Active v passive

Read this fascinating post from Anne's Mini Blog, a US agent, on using the president elect's victory speech as an example of how not to write (if you don't want to annoy/bore your agent)

More links of interest

Where you bin?
Originally uploaded by Island 2000 Arts

Archwords has a terrific post here about the interpretation of Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken.”

Bluechrome blog about struggling as an independent press.

a salted blog is sara crowley on words and writing.

Lots of American Poetry on the Borders Open Door website. It sounds like a project we should take on here.

How to generate text from Duck Island in a variety of styles. See link to a salted blog above.

Everyday fiction has a daily short story up to 1,000 words. Varying qualities. If you want to submit, they pay a token 3 dollars.

Guess what Literary Rejection on Display blogs about

A great project Island Trust 2000 on the Isle of Wight has bronzed plaques of poetry at bus stops. What a terrific idea.

Poetry International is based around the South Bank in London. They have loads of literary events.

Postal Poetry teams up postcard art with poets (although the poetry is not exactly very long)

Obsessive Compulsive is AL Kennedy blogging about her peripatetic writing life in the New Statesman.

Slow Poetry show David Morley reading some poems in situ. This project presents Slow Art on an Arts Trail including poetry. Terrific idea. Here's his blog.

Via Negative is the blog of Dave Bonta, a poet, editor, and shutterbug from the eastern edge of western Pennsylvania with a separate category of photos.
The View from here by Susan Wiggs has a great summary of a workshop on novel plotting.

Some Results

TLS Poetry Competition 2008
The shortlisted poems, 12 out of 3,000, are available for your persual. Readers may vote for their favourite poem, identifying it by the letter affixed to its title; they may also offer a second choice, which will gain half marks in the adjudication. Votes must be in by December 5th.

The Arvon International Poetry Competition 2008
The results are out.

Classic FM First Prize - Peter Daniels with Shoreditch Orchid £5000
Second Price - Giles Goodland with Serpent £2500
Third Prize - Thomas Lynch with Mr President £1000

Commendation - Alan Stubbs with a philosophical provocation
Commendation - Frances Thompson with Letter
Commendation - Frances Leviston with Story

See a review of the night here.

Bill Naughton Short Story Competition
1st - ‘Cry of Koobaburra,’ by Mary D’Arcy;
2nd - ‘Soft on Crime,’ by Anne Gerardine Mould;
3rd - ‘Pension Plan’, by John McAllister

Attleborough poetry competition

Winner: “Rite of Passage”, by Jerrold Creger
Shortlist
- On Jackson’s Bridge Lock – Peter Goulding
- Parc Monceau – Jennifer Behan
- Writer’s Block – Seamus Harrington
- Balance – Sheila Roe
- Derrygimla – Brendan Carey Kinane
- Lightning Strikes Twice – Raymond Portley
- Descent Into Blue – Karyl Wagner
- Jefferson – Declan Keavney
- High Time – Eleanor Sheedy

More Faber Academy

The next really expensive weekend is in Paris,
When: Thursday 27 November to Sunday 30 November 2008
Where: Shakespeare and Company, 37 Rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 Paris
How much: £500 / €630 (includes lunches)
Who: Novelist and memoirist Rachel Cusk and a guest lecture by Blake Morrison
What: Reality and Representation
How do writers transform personal experience into the artistic representation of life? How and why does the individual become the universal through the literary process?
You may get more out of an Arvon course, a week's residential course.

Then there's a six month writing course.
When:Beginning in February 2009. 22 two-hour evening sessions and 6 full-day sessions. All evening sessions will take place on Wednesdays from 7.00pm-9.00pm. Full-day sessions will take place on Saturdays from 10.00am-5.00pm
Where:Faber and Faber Offices, London WC1
How Much: £3,500. One place on the course will be allocated free of charge.
Who:Course directory: Louise Doherty plus other guest speakers.
What:Writing a Novel From Start to Finish.
A practical, workshop-based course which covers all aspects of novel writing from first ideas for a book through character development, plotting and structure, to re-writing.
How much would an MA cost?

And then they're in Dublin.
When:Thursday 16 to Sunday 19 April 2009
Where:Newman House, Stephen's Green, Dublin
How Much:£500 / €630
Who:Gerard Donovan and Claire Keegan
What:How to Create More Room Using Less Space - The Art of the Short Story

Arts Council

Reminder - the arts council bursaries deadline is fast approaching: Thursday 27 November 2008 at 5.30pm.

It is planned that all applications received prior to the closing date will receive a decision in February 2009. The closing date for round 2 will be in April 2009.

The purpose of an Arts Council bursary is to support professional artists at all stages in their careers and in the development of their arts practice. The aim of the award is to allow artists, working in any context or in any artform, to buy space and freedom to concentrate on a body of work and provide the equipment, facilities and third party expertise to develop practice. Recipients can receive up to a maximum of €15,000 per year through the Bursary award. A number of multi-annual bursaries, which offer artists funding for up to a three-year period, are available each year.

Remember, the Arts Council grant is slashed by 10% in the budget and almost certainly more next year so get in early.

Remember also, the proportion of money that goes to the literary side seems unbalanced so let's correct that with a slew of applications.

Another thing the arts council are doing is running an interesting conference New Media, New Audience?
Tuesday 25 November in Dublin Castle.
(So any artist with a full time job will struggle to go)

"to explore the ways in which artists and the public are adapting and adopting new ways of producing, presenting and promoting the arts."

Grist

I haven't seen this mentioned in many places so perhaps the chances of winning will be greater.

Grist is a new annual anthology of the best new writing from around the world published by the University of Huddersfield. The judges for this year's competition are Joanne Harris (short fiction) and Simon Armitage (poetry). Focussing on poetry and short fiction, each issue will feature the winners of the Grist annual poetry and short fiction competitions, as well as specially commissioned work from some of the best established writers. Grist is interested in fresh new voices with something to say.

Deadline: 30 November 2008
Entry Fee: £3
Prize: 3 overall winners will receive a cash prize (how much?). The three winners and all runners up will be published in the next issue of Grist
What: Short story up to 3,500 words. See website for other conditions
Poem up to 40 lines. See website for other conditions

Don't you just love Simon Armitage? I'd invite him to my dinner party too.

What to send with a submission

This from Eoin Purcell posted after a new title meeting.
Most of these are new to me and I hadn't considered them before.

1. Give your place of birth, current residence and profession in your covering letter. Place of birth to extend sales to local book stores.
2. Write a tag line, the one used to sell your book to all and sundry.
3. Include an image (of yourself) for marketing.
4. Know what genre you fit in to. Makes it easier to sell.
5. If your editor accepts digital submissions, send them digitally.