Short Stories for BBC Radio 4

Radio 4 are reading now for their popular year round short story slot. broadcast in the Afternoon Reading slot at 3:30 pm.

Deadline: 30 November 

They say:
We are looking for original short stories which work being read out loud - ie with a strong emphasis on narrative, and avoiding too much dialogue, character description, and digression.  Pay particular attention to how the story opens and closes.  We’ll be looking to see whether the beginning of a story successfully links to how it ends.

We are interested in seeing stories which cover a broad range of subject matter, but material which explores particularly dark, harrowing themes is not best suited to Opening Lines.

The BBC has a rigorous taste and decency policy so we cannot accept stories of a sexist or racist nature, or those which use the stronger swear words. The time allotted for each story is around 14 minutes, which means stories must be between 1,900 and 2,000 words in length.

Link here.

One submission per writer

Art/Writing Talks

This sounds interesting.

The Art/Writing Talks are a series of three exploratory talks, panel discussions of invited speakers, curated by Fiona Fullam and funded by the Arts Council.

The Art/Writing Talks consider and explore the intersection of art and writing. What forms can art-writing take and how and where can this kind of work be disseminated? Art-writing could be said to include critical writing, reviews, related theoretical or philosophical writing, art-writing – which links the visual and the textual, and also textual visual art. Where and what are the links between these and what kinds of knowledge can be produced at these points of intersection? What could be lost or gained in moving beyond conventional discursive approaches into using visual and textual material? Are notions of authorship affected by the interdisciplinary nature of this kind of work?

These discussions aim to bring together writers, art practitioners and art-writers for a public exchange of ideas and endeavour to investigate and develop a range of ways of reading or responding to and discussing such work, both individually and collaboratively.

The talks take place at The Dock, Carrick-On-Shannon, Co Leitrim, at Spike Island in Bristol and at The Goethe Institute, Dublin.

The Dock -13th November, 2pm: 
Art/Writing: Writers, Writing and Exhibition-Making.
Speakers are David Berridge, Declan Long and Tine Melzer.

Spike Island – 27th November, 2pm: 
Art/Writing: Text and Context.
Speakers are Daniel Jewesbury, Tamarin Norwood and Jesse Jones.

The Goethe Institute – 11th December, 2pm: 
Art/Writing: Place and Possibility.
Speakers are Maria Fusco, Maeve Connolly.

Art/Writing is curated by Fiona Fullam.

http://artwritingtalks.wordpress.com

Poetry Business Book & Pamphlet Competition

The Poetry Business has been around for a while so they must be doing something right. The magazine The North is highly regarded.

JUDGE: Simon Armitage

DEADLINE: Last posting on Monday 29th November 2010 (or for online entries, 1st December)

ENTRY FEE: £25 — or £20 for Friends and subscribers. £1 surcharge is applied to entries submitted online.

Entrants are invited to submit a short collection of poems (20-24 pages), for the chance to win:

* book publication & six free copies (for the overall winner),
* pamphlet publication & 20 free copies (for three/four first-stage winners),
* a share of £2,000 prize money,
* a poetry reading hosted by The Poetry Business,
* publication in The North magazine
* and a session with Compass Points, NAWE’s popular professional development planning and coaching service.

Poems may have been published elsewhere, but must not have previously appeared as a published collection.

Website here.

They also say:
If you can't afford the entry fee this year but still want to submit your poems, you're more than welcome to send up to six to The North magazine. (This is of course free of charge.)

Want to read at the Whitehouse?

That's the one in Limerick, by the way.

I read there this year and they were a welcoming bunch who grilled me after like a chipolata.

The Whitehouse Poetry Revival is currently booking guest poets for its weekly readings during 2010, to take place every Wednesday at the White House pub, O'Connell Street, Limerick.

If overnight accommodation is needed or wanted we will be happy to facilitate this at a very close by B&B (two minutes walking distance from the pub) and we can also pay you a sum for your reading.  Our readings provide an excellent opportunity to poets to present their work to an audience as well an opportunity to sell their books (so be sure to bring some!).  We will also be delighted to cater for the launching of collections.
 Interested poets may contact me by email at edodwyer84 AT gmail.com with any queries.  Send a brief biography with emails.

Kilkenny County Bursary

Kilkenny County Council Arts Office is now inviting artists working across all art forms to apply for its Arts Office 2010 Bursary. Applications will be accepted from individual creative practitioners working in any art form to enable them to pursue their practice, to develop within their chosen discipline, including research and development, professional development, formal education, collaborative projects and activities, multidisciplinary projects and equipment.

Individuals seeking assistance must be involved in arts activities which, in the opinion of the Arts Office Develop knowledge of the arts and arts practice, their own practice and that of others. They must seek to promote the arts and arts practice to the public and develop an appreciation of the arts and their own practice and that of others. Undertakings should also assist in improving the standards of the arts and arts practice.

The Arts Office is encouraging individuals seeking assistance to involve others in their project, to assist and develop collaborative practice and engage with others in the execution of their activity or project.

Deadline: 4pm on Monday 22nd November 2010

Website here

Poets to Check Out - Tania Davis

How to be Alone by Tania Davis. Lovely film too.

Abridged 0 – 22: Nostalgia is a Loaded Gun

Abridged, the poetry/art magazine is looking for submissions for its Nostalgia is a Loaded Gun issue. A maximum of 3 poems may be submitted of any length.

Art can be up to A4 size and can be in any media. It should be at least 300 dpi.

Submissions can be emailed to abridged@ymail.com
or posted to: Abridged c/o The Verbal Arts Centre, Stable Lane and Mall Wall, Bishop Street Within, Derry BT48 6PU.

Deadline: 1st December 2010

They say:

We have built an entire economy on the enigmatic pull of nostalgia, on that 'heap of broken images' that intersect like shattered glass on our consciousness. The recent burial of said economy is proof of the flimsy, fickle nature of nostalgia. Nostalgia is a 'dead tree' that we cling to in desperate hope that some kernel of a longed for but ancient reality will drop from it. It is a cyanide pill that offers us no hope of touching what it is that we have lost. It is the air breathed by the past, whispered in our ears on frosty November nights. It promises reprieve but delivers nothing we can touch. It cannot be trusted. It cannot be believed. Nostalgia is a loaded gun.