Many thanks to everyone who came to this year’s AGM, and congratulations to all our prize winners.
Our new chair is Harvey, vice chair is Alison, secretary is Sarah, Helen has taken on the role of treasurer. Ina, Neil, and Judith complete our committee.
Drama Day is coming up on the 7th May, and Poetry Day will be on 11th June. Hope to see you there!
We were in the local paper: here are all the smiling faces (you’ll need to click the link I’m afraid – most vexing!).
Please find a link to the Seminar Programme and Guidelines for this year’s event which takes place on Saturday 27 May 2017 below. All are welcome to attend and submit entries for the various categories of competition.
More information on what’s happening and a registration and entry form can be found here.
A Happy New Writing Year to all,
Our guest speaker at the first meeting of the new session proved to be just the tonic for banishing post-festive lethargy. Laura Fyfe, an English teacher now running creative writing classes in Stirling, demonstrated her gift for language and communication with a presentation and workshop which had the audience fully engaged from start to finish.
Using examples from various well-known short story writers and encouraging members to share and discuss their own favourite short stories proved to be a winning formula. Some of the key elements of successful short story writing described by Laura were:-
For the competition, Laura has set a challenge to write a short story of from 500 to 1500 words on any preferred theme, but focussing on a single character or incident. Entries, in the usual format, to be submitted by February 20, with adjudication on April 3rd.
Best of luck!
Members told us about the following titles which have influenced their thoughts in some way. Listed here (in no particular order) for your interest:
How to win friends and influence people – Dale Carnegie
Guide to the Munros – Ed Bennett
Jonathan Livingston Seagull – Richard Bach
The Last Grain race – Eric Newby
My 60 Memorable Games – Bobby Fischer
Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting – Kevin Powers
Real Lives, Half Lives: Tales from the Atomic Wasteland – Jeremy Hall
A Life of Extremes – Jeff McMullan
The Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
A Cinder Glows: The Story of a Remarkable Life – Mary Morton Hardie
1984 – George Orwell
Fatal Passage: The True Story of John Rae, the Arctic Hero Time Forgot – Ken McGoogan
Various books by Mary Stewart
The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong – Laurence J Peter, Raymond Hull
Following Monday’s stimulating and informative presentation on the subtle psychology and dark arts employed by retailers and online suppliers to part us from our hard-earned cash, Alison’s set an article competition.
Write an article on any aspect of the retail world / shopping. Maximum 1000 words.
Here are some ideas:
But you don’t have to take up any of these options. Choose your own angle.
Submissions to be handed in by 28th November, adjudication 23rd January.
Best of luck!
A two-part morning: Al Watt gave a very thorough talk on how to set about entering writing competitions and submitting work for publication across all kinds of media. Al’s detailed handout will be a valuable resource for members who want to see their work in print.
After coffee was Read Your Own Work. The result was an amazing creative medley ranging from the profound to the lighthearted. Contributors included newbie Ann Devlin, Alison, Ian, Harvey, Cara, Jim, Sheila. To hear about seafaring, cot death, growing up amidst a posse of aunts, love, a holiday boat trip and a crime scene on the platform……all in under an hour…. packed quite a punch!
A new session, a new venue, and new members – a great start with a turnout of 31 people.
Jack welcomed all and outlined the season’s syllabus. He also mentioned the splinter groups (circles and folios) which give more opportunities for members to discuss their work.
The committee seems to have chosen a good venue in the library: more light, less noise, helpful staff and I.T. on hand.
Judith gave details of this session’s running competition in The Pencil: short diary entries inspired by local life. Get in touch for more details. Other fairly short pieces by members are also welcome for The Pencil.
The morning finished on a light note with us inventing ‘funny definitions’ for unusual words.
Morning all!
In case you’re not already aware, it’s Largs Viking Book Festival this weekend, with a really interesting lineup of authors and a publisher, mostly talking about their Viking-related books.
You’ll find more info about most of the talks here*, all events are FREE, and at the Woodhouse (unless otherwise stated). Here’s the basics:
Vincent Atherton, Sat 27th 10:30am
Prof Stephen Harding, Sat 27th 7pm
Etta Dunn*, Sun 28th 10:30am
Margaret Elphinstone, Sun 28th, 2pm
Robert Harris and David McPhail, Festival Site Arena Stage, Sun 28th 3.30pm
Tim Hodkinson, Sun 28th, 4pm
and Paul Bristow, Sun 28th, 7pm
There are also writing workshops on Mon 29th and Tue 30th with Lee Montgomery at Cafe Bon Bon, 2.30-4.30pm…
AND an open mic event at The George on Wed 31st 7.30pm (don’t make me go by myself). Share your own work – poems and short stories only.
*Etta Dunn is a late addition to the lineup and replaces Siobhan Clark in the programme. We just got more information on what she’ll be talking about this morning, and it’s here, for your delight:
Etta’s background in writing, acting and editing, and being an award winning publisher, makes her an ideal person to present ‘Publish and be damned’, She will discuss the pros and cons of several, often confusing, different methods of publishing now available to authors seeking to have their work published for the first time. So come along, all you aspiring authors, and published writers too – find out how to succeed in the ever changing world of publishing.
Personally, I’m going to everything… See you there?
