Today is World Poetry Day and I suspect there is a lot of disappointment around at the cancellation of readings, workshops etc.
Fortunately poetry is something that can be enjoyed as much alone as in social gatherings. Reading a favourite poet, or perhaps a newly bought book, is almost social: reader and poet together.
I think the current crisis will leave several kinds of mark on history, and one of those will be poems.
More or less by chance I’ve discovered that there are associations of independent libraries in the UK and elsewhere. A new-to-me discovery that I find somehow joyful: bringing together independence and libraries to help each other.
And on 25th to 27th of September this year the UK and American groups are to have a conference.
The formal agenda looks more or less as one might expect, but I would love to listen to the between-formal chat. Do the delegates discuss the latest books or bemoan the cost of quality shelving? Perhaps they share snippets of history and founders’ wisdom. Or maybe they read.
Today is the last day of International Archives Week, a bit late to be blogging about it but I’ve only just discovered it. As a professional association the International Council on Archives is hardly mass entertainment, but as a lover of libraries and bookshops and all such bookish collections I find its existence interesting.
And in some ways comforting – someone is taking care of our collective memories.
There are lists and maps of events worldwide.
They cover various activities like talks, guided tours, open house, seminars, exhibitions and even parties.
I assume (and hope I’m right) that their work includes archives from the online world. If not our age is going to be very thinly represented.
For anyone able to get there, this sounds like a wonderful opportunity.
The “Kōka” teahouse, an Important Cultural Property, is beautifully situated within the garden of the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum.
Tea ceremony made approachable! Learn about the history and aesthetics of the Japanese tea ceremony, and how you can bring the tea ceremony into your own life. right now, without lessons or a teahouse or all the special utensils. At the same time you can experience an authentic tea ceremony in a historic teahouse within a beautiful Japanese garden, just as the fall colors are beginning to turn. Details and sign ups here on the museum website.
Location: “Kōka” Teahouse, in the garden of the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum
Hosts: tea masters from the Urasenke School of Tea, one of the three historical households directly descended from the 16th century tea master Sen no Rikyū. They are “the real deal” but their focus is on making tea ceremony something…
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I love success stories and hearing about winners. There are still a number of opportunities here.
Reflex Fiction is a quarterly international flash fiction competition for stories between 180 and 360 words. We publish one story every day as we count down to the winner of each competition.
At the end of September we published the three winning stories from our Summer 2018 flash fiction competition as chosen by Sherrie Flick. Here are the winners and links to the stories:
First Place: Crowbar by Lyndsay Wheble
Second Place: Consanguinity by Fiona J Mackintosh
Third Place: Skin by Donna L Greenwood
You can read Sherrie’s thoughts on the winning stories here.
We’ve also just published the long-list for our Autumn 2018 competition and have started publishing stories as we count down to the announcement of the winners at the end of December.
We’re also accepting entries for our Winter 2018 competition. Here are the important details:
Prizes:…
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Two workshops that sound really interesting. And free, too, what could be better?
Thanks to Short Stops, a blog for the short story, for posting.
‘Cullopmton’s Wool Trade, Coldharbour Mill and the Walronds –
A Historical Fiction Romance and Adventure Creative Short Story Workshop’.
Thursday the 14th of September – Free Morning Workshop
(9.45am registration and a 10am start. Finish at 12 o’clock.)
To book contact: cullompton.library@librariesunlimited.org.uk
Your Workshop Facilitator will be Myfanwy (Vanni) Cook, who is currently the ‘New Voices’ Feature Editor for ‘The Historical Novel Society Review Magazine’ and an Associate Fellow at two Universities. She is the author of ‘Historical Fiction Writing – A practical guide and tool-kit’ and is passionate about bringing local history alive.
www.historicalnovelsociety.org
https://twitter.com/MyfanwyCook
Thursday the 14th of September – Free Afternoon Workshop
The “Golgotha” and St. Andrew’s Church –A Historical Crime Fiction Creative Short Story Workshop
for those who enjoy the writing of Ellis Peters and Umberto Eco
(1.45pm Registration and a 2pm start. Finish at 4pm.)
To book contact: cullompton.library@librariesunlimited.org.uk
In April last year I reblogged Crimepieces post about the Petrona Award for Scandinavian crime novels. I failed to follow it up and find out who won. Never mind: the award has come around again (as they do) and the shortlist was published in March. As usual I want to read most of the books on the list, but I know I won’t have time. Would a life spent reading be good? or would I get tired of even the best books
This year the winner will be announced at Crimefest, which starts this coming Thursday. The announcement will apparently be made at the Gala dinner, so any attendees will have to do some serious eating as well as listening.
Another event I’ve stumbled across is run by the British Library and is dedicated to Golden Age crime fiction. It is Bodies From The Library which is a very suitable name. This event is only one day (17 June), but it has a very full programme.
I’m sure there are many other events that I’ve missed reading about. Literary festivals and conventions seem to be multiplying apace; soon we’ll be able to go to one every day of the summer and most of the winter too. But would the bank balance and stamina hold out?
This sounds like an interesting event. I regret that it’s too far for me but others may be closer. Thank you to ShortStops for publishing the details.
Come and listen to some tales of May madness, Mayans and a certain hairy rock star at Hand of Doom’s May-themed story nights in Kent.
They take place in Folkestone on Friday, May 19 at the Grand Hotel, The Leas, and the following evening, Saturday, May 20, in Faversham at The Guidhall, both from 7.45pm for an 8pm start.
For more information, please go to Facebook Hand of Doom Productions
I wish I was in Buxton to hear this talk. Thank you James Burt for reminding me that the ‘official’ history isn’t all there is.
The Odditorium: the tricksters, eccentrics, deviants and inventors whose obsessions changed the world (Hodder & Stoughton, 2016) includes some amazing characters. Some you’ll have heard of, some you probably won’t. All of them have changed the world, although in some cases the wider world hasn’t noticed yet. They include Joshua Norton, first Emperor of America, and Reginald Bray, who carried out strange experiments with the Royal Mail. I was delighted to be asked to write about Apsley Cherry-Garrard, who is by far my favourite explorer.
When I was at school, we were often told stories about adventurers and explorers as something to aspire to. Captain Robert Falcon Scott was held up as a great example, bravely sacrificing himself in an attempt to reach the South Pole. As Sara Wheeler once described Antarctica, our southernmost continent often seems to be “a testing-ground for men with frozen beards to see how dead…
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If you’re in Birmingham or Durham over the next couple of months, you should look out for this strange beast.
It’s a sound installation called Poetry Periscope and it’s on a UK tour. It started it’s journey in April as part of the European Literature Festival, and it’s still going – unwearied and cheery in its yellowness.
It plays 30 poems from 30 European cultures. Each is played in its own language and in English translation. To stand in a shopping mall or railway station and listen to all that may be a bit much, but perhaps the commute to work or shopping trip can be enhanced by a couple of the recordings.
In addition to the Festival, a number of organisations are involved with the project including European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), The Poetry Society and Pianos on the Street.
