AGM etc

Here's a little reminder that our most important Annual General Meeting takes place on Tuesday next, 3rd November, in the Room at the Top with a start time of 7.30. We have to remind you as well that the annual subscriptions are also due.  

If the meeting is over in time then we will have a very short creative writing exercise. 

Hoping that you will all be able to attend and help structure our future. 

The AGM agenda is included later in this communication.

Meanwhile we have heard from  from our friend Ray who says:

Spectacular Tales 2 has just been published both in paperback and for the Kindle.

                       This includes a short story by me titled 'Red Moon Rising'.  This story began life as a piece written as a homework exercise for the Scribblers called 'The End' about two survivors who meet up on a Cornish chapel. All that remains is the first page of the original but the idea of the story exists.

                        So thanks again to everyone.

                         Ray

Well done Ray! Good to see our homework assignments come in handy!

We've also heard from Suzy in St Ives who says:

Went to a talk re writing short stories - Linda Cracknell - who said they are under-rated in this country .... so suggested to St.Ives' library that they have a short story reading session, which was referred to Rod the Organiser who said it would be "tedious".    !!!!!!!   He hasn't been to Scribblers !    He said i should organise it.   Was wondering if any Scribblers would send stories to be read out here in the West Country?   Might even generate enough interest for a short story writing group, as, in amongst all the music, art, and poetry there are no short stories!  How can this be ?!?!? 

Suzy also mentioned the following from the short story talk with Linda Cracknell:

Writing a short story combines a "curious mixture of crafting and intuition".

"Start late" (after something significant to the plot has happened) and "end early" (so the reader has to work out for themself what happens).

To increase empathy with a character: reveal their 'back story'.

When change happens: use a lot of sensory detail.

Every word must contribute to the point of the story.

She begins by writing the plot as a haiku (19 syllables?).  If she can't do that, she knows the plot needs more work.

A good way to publish short stories is to have them printed individually.  (There used to be a short story provided in every cabin on the sleeper from London to Edinburgh.  (Mairéad had/has a short story printed singly - using ribbon!     Hey, that's an idea - have really interesting covers made out of stuff other than paper.  ???)

BBC has annual short story competition 2,000 words.   Short stories, inc the winner,  Radio 4   Tues   Wed    Thurs   3.30

Happy Autumn!         All good wishes, suzy

All good tips, though many, I am sure, we will be aware of. Some interesting ideas too! 

It really is good to keep in touch with our friends who have moved away from the area which leads me to a short story I have just received from Chris down there in Cairns and aim to read it next.

Meanwhile, I hope you are all well and in good voice for Tuesday!

Until then,

Keep Scribbling!!!

Dave

************************************************************************************************************

FELIXSTOWE SCRIBBLERS

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

7.30 PM TUESDAY 3^rd NOVEMBER 2015

THE ROOM AT THE TOP

FELIXSTOWE LIBRARY

THE AGENDA

     Apologies for absence

     In Attendance

1    Secretary's Report.

2    Treasurer’s Report.

3    Chairman’s Report.

4    Ratification of existing committee and or election of new officers.

5    Weblog Report.

6    Introduction of a membership list.

7    Structure of Meetings:

i)  Alterations to frequency of Bill Budner   trophy.

                                          ii)  Renaming Creative Writing Exercises.

                                          iii) 1000 word homework and themes.

iv) Selection of eras and places for historical  and geographical themes.

v)  Ghost/Halloween homework.

vi) Suggestions.

            8     Planning for the future:

i)             The Felixstowe Book Festival 2016.

 9    Publicity.

10  Writeathon.

11  Stories for Suzy’s planned group in St. Ives.

12  Social Events.

13  Any Other Business.

London Review of Books

Their website is at :-

http://www.lrb.co.uk/

Well worth a look...

Message from Suzy in St Ives

It's nice to hear from our writers who have moved away. We received this from Suzy who seems to be busying herself down in Cornwall with organising readings of short stories at her local library. She tells us she went to a talk by Linda Cracknell re writing short stories - her collection 'The Searching Glance' and says:

In case it's of interest .......

Linda said:  Writing a short story combines a "curious mixture of crafting and intuition".

"Start late" (after something significant to the plot has happened) and "end early" (so the reader has to work out for themself what happens).

To increase empathy with a character: reveal their 'back story'.

When change happens: use a lot of sensory detail.

Every word must contribute to the point of the story.

She begins by writing the plot as a haiku (19 syllables?).  If she can't do that, she knows the plot needs more work.

A good way to publish short stories is to have them printed individually.  (There used to be a short story provided in every cabin on the sleeper from London to Edinburgh.  (Mairéad had/has a short story printed singly - using ribbon!     Hey, that's an idea - have really interesting covers made out of stuff other than paper.  ???)

BBC has annual short story competition 2,000 words.   Short stories, inc the winner,  Radio 4   Tues   Wed    Thurs   3.30

Homework pays off...

Here's a nice message from our friend Ray. It relays the benefits of doing our homework assignments! Congratulations Ray and many more successes.

Spectacular Tales 2 has just been published both in paperback and for the Kindle.

                       This includes a short story by me titled 'Red Moon Rising'.  This story began life as a piece written as a homework exercise for the Scribblers called 'The End' about two survivors who meet up on a Cornish chapel. All that remains is the first page of the original but the idea of the story exists.

                        So thanks again to everyone.

                         Ray

Meeting Report

Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on Tuesday 20 October 2015

Present:  Dave, Dick, Hayley, Richard, Mairead, Jeanette, Liliane, Jane, Tony, Beryl, Cathy.

Apologies: Gerry

Business items:
Thank you to Mairead for providing all sorts of (early) Halloween themed goodies, tinsel etc! Brave were those who ate the false teeth sweets!

Dave reminded us all that the next meeting, on 3 November, is the AGM, when the annual subs (£30) are due for those members who pay this way.

If you have any thoughts on ways in which we could improve our meetings, please bring your ideas along for discussion.

Beryl will provide the annual accounts, and Cathy a secretary’s report.

Jeanette hasn’t had time yet to get her name inscribed on the Bill Budner trophy, but plans to do it soon.

Tom, one of our regular Scribblers, is currently moving house. Once he is settled he hopes to be back with us again.

Creative writing exercise:

All members (except the secretary, who forgot hers) had brought along a postcard, and some members, helpfully, had brought along several. These were all placed face down on the table, and each person present took one to use a stimulus for thirty minutes of writing. Added to the usual groans and sighs once we’d looked at our selected images were calls of ‘Can I swap?’, ‘Lord, I can’t use this.’, plus various other pitiful cries!

Eventually we settled down to do some intense writing, and after half an hour or so everyone had managed to write convincing tales. These were read out after a break for coffee, and proved that, as always, we can all rise to the challenge of writing ‘on the spot’, however unpromising the stimulus might be.

Next time we do this exercise, the group agreed that for a change we’ll all work from the same picture. We’ve done this in the past, and it’s been intriguing to listen to the many and varied pieces of work that the group come up with, and the different ways in which we all interpret the image we work from.

Next meeting:   3 November, the AGM. No homework for this meeting, but if time allows perhaps there may be a short creative writing exercise.

Happy Autumn from the Welsh Poetry  Competition Hello poets... Just a quick email to remind you that next year we  shall be launching our 10th international competition. After humble beginnings, in the back room of  Clwb Y Bont, Pontypridd we have gone from  strength to strength and increased our entries and  support each year. In our first year we had a few hundred entries with  71% coming from within Wales, but now we  get double that number with 60% coming from  outside Wales, marking the contest as a truly  international event! After council cuts resulted in the closure of the  Cardiff Poetry competition last year we became  the biggest poetry competition based in Wales  overnight. In 2016 we enter our 10th year and hope that  everyone who has entered before and made  this competition so great will do so again. We shall also be producing a second anthology  in the summer of 2016 after the winners are  announced. www.welshpoetry.co.uk

The 10th Competition   Judges / prize money We hope to announce the judge and prize money around Christmas Launch We aim to launch the contest on St. David's Day, 1st March 2016 Self Publish Your Poetry Publish & Print We offer a professional publishing service for those wishing to get into print with paperbacks or ebooks Check us out www.publishandprint.co.uk

Every picture tells a story...

Our photographic evening proved to be another unrivalled success with so many postcards and photographs to select from. Face down on the table you should have heard the groans as their selections seemed impossible to write about.

Being a group of creative writers, each and every single writer managed to come up with a really enthralling piece of work in the allotted 30 minutes writing time.

It was really amazing to hear the quality of the work and the creations everyone made from the pictures in front of them. Well done everybody.

Our next meeting will be the AGM on 3rd November here in The Room at the Top with the normal 7.30 start time. It is hoped that there will be some ideas and discussion on the format and subjects of  future meetings, after all the group is your group and you should have your say on its direction.

If there is sufficient time then we will also hold a short creative writing session.

Oh, and by the way... your annual membership fees will be due.

Keep Scribbling!!!

'Photographic' creative writing session

With the weekend upon us and no written homework to do I thought I'd remind you that our next meeting is on Tuesday (20th October). It's the 'photographic' creative writing session. All you need to do is bring in a photo, postcard or picture that will kick start the inspiration for the flow of wonderful words that will be bound to follow!

The meeting will start as usual at 7.30pm and hopefully you will be able to attend. I'm looking forward to the fresh challenge so, until then...

Keep searching for those postcards and photos...!

Dave 

Meeting Report

Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on Tuesday 6 October 2015

Present:  Dave, Dick, Hayley, Richard, Mairead, Sally, Liliane, Jane, Tony, Beryl, Cathy.

                

Apologies: Carolyn, Caz, Jeanette

Business items:

Our thanks yet again to Mairead for supplies of chocolate biscuits to see us through the evening.

Dave reminded us that our AGM is to be held on Tuesday 3 November. It would be very helpful if members can suggest any improvements to our current format, what we could perhaps include in the future to make our meetings any more enjoyable than present or, possibly, what items we might drop from our diary. Maybe we could all bring our ideas to the meeting.

Both Beryl and Richard were ‘under the weather’ at our meeting – let’s hope they get well soon.

Mairead passed on Suzy’s best wishes, and Dave mentioned that Rosie (ex-scribbler) has recently celebrated her birthday, and is currently enjoying university life. Also, Caz informed Dave that it would have been the 83^rd birthday of our much missed Les, today, 9 October. Dick had seen Clive, who sent his best wishes to the group.

Reading out of homework on the theme ‘Ruins’:

A terrific variety of work arose from this theme, and from the conversations and comments abounding, it seems that everyone found it a difficult theme to work to – we can of course thank Dick for this! I have included synopses of stories where they have been supplied by members.

Beryl: The events organiser

Jane: In ruins. This was a 2000 word story – Jane read until a ‘natural break’ at about 1000, but the story was so intriguing that we all insisted she read the second part once everyone else had read out – and we’re all glad she did!

Liliane: Of cruises and ancient ruins

Conversation between Imelda, a widow in her forties, who has just been on a cruise, with her cousin, Paula, who is eager to know all about what happened. Cruise involved visiting a number of ancient ruins.

Dick: The cellar

It’s 1947. Young Bobby and his friends play in bombed out properties. They spy on the suspicious looking man entering the cellar of one, and see his torch illuminate five locked suitcases in the cellar. What will the boys discover in the cases when the man has gone?

Hayley: Ruins (a poem)

Sally: The door

Richard: Ruins. Syrian Refugees. (Both poems)

Mairead: The ruins in and of my life

Tony: A tale of strange parts

Dave: A mystery in the forest

A young couple walking in the forest, went off track and fought through the undergrowth. In front of them, the ruins of a monastery complete with altar. Getting rather amorous, an enraged monk appeared wielding a staff and was joined by others who attacked. The couple were never seen again. 

Next meeting:   20 October, when we will be using the stimulus of a postcard image (please all bring a postcard with you) to inspire our writing on the night.

The Place to Write

We are contacting all members of the National Association of Writers Groups to offer an opportunity to spend a few days with two best selling authors.

Adele Parks is well known for her best selling books. She has sold over three million copies world wide. Come and learn how she does it. Her inspirational speaking and writing workshops are legendary.

Chrissie Manby has over 30 titles in print including her book for aspiring writers…Writing for Love.

Her popular workshop on Plotting in a Weekend is a must for writers of all experience.

These amazing ladies will be leading our two writing retreats in Okehampton, Devon in November

and we are offering 10% discount to all members of NAWG who would like to attend.

The retreats run from Nov 24^th-27^th with Adele and the weekend of Nov 27^th-29^th with Chrissie.

All home cooked meals and wine with dinner are included.

For further details, please see our website

www.theplacetowrite.co.uk

Or call us on 07989572356 or 07753292019

Happy National Poetry Day

Today is National Poetry Day and to celebrate we invited local poet and teacher Alexandra Davis to share a bit about why she loves this form of literature…

National Poetry Day is for me something of a ‘stay-cation’ in that I have finally positioned poetry where it demands to be in my busy life. It is a patient friend, willing to adapt to whatever time I can offer it, ready to say something new and yet ever true about the world we humans wander through, trying to feel powerful.

It’s always been there really; A.A. Milne given to me by my Nan when I was a little child (“when I was Three, I was hardly me”), Spike Milligan’s baboons and of course the unfortunate Edser who, “in bed, Sir, was dead, Sir”. And then in adolescence I was introduced to a voice that really spoke to me in my awkward, posturing odd socks and tartan shirts: Philip Larkin. The cut-the-crap incisiveness of his tone in poems such as ‘This Be the Verse’ and ‘A Study of Reading Habits’, together with an unashamed desire to find something worth admiring in poems like ‘Solar’ and ‘Water’, “where any-angled light / would congregate endlessly”, showed me that poetry allows for the truth of the moment and the accommodation of the myriad feelings that we humans experience. In this way I could hear someone trying to make at least momentary sense of the world, or to capture the relentless complexities of being alive.

It’s unsurprising then that I’ve spent my life teaching English, always most comfortable when teaching poetry, in its compact beauty. Poems use language with all that is unnecessary boiled off, until the essence remains, all the more potent for its brevity. Lines like “tread softly, for you tread on my dreams”, “beauty is truth, truth beauty”, “the child is father of the man”, “the anaesthetic from which none come round” – they lodge in the mind, available for consideration and use as needed; they become part of you and yet they are not you, like still small voices of calm, anger, love or wisdom.

It was two years ago that I realised I needed to write; a mother to four boys, with two jobs, and yet the urge was overwhelming, not to narrate or plot as prose writers must, but to capture moments, tableaux, pieces of life and make meaning, art, from them. Writing poems is a transformative experience for me; it has a commemorative aspect to it, and I truly believe that anything can be the stuff from which poetry is made. The ordinary will become extraordinary in a good poem; this is what many modern poets prove in their work – read Naomi Shihab Nye or Mark Doty, Jean Sprackland or Fiona Benson. I am less worried now that the well from which I draw my inspiration is small – women, children, marriage, teaching; it is deep enough for the precious moments I can devote to it and it never dries up.

To prove the point, I will share with you my poem ‘Sprouts’, dedicated to my Nan, which I hope you enjoy. Happy National Poetry Day.

Sprouts
for Nell

Whenever I peel them I channel her.
I remember her vast lap spread, like a proving bloomer,
over each side of the wheelback chair,
her warm body swelling between the spindles.
The grocer’s evergreen net would empty, sag,
next to a carrier bag set for peelings. Hands busy
with the stubby knife I see her slicing off the base,
adjust the blade, her curved forefingers always pointing,
made for knitting needles, pare away the papery leaves,
her nails neat and slender as a model’s,
each half-moon peeping. I didn’t inherit those nails.
Her mind elsewhere, each mouldering lump,
through some quicksilver handicraft, became a jewel
in her hands; finally carving its cross with artisan care.

So as I peel I smile; a task that always brings her close to me.
A tiny cabbage, no matter how mud clad,
will end as green as paradise.
Wrapped vacuum tight, squeaking against my thumb,
it sits in my palm like a ready brain, glossy and new veined,
painted with a single rat’s whisker, delicate as an eyelid.
Each Christmas he brings me, with high ceremony,
the Brussels Tree! I marvel at the object,
at its impossible rigidity, built like an alien colony.
Strong stalk, thick and perfect; each offspring pert
and perpendicular, gravity-mocking and jaunty,
locked on like a suckling baby, or ribs from off the spine.
Leaves within leaves, furled, waiting for my peeling hands.
My lap, now roomy, holds dusty curls and bright green pearls,
each marked with its cross, till heat will turn them yellow.

Alexandra Davis attends Felixstowe Café Poets, which meets every third Thursday at the Orwell Hotel.

Remembering Les...

Friday 9th October would have been the 83rd birthday of our dear friend Les who left us earlier this year.

Thinking of you Les, Happy Birthday wherever you are and don't forget, Rest In Peace.

With lots of love and best wishes from your friends at Felixstowe Scribblers.

Ruins...

Tonight's meeting proved to be another quite inspired gathering with some marvellous stories and poems. Two or three stories were, thankfully, after the nine pm watershed (!) whilst all stories bore some significance to the subject matter of Ruins.

We're trying something a little different to the norm when we hold our next meeting on 20th October and that is to be a photographic creative writing session, or, perhaps it should be known as a flash fiction event.

All that is needed is to bring along a photograph, postcard or picture that can be used as subject matter for one lucky writer! All photos etc will be placed face down on a table and then everyone gets to pick one out before spending an allotted amount of time creating a story which best encompasses their choice. The best part is that you will need to read out your efforts! It's always a good meeting so hopefully you will all be able to come along and join in the fun!

Until then,

Keep Scribbling!!!

Writing Raw

October issue of WritingRaw.com is now online. Stop in and discover a new and emerging voice in fiction, poetry, and various other writings. Or read a book review... Between the Sheets is one of our most popular columns. Share this with your family, friends, or anyone interested in the written word. Help WritingRaw.com get the word out… If you are having trouble viewing this month’s issue, please delete your browser’s history (this clears the cache).

Table of Contents

FICTION

All Is Peaceful, All Is Quiet by Emily Rems: Jacob wasn't sure exactly why his brother had stopped speaking to him. But he wasn't going to let that get between him and his new nephew.

Blood and Clay by Brendan Peveril: Grief and fear and anger can make us do things that don't make sense any more. They might even make us into something else.

Defeat by Fred Skolnik: The story of an ordinary American life in out time - from beginning to end - what it turned out to be, and what it might have been.

Red Beret by Ty Spencer Vossler: A comedy of errors leads a bored Mexican couple to reflect upon their lives.

Replica by Ty Spencer Vossler: In 2080, replica's will make the fantasy of watching your spouse with someone else a safer alternative, and yet there will be emotional costs to pay above the actual price of the rental.

Sight of Home by Clifford Hui: Bill Garnett has a successful career conducting research on the diseases of seals. Even though his war-time experiences happened a life-time ago, they come roaring back when he is on a research trip on a remote Pacific island.

Silk & Of Ice and Remembrance by Mara Buck: "Flashes of sensation in the night" Two micro flash encounters to ponder on a chilly night when you've finally convinced yourself that nature is friendly. Of course it is …

Something Resembling Normal by Jay Todd: In a relationship more complex than he could have imagined, a man survives the devastation of Hurricane Katrina with his girlfriend and her daughter only to discover that the aftermath is more complicated than the storm.

Survival by John Tavares: The relationship between fraternal twin brothers, their conflicted relationship, and the swim they take across a lake on the anniversary of their father's death.

The Toilet Seat by A. R. Alan: Being artistic can sometimes be an embarrassing pain in the butt. "The Toilet Seat" by A. R. Alan proves it.

White Man, Fat Man by Elaine Rosenberg Miler: A man who decides to beat the world record of the most weight gained in the shortest amount of time. He quits his job, isolates himself and begins his journey.

POETRY

A Little Of This/A Little Of That by Daniel Klawitter

Creature Feature by Leah Mueller

Do the Moon by Gregg Dotoli

Eco Echoes 153 by Duane Locke

Jesus Is Watching by Keith Landrum

My Rap City Rhapsody by E.J. Tangonan

Ode to a Corduroy Coat by PW Covington

Red Hot Lover by Bo Lanier

The Empty Building by John Grey

The Upset by Tempest Brew

Thirty Two Shots by Andrew Scott

Untitled by Bekah Steimel

When Clouds Died by Kushal Poddar

ASSORTED

Three by Abby White: To get over Meema's death, I had to confront it - in each of its three phases.

Waiting on Robin Williams by Mark Blickley: As we approach the first anniversary of Robin Williams' passing, I decided to write a tribute about how a brief encounter with the comedian/actor altered my life.

REVIEWS

Between the Sheets - This month, Ditch & Weeb review: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Do I Flaunt My Fat, or Jump Off a Bridge? by A. R. Alan

Goodreads review by Fran Lewis

NEW CRACKED RIB

There have been many requests to bring back WritingRaw's cult classic

"really BAD Shakespeare"

So, without further ado, HE’s back!!!

ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS FOR THE

NOVEMBER ISSUE OF WRITINGRAW.COM

SUFFOLK READING FESTIVAL BROADCASTS THIS WEEK

Wednesday 7th October 1900-1930
Felixstowe Radio 107.5 fm or via the internet.
Program 86
The Sword of the Kings by Tony Shearman
The Road Hill House Murder by David Morrison
Morning Sunshine by Tony Shearman

Performers: Alison Miller,Ryan Guilder, Brian England, Sheila Martin, David Miller, Debbie Coveney, Alan Dix, Robin Saunders, Martin Jarvis, Peter Guilder.

and

Friday 9th October 1230-1300
Ipswich Community Radio ICR - 105.7fm or via the internet
Program81
The Sword of the Kings by Tony Shearman
The Road Hill House Murder by David Morrison
The Wrong Type by Jane Bailey

Performers: Alison Miller, Ryan Guilder, Peter Guilder, Sheila Martin. David Miller, Debbie Coveney, Alan Dix, Brian England, Robin Saunders, Tony Shearman.

Cheers all!,

Tony

Our next meeting and various other things!!!

A timely reminder of our next meeting on Tuesday 6th October. The subject for the meeting is 'RUINS' and that sounds very much like my attempt to write something for our gathering. 

One or two things have popped into the inbox during my absence and are posted below. This includes a message from Debra at the Library which outlines some interesting events coming soon.

Hope to see you all on Tuesday in the Library - 7.30pm start.

***********

Hope you enjoyed your summer. We are looking ahead now to our Autumn programme of events here at Felixstowe Library and I thought you might be interested to hear about a couple of them. If you coordinate a book group please would you pass on the information to the other members. 

Author Talk

Firstly, we welcome back Suffolk author Natalie Meg Evans to talk about her recently published book, The Milliner's Secret.  Set during WW2 it is the story of Londoner Cora Masson who has reinvented herself as Coralie de Lirac, using a false claim to aristocratic birth to launch herself as a fashionable milliner in Paris. When the Nazis invade, the influence of a high-ranking lover protects her business. But the cruel demands of war - and of love - cannot be kept at bay forever. Soon Coralie must find the courage to do what's necessary to protect her friends, her freedom and everything she believes in.  

Some of you may have heard Natalie's very engaging talk last year.  She spoke honestly of her determined, though often challenging, path to publication and the background to her first book. 

I'm confident that you would  enjoy Natalie's talk so why not come along on Saturday 3rd October at 2pm?  Tickets are £5, including refreshments.  Copies of her books will be available to purchase and Natalie will sign them. Let me know if you would like a ticket put aside.

Suffolk Libraries Presents..

Next I have news of a new venture for Felixstowe Library,  one of only  seven Suffolk libraries to host screenings of a series of recorded live performances.  We are excited to be able to offer something a bit different to our local community; a taste of top quality arts events which will include theatre, ballet and art exhibitions.  The experience will be enhanced by a new projector and new seating in our Room at the Top.  We start with a performance of the play The Duchess of Malfi, by John Webster,  recorded live at Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London. The first ever play to be staged entirely in candlelight, this promises to be a very atmospheric production. 

The widowed Duchess of Malfi longs to marry her  lover, the steward Antonio.  But her brothers, Ferdinand and the Cardinal are opposed to the match. When their spy, Bosola, discovers that the Duchess has secretly married and is carrying Antonio's child they seek revenge. The Metro called it a "dish of delicious horrors served up in style."

The Duchess is played by Gemma Arterton who you may have seen recently in the new film Madame Bovery. Gemma has many other credits to her name including the films Tamara Drewe and
Quantum of Solace.

So the film of the play will be shown on Friday 13th November. Tickets are £7.50. Doors open 6.30pm, film starts 7pm.  There will be an interval when refreshments may be purchased. Please contact me asap if you would like to reserve a ticket - we have limited spaces of 30.  We haven't as yet publicised this widely so you are one of the first to know about it!

Best wishes

Debra Rowe
Library and Information Advisor

Felixstowe Library, Crescent Road, Felixstowe, Suffolk, IP11 7BY
01394 694880

debra.rowe@suffolklibraries.co.uk
www.facebook.com/FelixstoweLibrary
www.suffolklibraries.co.uk

*********

Director’s Diary

October 1, 2015 By HR 2 Comments

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Judging by all the very lovely comments made on the feedback forms you really enjoyed the 2015 Felixstowe Book Festival, so you’ll be happy to know plans are already under-way for 2016. The all important dates to put in your diary are 25th and 26th June 2016. Invite all your friends and relatives to come to Felixstowe that weekend to enjoy the fun!

Esther Freud 
Photo: Emily Greene

Big news for our Festival is that Esther Freud has agreed to be our Festival patron! A lovely coup and endorsement for us. To keep you in touch with with more exciting news and plans for 2016 I’ll be writing a Festival Director’s diary once a month on the blog. This will take you behind the scenes to give you an insight into how we create Felixstowe Book Festival.

So what happened in July after the festival weekend?

One of the most important July events was a party to thank all our wonderful volunteers. Without them the festival simply could not happen. Thankfully everyone seems to be willing to stay onboard for next year. There was also a fair amount of tidying up admin to do- authors to thank and pay, detailed reports to write for funding bodies, collating the feedback comments, finding out how many books and festival bags we had sold and, of course, the accounts.

There was also the matter of deciding on a festival theme for 2016 as authors and publishers were already asking about taking part. So I can let you know that the 2016 festival theme will be “Gateways”. This theme is inspired by Felixstowe’s position as the gateway for goods coming into the UK from all over the world through our port. However “Gateways ” has many interpretations- more of that next month – so has possibilities for many different events. I choose some of the authors who come to the festival just because their books are a good read but it is useful to have a theme running through the festival.

In August I went off to enjoy someone else’s festival- the Edinburgh International Book Festival…

A very bookish Wigtown window box!

I met Sara Sheridan for a cup of tea. Sara hosted our Vintage tea parties and ran a writers’ workshop at our festival. Several of ‘our’ authors were appearing in Edinburgh including Terry Waite, Professor Sir Anthony King, Mike Revell and Patrick Gale. Before leaving Scotland I went to look at Wigtown which is Scotland’s official “National ‘Book Town” no shortage of book shops there!

Back home in September planning started in earnest…

I’ve been meeting sponsors and funders, as well as emailing publishers and authors. Of course it was important to get the date in the Orwell’s diary and to discuss with them how the festival spaces will work next year. So far I can tell you the exciting news that Deborah Moggach will be appearing at our 2016 festival. I heard Deborah talk a few years ago and she was one of the most interesting and engaging authors I’ve heard and this was before her book These Foolish Things was made into the film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. I guess she may have some intriguing things to say about that. Felixstowe’s own author Ruth Dugdall will also be at the festival talking about her latest book Nowhere Girl which will be published later this year.

On the non fiction front we have Joris Luyendijk and John Kay in conversation. Luyendijk, a Dutch anthropologist, was assigned to investigate the financial sector for The Guardian. He managed to speak to over two hundred City insiders; from elite investment bankers to downtrodden back office staff. In Swimming with Sharks: My Journey into the World of the Banker they explain what they do all day and what makes them tick and Luyendijk asks if global finance is more sinister than we ever imagined. Leading economist John Kay writes along similar lines in his new book Other People’s Money, in which he explores what has gone wrong in the dark heart of the finance sector and how we can reform it.

For poetry fans we have two poets involved: Will Stone and Martin Newell. Will appeared in our first festival in 2013 and said that the Felixstowe audience was the most responsive and interested he’d ever experienced. As well as writing poetry, Martin writes regular features in The East Anglian Daily Times and Suffolkmagazine.

One of the perks of organising the festival is meeting people to talk about books and ideas for talks. Recently I’ve had coffee several times with Dr. Rosalind Green, the Director of the Essex Book Festival and we are planning a collaboration called “Dialogues” which will involve 6 panel discussions on various topics over a year: three in Essex and three here. They will be launched at the Essex Book festival in March and we will host the second at our festival in June.

I hope you’ll like what I’ve booked so far and there’ll be lots more to tell you next time.

Meg Reid

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'DOG DIARIES’  Working Dogs Short Story Competition   UPDATE

Congratulations to the shortlist and many thanks to all who entered the competition - visit www.ouenpress.com to view the shortlist selection.

Now even more tough decisions ahead - choosing the PRIZE WINNERS from this superb shortlist selection - and we are still intent on publishing the very best entries from the competition.

The PRIZE WINNERS for the competition will be announced later in the year on our website — or you may wish to check in with us on Twitter @OuenP  for more regular updates on the competition and all our other activities.

We would like to let you know about our activities from time to time, however should you wish not to be contacted in this way, please do let me know.

Good luck with your writing projects.

Paula Comley

Principal

OUEN PRESS

www.ouenpress.com