s told and be resolutely unmoved. 

How To Get A Grip by Matthew Kimberley

Kimberley, Matthew, How To get A Grip (London: Adlib/John Blake, 2011), 264 pages, 978-1843583288


I'm not a self-help book kinda chap (though I like my pop science and Richard Wiseman's 59 Seconds is pretty good as a self-help volume and has the advantage of some scientific backing for its reasoning) but I'd heard some good things about this one and I was looking for a book to recommend on to some of my students who aren't the most motivated of sorts.  
Though it's not quite the book I was looking for, How To Get A Grip hits quite a few of its targets.  Kimberley's style is upfront and no-nonsense, the chapters are short and there's a refreshing absence of bullshit.  From the off we're promised no revelations or mystical revelations; this is the printed equivalent of R Lee Ermey's drill instructor  shouting in the recruits' faces for the first ten minutes of Full Metal Jacket.  
It's a short, punchy read (it'll take you a couple of hours, tops) and it's derived from Kimberley's blog where you can get more of his blunt advice.
Some might not like the sweariness, some might not like the oscillation between American and UK slang, and some might not like the idea that there is no 'secret' to be learned.  You just have to get on with stuff.  End of. Ah well.  
I'm going to lend a copy or two to a couple of designated slackers of my acquaintance.  It's worth a try...   

Five more writing opportunities

Newcastle Brown slogan competition
The makers of Newcastle Brown are after a copywriter/genius to come up with, in 25 words or less, the most 'canny' alternative use for a Newcastle Brown schooner glass.  The prize is pretty good, a royalty payment of a penny a pack sold up to £5000 maximum.  Not bad for a sentence!  Closing date is 31st May and the full details are online at: www.livecanny.com


Ifanca Helene James Short Story Competition
Short stories (no children's fiction, thanks) up to 2,200 words.  First prize is £100 and a bottle of champagne.  Closing date is 1st July.  Full details: http://ifancahelenejames.wordpress.com


Shaw Society T F Evans Award
The Shaw Society is looking for someone who can write an additional scene (either a prequel, a sequel or an additonal scene to be inserted int one of the following GB Shaw plays: The Apple Cart, John Bull's Other Island, Candida, The Dctor's Dilemma, Mrs Warren's Profession.  Entries should be 20 to 45 minutes length.  Full details at: www.shawsociety.org.uk and the closing date is 31st July.   


Emerald Writing Workshops - novel opening and short story competitions
Two competitions here, one for the best 500 word novel opening and one for the best 500 word short story.  The entry fee is five second class stamps (!) and there are prizes of £50, £15 and £10 in each category.  Closing date is 31st May and details are online at: www.emeraldwritingworkshops.co.uk


SCBWI Undiscovered Voices
SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) are looking for submissions of up to 4,000 20rds for their third Undiscovered Voices anthology of writing for children by new authors.  The anthology will be published in early 2012 and the entry deadline is 1st June this year.  Full details are here: www.undiscoveredvoices.com

Writing competitions with May/June 2011 closing dates

A roundup of writing competitions with closing dates between now and the end of June 2011.  Hopefully there's something for everyone:  some genre and some literary fiction, plenty of short fiction, some novels, first chapters, flash fiction, even diaries!  A few of the bigger competitions have been listed before, but hopefully much of this will be new to you.

British Fantasy Society Short Story Competition

Closing Date: 31 May 2011

Prizes: 1st, £100 / 2nd, £50 / 3rd, £20 

First and Second prize winners also receive one year's membership of BFS and publication in the BFS journal.

For stories up to 5000 words. The theme can be anything fantastical - fantasy, dark fantasy, sci-fi or horror etc. Judging is anonymous so entries must not have been previously published. Manuscripts must be double line spaced with 2cm left and right hand margins. Use 12 point font and indent the first line of new paragraphs. Pages should be numbered but do not include any other text in the header or footer. Section breaks to be indicated by a single hash mark. Entries must be submitted by e-mail. Head your e-mail "BFS Short Story Competition" and attach your story as an rtf file

Entry fee: £5 per entry for non BFS members. Members are entitled to one free entry.

Visit:  www.britishfantasysociety.org for full details.

The 2011 Yeovil Literary Prize - Novel Category

Closing Date: 31 May 2011

Prizes: 1st, £1000 / 2nd, £250 / 3rd, £100 

Send the synopsis with opening chapters (up to 15,000 words in total).

Entry fee: £10.  Overseas postal entries must be paid in cash or by UK cheque.

http://www.yeovilprize.co.uk/

The 2011 Yeovil Literary Prize - Short Story Category

Closing Date: 31 May 2011

Prizes: 1st, £500 / 2nd, £200 / 3rd, £100 

For short stories up to 2000 words in length.

Entry fee: £5.  Overseas postal entries must be paid in cash or by UK cheque.

http://www.yeovilprize.co.uk/

Diary Competition 2011: A Day in the Life
Closing Date: 31 May 2011

Prize: A bundle of stuff consisting of a cash prize of £100, a day ticket to the Appledore Book Festival, a copy of Writing From Life by Lyn Hackles, a copy of The Beginners Guide to Getting Published by Chris McCallum, and publication inLeaf Writers' Magazine.

Commended entries  will be published in an anthology - every published author will receive a free eBook. Selected entries will also be published in Leaf Writers' Magazine and all published authors will receive a free copy of the magazine.

Leaf Books invites you to submit a single diary entry or a small series of diary entries totalling no more than 500 words. Entries could be from your own diary, a fictional person's diary, a fantasy diary, an historical diary, war diaries, children's diaries, or even creature diaries.

Entry fee: £3 per entry, or £10 for 4 entries. Enter online or by post.

Visit http://www.leafbooks.co.uk/New/For%20Writers/CurrentCompetitions.html#Diary for further information.

Brighton COW Fiction Competition
Closing Date: 31 May 2011

Prizes: 1st, £100 / 2nd, £50 / 3rd, £25

For fiction up to 3000 words. All shortlisted entries will have the option of publication on the Group's website as well as being broadcast, where appropriate, on a local hospital radio network.

Entry fee: £4

Visit www.brightoncow.co.uk for full details.

Samuel Becket Challenge Short Story Competition
Closing Date: 1 June 2011

Prizes: 1st, £50 / 2nd, £25 / 3rd, £10 

For short stories in the style of Samuel Becket, up to 1500 words. Enter via the Writers New and Old website.

Entry fee: £5

Visit www.writersnewandold.com/competitions.html for more information and to enter.

Marple Short Story and Poetry Competitions
Closing Date: 2 June 2011

Prizes: total prize fund across the two competitions is £550. Special prizes in the Poetry competition include preparation and printing of up to 40 poems.   

For short stories to a maximum of 1700 words and poetry to a maximum of 40 lines. Entries can be combined in the two competitions. 

Entry fee: £3.50 for 1 entry, £9 for 3 entries, £14 for 7 entries.

More details available by post or by visiting www.marplewriting.org.uk

The Page is Printed Creative Writing Prize

Closing Date: 6 June 2011

Prize (Adult): £100 (£50 cash, £50 Waterstones vouchers) + free festival tickets

Prize (Under 16): £50 (£25 cash, £25 Waterstones vouchers) + free festival tickets

A competition where the only rule is that each entry must be no more than a single side of A4 paper, using 11pt font and 1.5 line spacing. There is no limit in terms of genre - your entry could be a letter, a speech, a poem, a short story, a confession, or any other style of writing. The judges will simply be looking for the piece of writing that inspires them the most. Winning entries will be printed in the Somerset County Gazette.

Entry fee: Adults, £4 for up to 3 entries. Under 16s, £2 for up to 3 entries. 

Visit www.tacchi-morris.com for more information or to enter online.

The Bridport Prize International Writing Competition 2011

Closing Date: 30 June 2011

Prizes - Short Story Section: 1st, £5000 / 2nd, £1000 / 3rd, £500 / 10 Highly Commended, £50

Prizes - Poetry Section: 1st, £5000 / 2nd, £1000 / 3rd, £500 / 10 Highly Commended, £50

Prizes - Flash Fiction Section: 1st, £1000 / 2nd, £500 / 3rd, £250 / 3 Highly Commended, £25

Dorset Award,  £100 and trophy for the highest placed local (Dorset, UK) winner or runner-up across all categories.

For Short Story, Poetry, and Flash Fiction. All winning entries published in an anthology. Short Story and Flash Fiction will be judged by A. L. Kennedy. Poetry will be judged by Carol Ann Duffy.

Entry fee: £5 per Flash Fiction, £6 per Poem, £7 per Short Story.

Enter online at: www.bridportprize.org.uk

Cinnamon Press Writing Awards

Closing Date: 30 June 2011

Prizes: Novel or novella, £400 + publication / Short Story, £100 + publication / Poetry Collection, £100 + publication.

For the novel/novella award, submit 10,000 words.  The short story award is for stories of  2000 - 4,000 words.  For the poetry award, submit 10 poems of up to 40 lines. Mark each sheet with a nom de plume and a working title in the header. Enclose a separate sheet with your name, address, e-mail address, and nom de plume and titles of your entries. Entries may be made by  post or submitted electronically as two e-mail attachments, one with the work and the other with contact details.

Entry fee: £16 in all categories.  A copy of the winners' anthology is included in the short story and poetry categories (worth £8.99). Cheques payable to Cinnamon Press, or pay online.

Visit www.cinnamonpress.com for more information.

The 5th Annual Ted Walters International Short Story, Poetry and Playwriting Competition

Closing Date: 30 June 2011

Prizes - in each category: 1st, £200 / 2nd, £50 / 3rd, £15 Book Token 

For Short Stories on any subject or theme up to 2000 words, Poems on any subject or theme and in any style or form not exceeding 40 lines, and One Act Plays on any subject or theme with a cast of no more than 4 charfacters and running to a maximum of 20 minutes.

Two copies of each entry must be submitted, together with an entry form or covering letter. Entries must be type written on plain white A4 paper, with a standard black typeface, using one side of the paper only. Entries to be submitted by first or second class post only. E-mail entries only accepted under certain circumstances. Identifying names must not appear on entries, but only on the entry form or covering letter.

Entry fee - Short Stories: £4 for first entry, £3.50 for each additional entry.

Entry fee - Poems: £4 for first entry, £3.50 for each additional entry.

Entry fee - One Act Plays : £6 for first entry, £5.50 for each additional entry.

All current members of the University of Liverpool Creative Writing Society for Lifelong Learning submitting two or more poems, shorts stories or plays are entitled to one free entry.

Entry fees payable by cheque to University of Liverpool Creative Writing Society for Lifelong Learning, or online using PayPal.

Visit http://liverpoolwriters.com for more information.

The Lightship International Short Story Prize 

Closing Date: 30 June 2011

Prize:  £1000 (approx $1600)  

For previously unpublished short stories up to 5000 words. Open competition. One story per entry fee. No restriction on the number of entries. Judge: Toby Litt. Patrons: Sir Andrew Motion, Christopher Reid, Hilary Mantel, Lindsay Clarke.

Entry fee: £12 (approx $19.20). 

Visit http://www.lightshippublishing.co.uk for full details.

The Lightship International Flash Fiction Prize

Closing Date: 30 June 2011

Prize:  £500 (approx $800)   

 For previously unpublished short stories up to 600 words. Open competition. One story per entry fee. No restriction on the number of entries. Judge: Kachi A. Ozumba. Patrons: Sir Andrew Motion, Christopher Reid, Hilary Mantel, Lindsay Clarke.

Entry fee: £10 (approx $16). 

Visit http://www.lightshippublishing.co.uk for full details.

The Lightship First Chapter Prize

Closing Date: 30 June 2011

Prize: A year of expert mentoring.    

 For first chapters up to 5000 words. Open competition. One first chapter per fee. No restriction on the number of entries. Judges: Author Tibor Fischer, Agent Simon Trewin, Publisher Alessandro Gallenzi. Patrons: Sir Andrew Motion, Christopher Reid, Hilary Mantel, Lindsay Clarke.

Entry fee: £15 (approx $19). 

Visit http://www.lightshippublishing.co.uk for full details.

WritersReign Short Story Competition 2011

Closing Date: 30 June 2011

Prizes: 1st, £100 / 2nd, £50 / 3rd, £25 / 3 x Highly Commended, £10 

For Short Stories on the theme of The Power of Love. Entries must be accompanied by an entry form which gives full details of the entry requirements. Entrants must be aged 16 or over.

Entry fee: £3.50.  Payable by cheque drawn on a UK bank, Postal Order, or PayPal.

Visit http://www.writersreign.co.uk/writersreign-competition.html for more information.

Writers New and Old Short Story Competition

Closing Date: 30 June 2011

Prizes: 1st, £50 / 2nd, £25  

For 500 word short stories on the theme of chocolate - it could be a story about your love of chocolate, or intrigue and mystery, or the name of a character or pet, or whatever you choose to write about. Simply use your imagination and let it run wild.

Entry fee: £5

Visit www.writersnewandold.com/competitions.html for more information and to enter.

Rhyme & Reason Short Story Competition

Closing Date: 30 June 2011

Prizes - Adult Section (18+): 1st, £110 / 2nd, £60 / 3rd, £30 

Prizes - Youth Section (up to 18): 1st, £30 book token / 2nd, £20 book token / 3rd, £10 book token 

For short stories no longer than 400 words on the theme of time. Entries must not have been previously published. Electronic submissions only, using Calibri font size 10. All winning entries will be published in the 2012 diary edition ofRhyme & Reason, which is launched in October 2011. All profits from entry fees and sales of Rhyme & Reason diary will go to the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home.

Entry fee: £5 per story, or £4 per story for 3 or more entries. Payment by cheque only, to be sent with entry form  to be donwloaded from website. Entries only considered when the entry fee has been received.

Visit http://www.irhh.org/sitehome/fundraising/fundraisinggroups/rhyme_reason.html for full details and to download entry form.

The Meridian Writing Summer Short Story Competition

Closing Date: 30 June 2011

Prizes: 1st, £100 / 2nd, £50 / 3rd, £25 plus firstwriter.com vouchers    

For stories up to 3000 words from new and published authors. Open theme/genre.

Entry fee: £5

Visit: http://www.meridian-writing.co.uk for full details.

Sansom, CJ, Dark Fire (London: Pan, 2007)

Sansom, CJ, Dark Fire (London: Pan, 2007), 595 pages, 978-0330450782

Second of Sansom’s series of Matthew Shardlake novels.  Shardlake’s a property lawyer with a conscience and a keen brain, occasionally commissioned by Henry VIII’s senior minister Cromwell to conduct certain investigations.  It’s three years after the first adventure (Dissolution – the series now runs to five books) and Shardlake has been out of favour, but Cromwell comes to him with an urgent command; Henry’s been made aware that Greek Fire, the legendary incendiary substance of the ancients, has been rediscovered and demands a demonstration.  Cromwell has two weeks to provide this; he’s out of favour at court himself following his failed selection of Anne of Cleves as a suitable bride and knows that to fail in this would mean his loss of power at best, his head at worst.  Shardlake’s put in charge of the investigation.  At the same time, Shardlake is investigating a case of his own; trying to prove the innocence of a madwoman charged with the murder of a child.  Cromwell uses his leverage to buy Shardlake time with this case as fee for helping with the Greek Fire instruction. 

This feels like a more assured book than its predecessor; Tudor London is sketched vividly without being overdone, there’s a wealth of intrigue and some decent action, and there’s much to enjoy in the way that Shardlake pursues his challenges with a mix of humility, arrogance, wit and struggle.  He’s given an interesting set of characters to engage with: gaolers to courtiers, huffy judges to aloof aristocrats, grasping lawyers and terse servant characters.  There’s a lightness of touch in the way Sansom uses the plot and the characters to advance some points about faith and reason, duty and obligation, law and justice, friendship/love and social standing – he’s got an acute ear for the nuances of the class system in this environment.   A couple of elements don’t quite gel (one of the mysteries is perhaps too easily solved involving a handy random begging child, and Sansom maybe is over-fond of certain words) but as a classy entertainment that has the confidence to meld some serious ideas in a race-against-time thriller context.