Six Word Story

Ernest Hemingway said that his best piece of writing was a six word story - 'For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.'

More recently, Dave Eggers wrote: 'Fifteen years since last professional haircut.'

The Arvon Foundation's theme for 2010 is the six word story and they want you to contribute. Throughout the year they will be collecting six word stories on their website.

Send your six word story to competition@arvonfoundation.org.

Or if you're on Twitter you can tweet your story to @arvonfoundation.

Deadline: 1 September 2010.

They'll showcase some on the website.

Judge: poet Karen McCarthy.

Prize: The winners will receive a prize of an Arvon week.

Seems to be free to enter! And unlimited number of entries.

Fiona. Friends. Farida. Facebook. Fight. Fallout.
Bernardine Evaristo

Could've. Should've. Would've. Didn't. Didn't. Didn't.
Paul Farley

Top stair. One push. Game over.
Sophie Duffy

Irelands Own Short Story Competition

Win Euro 2,200 with Ireland's Own: Irelands Own are running competitions in 3 sections 

• The Open Short Story Section, open to all, with a prize fund of Euro 1,000. 2000 words, be non experimental and reflect the ethos of Ireland's Own.
• The Beginners Short Story Competition is open to anyone who has never had a short story published before, first prize Euro 400.  2000 words, be non experimental and reflect the ethos of Ireland's Own.
• The Memories section is for true stories of up to 800 words, and has a first prize of Euro 200. 

All entries should be original and unpublished, submitted in hard copy by post, on one side of A4, double spaced. Include your name/address on each entry, clearly mark envelope which section your entry is for.  

Deadline: 30^th Sept

Fee: Euro 6 in cheque or money order.

Details from 2010 Original Writing Competitions, Ireland's Own, Channing House, Rowe St. Wexford, Republic of Ireland, email: irelandsown@peoplenews.ie

Liverpool/The Beatles Story Poetry Competition

(Photo from cuteguyswithcats)

The Beatles Story is looking for the ‘Liverpool Lennon Poet 2010' in 3 categories.

1 - Performance Poet:

Can you not only write, but perform a poem at our Poetry Slam that celebrates the life of John Lennon? The Beatles Story is looking for a Performance Poet worthy to receive the prestigious title of Liverpool Lennon Performance Poet 2010.

Deadline: 5pm Friday 10th September 2010
Poetry slam: Saturday 6th November 2010
Prizes: 1st £1000, 2nd £250, 3rd £100 (that's a lot of money)
Free

2 - Paper Poet

Whether you live in Liverpool, Australia or the North Pole everyone can enter the Paper Poet competition. Capture our judge's imaginations, by writing up to 40 lines of rhyme about the life of John Lennon.

Deadline: 5pm Friday 10th September 2010
Finalists announced: By Friday 8th October 2010
Winner announced: Saturday 6th November (at the Performance Poet event)
Prizes: 1st £100, 2nd £50, 3rd £25 (not quite so much money)
Free

More info on the website

Kilkenny Arts Festival - Literature events

(Which one of the writers writes in this room?)

Kilkenny Arts Festival
6-15 August 2010

Joseph O’Connor & Philip King
Fri 6th Aug
Musician and broadcaster Philip King and author Joseph O’Connor explore balladry and fiction in a delightful evening filled with stories and song.

Paul Durcan
Sat 7th Aug
One of the most original voices in modern poetry brings his celebrated reading style to the Watergate.

The Hubert Butler Annual Lecture: Robert Fisk
Sat 7th Aug
Award-winning Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk looks back on his extraordinary career and casts a critical eye over the state of journalism today.

John Boyne & Andrew O’Hagan
Sun 8th Aug
John Boyne, best-selling author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, and Andrew O’Hagan, one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists, take us on a fictional journey from revolutionary Russia to Marilyn Monroe’s bedroom.

Ciaran Carson & Michael Coady
Tue 10th Aug
Two acclaimed Irish poets showcase their latest collections in the intimate setting of the Parade Tower.

John Banville & Hugo Hamilton
Thu 12th Aug
A double bill featuring two of this island’s most distinguished novelists, John Banville and Hugo Hamilton, whose latest work features everything from Greek gods to Serbian immigrants in Dublin.

John Boyne & Andrew O’Hagan
Sun 8th Aug
John Boyne, best-selling author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, and Andrew O’Hagan, one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists, take us on a fictional journey from revolutionary Russia to Marilyn Monroe’s bedroom.

Joseph O’Connor & Philip King
Fri 6th Aug
Musician and broadcaster Philip King and author Joseph O’Connor explore balladry and fiction in a delightful evening filled with stories and song.

Paul Durcan
Sat 7th Aug
One of the most original voices in modern poetry brings his celebrated reading style to the Watergate.

The Hubert Butler Annual Lecture: Robert Fisk
Sat 7th Aug
Award-winning Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk looks back on his extraordinary career and casts a critical eye over the state of journalism today.

BOX OFFICE 056 7752175

Subjects to Avoid

Advice on subjects to avoid, or at least think very carefully about before writing and/or submitting.

From Staple Magazine on why some perfectly good, professionally presented and perfectly publishable work may be rejected.

For authors of short fiction,

• relationship break-up stories, 
• stories where former friends meet and find they no longer have much in common, (I have one of those in my head waiting to be written. It may have to stay in my head now)
• stories that centre on secrets coming to light, 
• stories involving car accidents, 
• stories about estranged children returning home after parents’ deaths, or to visit dying parents, 
• stories about writers,  
• stories about people in their twenties just out of university, finding their ways in the world

Jeez, that cuts out a lot, don't it.

I would add Cancer and Alzheimers to that list.

For poets,

• observations on nature, 
• reflections on children leaving home, 
• feelings of spirituality triggered by views of the sea, 
• recollections of childhood events, 
• anecdotal poems about events witnessed in ordinary streets, 
• poems that use standard workshop forms like the sonnet and villanelle, 
• Poems that take their cues from postcards and paintings, 
• poems about travel and foreign landscapes and cities;

Hm.  I mean I know there is a lot left (ironing, sex, puppies, war, all four at once) but there's a lot gone.

The Rialto magazine posts about areas to be wary of in poetry.

• Pets, their births, deaths, loyalty, kittenishness etc. Horses aren’t pets and they interest me.
• Paintings. I think this may be a Creative Writing Exercise in somebody’s book. They often turn up – they describe the work of art and say how interesting it is and what it reminds the poet of.
• Postcard poems – what I did and where I went on my holiday. Travel is supposed to broaden the mind, but these poems show little evidence of this. 
• Boasting poems. These are often by males 
• Beware the Eternal Verities. Those poems that set out to Explain The Meaning Of Life. There is a useful Creative Writing Maxim which says ‘show don’t tell’. I’m very happy to know life’s meaning, but I’d rather you showed me how you discovered it than bashed me over the head with it.

So that's Puppies gone too.
You won't get many of these subjects in the Poetry Divas 2 pamphlet. Oh no.

Want the Poetry Divas 2, second ever Poetry Pamphlet?

Do you want your own copy of the Poetry Divas second ever poetry pamphlet, entitled Poetry Divas 2, printed (not published, we reserve the right to publish these poems elsewhere) by Diva Press? Scared we'll sell out before you get to see us?
Want to own this priceless collectors' item now?

Click here. You can choose one of the other pamphlets here too.
5 Euro plus 1 Euro P&P worldwide.

All Pamphlets

Poetry Divas Two €5.00 Good Sherry Trifle €5.00 Poetry Divas One €5.00

and one will soon be winging its way to you for your reading enjoyment.

This one features Poetry Divas, Top Hat Diva, Haiku Diva and me Diva. Especially printed for the fabulous Body and Soul Midsummer Experience. Relive Midsummer with a little bit of Poetry in the comfort and relative safety of your own home. Tiara optional.

Interesting Links

Macsweeney's on Social Networking.

"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by brevity, over-connectedness, emotionally starving for attention, dragging themselves through virtual communities at 3 am, surrounded by stale pizza and neglected dreams, looking for angry meaning, any meaning ... 

Significant Objects. Geegaws and Short Stories for sale on ebay. The Guardian digs out an interesting story. You can see all the goods, read all the stories and the amount paid for each listing at Significantobjects.com. Or, if you prefer, you can wait until 2011, when the American publishers Fantagraphics Books are due to bring out an anthology.

Suffering from the Am-I-Crazies? Am-I-Shite? Why is it so hard to tell? From Nathan Bransford

82-year-old lands first book deal. Myrrha Stanford-Smith makes novel debut with The Great Lie with Honno Press in Wales. There's hope for us all. (I hope it's good)

27 Reasons why Eclipse the film is better than Eclipse the Book.