Wednesday 31 May 2017

Heben Bridge Library events June 2017

Here are upcoming Calderdale Library events including Read Regional and Hebden Library author events:

 


 

Tuesday 30 May 2017

Winning Writer newsletter

Here is the latest Winning Writers newsletter for my followers to peruse:


Submit to our 3rd annual North Street Book Prize |

Winning Writers - best resources for poets and writers
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North Street Book Prize for Self-Published Books

Winners of the first annual North Street Book PrizeWe invite you to compete for our third annual North Street Book Prize for self-published books. The winners of our second competition were Winfred Cook (top left), L.S. Johnson (bottom left), and Linda Baer (bottom right).
This year's deadline is June 30. Submit a self-published book in one of the following categories, up to 150,000 words in length:
·         General Fiction (literary & genre fiction)
·         Young Adult Fiction
·         Creative Nonfiction & Memoir
The winner of each category will receive $1,500, a marketing analysis and one-hour phone consultation with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, a $300 credit at BookBaby, and 3 free ads in the Winning Writers newsletter (a $450 value). Two honorable mentions in each category will receive $250. We will publish online excerpts (1,000-6,000 words) from all entries that win a prize, along with critiques from judges Jendi Reiter and Ellen LaFleche. Lauren Singer and Annie Keithline will assist in the judging.
The entry fee is $60 per book. Your book should be available to the public for sale or download by June 30 to be eligible. Books published in past years are welcome. Submit as many books as you like.

All contestants will receive a copy of How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally & Ethically by Carolyn Howard-Johnson (PDF) and free guides to successful publishing from BookBaby.
Submit Here
Please enjoy the judges' remarks from our second contest.
Thanks to everyone who entered our second annual North Street Book Prize for self-published books of fiction, memoir, and creative nonfiction. We received 473 entries. Once again we were impressed with the creativity, vulnerability, and perseverance of the many fine writers who prefer self-publishing or who have not yet been discovered by the major presses.
This year we brought on Lauren Singer and Anne Keithline as first-round screeners to present a shortlist of about 50 books to final judges Jendi Reiter and Ellen LaFleche. We chose Lauren and Anne for their contemporary aesthetic, political awareness, and professionalism. Our faith was certainly rewarded. Ellen did the first read-through of the shortlisted books that were submitted in hard copy, then she and Jendi divided the online entries. We shared our favorites from each batch with one another for a full read-through, ending up with the 16 finalists on our winners' page.
As we read, we asked ourselves: Would we continue reading this book for pleasure if it wasn't a contest entry? Is this book truly finished and polished, or does it need another round of structural or line edits to fulfill its potential? Did we learn something new from this book?
This year's entries made us rethink genre boundaries. Some books submitted as memoir were actually novelizations of family history. As popular subjects like World War II and the 1960s counterculture become farther away in time, we are seeing more books by children of the participants in those events. Though these cross-genre family histories can be good reads, we're eager to receive more first-hand accounts of recent events that have been under-represented in the literature.
Our line between "genre/commercial" and "mainstream/literary" appeared increasingly arbitrary. A book with traditionally "genre" elements, such as a romance plotline or paranormal phenomena, could have the poetic writing style and social significance of serious literature. On the flip side, a mainstream realist novel could be a lightweight beach read. Therefore, for the 2017 contest, we're changing the two fiction categories to General Fiction and Young Adult Fiction.
We debated how much weight to give to proofreading and copyediting errors. While theoretically typos are no reflection on a book's literary quality, these are self-published books, not manuscripts, so we must also evaluate them as commercial products. Our touchstone was: Would we feel cheated if we bought this book for full price and found this many misspelled words and incorrect sentences? Unfortunately, even among the shortlisted books, a really clean copy was the exception, not the rule.
Pacing was a common weakness in books we otherwise enjoyed. Most of the top entries were still too long by 10-20% and would have benefited from a last round of edits. Nonfiction writers went in for the comprehensive life story or family history instead of building a tight narrative arc around a pivotal few years in their lives. Family saga writers did not take our advice from last year to include a genealogy chart to keep track of the characters. We noticed a trend, in both memoir and literary fiction, to skip back and forth in time and setting, without enough transition markers for us readers to orient ourselves. One of Jendi's pet peeves is stories that never specify their location and time period. There's usually not a good reason to omit this information, which can make all the difference in the background assumptions we bring to the story and its plausibility. It's distracting to be looking for these clues instead of immersing ourselves in the narrative.
Similarly to last year, some books didn't make the cut because of problematic stereotypes. All authors should check out K. Tempest Bradford's piece at LitReactor, "Representation Matters: A Literary Call to Arms", for tips on writing about ethnic and gender identities different from your own. Queer erotica writer Xan West's article "Fat Characters in Romance and Erotica" includes links to numerous other pieces about body-positive characterization. Whether you write realistic or fantasy fiction, if there's a love interest in your novel, take a look at Carol Van Natta's post about dubious consent in science fiction and paranormal romantic pairings.
Our Winners
Linda L.T. Baer took First Prize in Nonfiction for Red Blood, Yellow Skin, her gripping memoir of survival as a child and young woman in war-torn Vietnam. As well as being an exciting read, the book has great historical and educational value as an overview of the origins of that ill-fated war. Baer sensitively depicts both the horrors of violence and poverty, and the small joys of a childhood spent close to nature, which kept her spirit alive.
The judging was so close that we awarded a special Second Prize for Mary Ellen Sanger's Blackbirds in the Pomegranate Tree, an American woman's memoir of her month in a Mexican prison where she was unjustly held as leverage in a land dispute. Sanger made use of this Kafka-esque experience to record the stories of her fellow prisoners, many of them victims of a corrupt legal system. Her poetic writing captures the lush beauty of Mexico and the dignity of its people.
Honorable Mentions in Nonfiction went to Jordan Cosmo's Mind Your Head, a funny and poignant memoir about coming of age as a butch lesbian in a repressive Christian missionary family; and Mary C. Koral's The Year the Trees Didn't Die, the story of her three internationally adopted children (from Vietnam, India, and South Korea) and their struggles to cope with early trauma and racism.
In Mainstream/Literary Fiction, Winfred Cook won First Prize for Uncle Otto, an atmospheric and moving historical novel about an African-American family in the World War I and Prohibition era. The title character is based on his real-life uncle, rumored to have been a bootlegger during the Roaring 20s. With well-realized characters and dramatic twists, this saga illuminates a crucial period of American social change, from a perspective that is under-represented in standard history books.
Honorable Mentions in Mainstream/Literary Fiction went to Jeff Ingber for Béla's Letters, a spiritually rich novel about the Holocaust in Hungary, based on his parents' life stories; and Lee Wicks for Some Measure of Happiness, an intimate tale of friendship and bereavement in a small Vermont town.
L.S. Johnson won First Prize in Genre Fiction for Vacui Magia, a collection of strange and lyrical horror stories about women, reminiscent of the dark fantasy writing of Angela Carter and Tanith Lee. Her achingly real characters—ranging from a cafeteria worker on the verge of a breakdown, to an 18th-century prostitute enraged that Rousseau stole her life story—are driven by oppression to invoke dangerous forces. Honorable Mentions went to April Kelly's Winged, a magical-realist novel about a mother who risks everything for her daughter's dreams of flying; and Return of the Convict by William Alan Thomas, a space-adventure update of Dickens's Great Expectations.
This year's books were enjoyable, educational, and inventive. We thank you once again for entrusting us with your work. In our third contest, open now, we'd love to see even more books by and about people of color, especially in contemporary settings; young adult novels outside the paranormal/fantasy genre; LGBTQI characters in all genres; romance novels that understand consent and feminism; and "own voices" literature about disability and neurodiversity. We look forward to discovering our next favorite authors!
We would like to recognize and encourage these finalists:
Creative Nonfiction
·         Michael Pronko, Motions and Moments
Literary Fiction
·         Bette Lee Crosby, Passing Through Perfect
·         Stephen Davenport, No Ivory Tower
·         Annie Dawid, And Darkness Was Under His Feet
Genre Fiction
·         Delfy Hall, The Warlock and the Wolf
·         Kathleen Jowitt, Speak Its Name
    


Monday 29 May 2017

The Leeds Big Bookend & Northern Short Story Festival


Starting on 3 June, the Leeds Big Bookend and Northern Short Story Festival have plenty of writing events to look forward to, full details below:


 



In Conversation with Candace Robb and Chris Nickson, Thursday 8 June, 7pm at The Leeds Library

www.bigbookend.co.uk



Candace Robb

We are delighted  to welcome historian and historical crime fiction author, Candace Robb and historical crime fiction author, Chris Nickson to the
 Leeds Library on Thurs 8 June, 7pm. 

Candace is the author of the bestselling Owen Archer
series of historical mysteries, set in 14th century York and the Margaret Kerr trilogy that takes place in medieval Scotland.

Her latest novel, The Service of the Dead, begins a new crime series with heroine Kate Clifford, set in late 14th century York. In addition, she writes historical fiction as Emma Campion.

 


 
 
Chris Nickson

Leeds born Chris Nickson is a prolific writer especially of historical crime fiction.

He is the author of the Richard Nottingham series, Inspector Tom Harper series and Dan Markham novels.
Come along and hear these two historical crime fiction best sellers talking about their lives, work and inspirations. A treat not to be missed!
Tickets are £3.00 + VAT and can be booked here.

Chris told us how Candace has influenced his writing in an article for our blog which you can read here.


Follow the Leeds Big Bookend on:  Facebook/BigBookend
Twitter/BigBookend
 and the Northern Short Story Festival on: Facebook/NoShoStoFest Twitter/NoShoSto


Copyright © 2017 The Big Bookend, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:

info@bigbookend.co.uk

        

 









       

The Big Bookend · Virtuoso Legal · 31 Harrogate Road · Leeds, West Yorkshire LS7 3PD · United Kingdom

   


Launching The Walter Swan Short Story Prize 2017-18 at The Northern Short Story Festival on Saturday 3 June!

www.bigbookend.co.uk


The Walter Swan Trust

We are delighted to announce that The Walter Swan Short Story Prize 2017-18 will be launched at the Northern Short Story Festival on Saturday 3 June at the Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds. Entries will be accepted from then until the closing date of 16th October 2017.

Walt Swan was passionate about writing and encouraging others to be creative, which he did throughout his life and particularly through his teaching and directing. He wrote poetry, plays, screenplays, short stories and regular articles as a freelance journalist. He also began work on two novels and has three published non-fiction books.

Walter died suddenly and unexpectedly on the 21 April 2014.
The Walter Swan Trust was set up in his memory by his family and friends.

The Prize is run by the Northern Short Story Festival and the Leeds Big Bookend Festival in partnership with the Walter Swan Trust.


• Stories should be a maximum of 2000 words
•There is no theme and entries can be on any subject
• All stories must be previously unpublished
• Entry is open to everyone aged 18+
• Fee £3
• Submission is via Submittable portal. The link will go live on Saturday 3 June. More information
here.

There will be a cash prize of £200, £100 and £50 for the three winners and the top 20 stories will be published in an anthology by
Valley Press in March 2018.

Our judges are
Anna Chilvers, author of Tainted Love, and Angela Readman, winner of the Costa Short Story Prize 2013.

 

 


 
 
The Northern Short Story Festival
 

There's just 3 weeks to go until the return of The Northern Short Story Festival 2017.

Download the Northern Short Story Festival Programme here.

The only festival of its kind in the North, celebrating Northern writers and Northern talent on Saturday 3 June 2017 at the Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds.

The Festival promotes the short story form through workshops and events. Popular and published authors, editors and small press publishers will come together to share their stories, expertise and wisdom with you.

Tickets to the
workshops are selling fast and Zoe Lambert's Endings in Short Stories is now sold out but you can still book onto How to Tell a Story in an Image with Sarah Dobbs, Crime Writing with Jacob Ross and Look to the Stars, astronomy-inspired writing exercises led by A.J. Ashworth.

There are also two Q&As: Small Press Panel – What do Editors look for in a Short Story? and Get Published, Get Shortlisted.

There's a
flash fiction slam competition. 9 slots, 5 minutes, best story wins!

There will also be the
book launch of Leone Ross' new short story collection, Come Let Us Sing Anyway, published by Peepal Tree Press.

Tickets range from £5 to £9 or you can buy a day ticket for £20. Full details are here.

The Northern Short Story Festival is a partnership venture between  the Leeds Big Bookend Festival and the Carriageworks Theatre, with additional funding from Leeds Inspired and Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society. It has been curated by Leeds author SJ Bradley.

Follow the Leeds Big Bookend on:  Facebook/BigBookend
Twitter/BigBookend
 and the Northern Short Story Festival on: Facebook/NoShoStoFest Twitter/NoShoSto

Copyright © 2017 The Big Bookend, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:

info@bigbookend.co.uk

        

 


 



         

The Northern Short Story Festival is Back on Saturday 3 June 2017 at the Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds. Book Now! 

www.bigbookend.co.uk



The Commoners Choir

Just 4 weeks to go until the return of The Northern Short Story Festival 2017!

The only festival of its kind in the North, celebrating Northern writers and Northern talent on Saturday 3 June 2017 at the 
Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds.

The Festival promotes the short story form through workshops and events. Popular and published authors, editors and small press publishers will come together to share their stories, expertise and wisdom with you.

We have 2 Q&As: Small Press Panel – What do Editors look for in a Short Story? With host Becky Cherriman and guests Teika Bellamy, (Mother's Milk Books), Jamie McGarry (Valley Press) and Becca Parkinson (Comma Press); Get Published, Get Shortlisted hosted by James Nash with writers Richard Smyth, A.J. Ashworth and Liz Ottosson. 

We have 4 workshops: How to Tell a Story in an Image with Sarah Dobbs; Endings in Short Stories with Zoe Lambert; Crime Writing with Jacob Ross; and  Look to the Stars,
astronomy-inspired writing exercises led by A.J. Ashworth.

There's a Flash Fiction Slam competition. 9 slots, 5 minutes, best story wins!  Our judges are Jimmy Andrex and John Irving Clarke. 



 

 


 
 
Commoners Choir Tour
 
Download the Programme here.

We are delighted to launch Leone Ross' new short story collection, Come Let Us Sing Anyway, published by Peepal Tree Press.

We are also very excited to announce that we will be launching The Walter Swan Short Story Prize 2017-18 at the Festival. More information to come soon.

Tickets range from £5 to £9 or you can buy a day ticket for £20. Full details are
here.

You can download the Festival Programme
here.

The Northern Short Story Festival is a partnership venture between  the Leeds Big Bookend Festival and the Carriageworks Theatre, with additional funding from Leeds Inspired and Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society. It has been curated by Leeds author SJ Bradley.

Follow the Leeds Big Bookend on:  Facebook/BigBookend
Twitter/BigBookend
 and the Northern Short Story Festival on: Facebook/NoShoStoFest Twitter/NoShoSto


Copyright © 2017 The Big Bookend, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:

info@bigbookend.co.uk