From the ever resourceful
Stammering Poet's blog.
Tam O'Shanter reboot. I read this mad poem at school in Scotland. Can you bring it into the 21st Century?
reply from the organisers may give some pointers
We are very pleased with the response so far; some brimfull of wit
and wisdom, lovely imagery and some very good lines . But there is
something slightly depressingly similar about some of them, kebabs occur
so often that the competition could almost be retitled “Carry on up the
Kebab”, and a lot of downright squalor and sordidness. The original Tam
avoids that. Can we not a couple of hundred years later do as well? And
does it only have to be about a man out on the piss pulling the
birds………….. there are so many other escapades which can go horribly
wrong to choose from. Burns did not have much choice, we have.
Deadline 31 Dec 2012
The story of Tam’s journey home from the tavern after a few too many is infamous. But now a new challenge has been set!
The
Great Reboot of Tam o’ Shanter challenges you to bring the bard’s poem
into the 21st century. Following the structure of the original, you are
invited to come up with a new, modern twist on this old classic. The
organisers are looking for someone to write a piece, in English or
Scots, thinking about what Burn’s would have written if he were around
today. An outing to a football match in Barcelona, a blind date to
Benidorm, a hen party, a rave at a zombie night-club... it’s up to you!
• The poem should be about a night out and the return home after a wild and unpredicted experience – of whatever kind!
•
It should be written in Scots or English and be the original work of
the author, unpublished and not accepted for publication elsewhere.
•
It should not be under consideration in other writing competitions
and should not be a translation of another author’s work.
• The
original 'Tam o’ Shanter' runs to 224 lines. Entries should be no longer
than that, and particularly short poems are not appropriate: so, no
limericks, sonnets or villanelles, please.
• Any metrical form
would be welcome – the ballad stanza, rhyming couplets, iambic
pentameters, free verse are all welcome options. We are looking for a
narrative poem of substance, insight and wit.
• The competition is open to anyone over the age of 16.
How to enter
• All entries are to be made online to:
tamoshanterreboot@hjlockhart.co.uk
• You can make as many entries as you like.
• Entries will be acknowledged by E mail.
• There is no fee for entry.
It's free!
The Judges:
Lesley
Duncan, Poetry Editor of The Herald; Charles MacLean, Whisky
Evangelist; Hugh Lockhart, Trustee of FSFF, David Purdie, editor of The
Burns Encyclopaedia; Alan Riach, Professor of Scottish Literature at
Glasgow University; Alexander McCall Smith, novelist.
The Prizes
The
three best entries will submit to final judgement at an event in the
Robert Burns Birthplace Museum beside the Auld Haunted Kirk of Alloway,
in Ayrshire, Scotland and prizes will be awarded as below:
1st prize £500
2nd prize £200
3rd prize £100
And a further four prizes of £25 each.
Link
here
Join Pat Liddy
on a fascinating walk in the ancient area around the Smock Alley
Theatre – a historic centre for publishing houses, newspapers,
monasteries, cathedrals and a stomping ground for famous writers drawn
here by the taverns and civic occasions.
What’s the object for your times? Join Fintan O’Toole, author and literary editor of The Irish Times,
and guests to discuss the 10 objects on exhibition at the National
Museum at Collins Barracks and vote for your preferred object. This last
object chosen will be added to the other 99, which have appeared weekly
in The Irish Times, and will feature in a book on the subject, to be published by the Royal Irish Academy in March 2013.
Children’s Area, Smock Alley Theatre
What does it mean to have an established writer endorse your work? Dublin Writers Festival invites John Boyne, Siobhán Parkinson and Dermot Bolger to nominate emerging writers to share the stage and showcase their work. Donal Ryan’s recent debut novel The Spinning Heart
was chosen as the flagship release for Doubleday Ireland, in a
co-publishing venture with Lilliput Press. ‘I can’t imagine a more
original, more perceptive or more passionate work than this.’ (John
Boyne). Colm Keegan’s debut collection Don’t Go There
was published last year by Salmon Poetry. ‘The poetry … brims with
frenetic energy and a hard-earned street-wise lyricism, bereft of false
notes or unearned experience.’ (Dermot Bolger). Deirdre Sullivan’s debut novel Prim Improper,
published by Little Island, was shortlisted for the Bisto Children’s
Book of the Year Award (2011). ‘A writer with a sparkling talent … her
first novel for young teens is even more hilarious and touching than I
could possibly have imagined’ (Siobhán Parkinson).
Bringing
the Dublin Book Festival to a close, we have two of Ireland’s finest
short story authors, Kevin Barry and Mike McCormack in conversation with
Sean Rocks, presenter of rté Radio 1’s Arena.Kevin Barry is the author of the story collections Dark Lies The Island and There Are Little Kingdoms and the novel City Of Bohane.
He has won the European Union Prize for Literature, the Rooney Prize
for Irish Literature, and the Sunday Times efg Private Bank Short Story
Award. Mike McCormack, has published two novels and won
several awards, among them The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. His
story ‘The Terms’ from his collection of short stories Getting It In The Head was adapted into an award-winning short film. Mike’s new collection of short stories, Forensic Songs, was published earlier this year.
Three
of Ireland’s top female writers come together to reveal how the
legendary author Maeve Binchy inspired their writing and helped to pave
the way, not only for them, but for a host of Irish female writers over
the years.
Join
our food writers for a lively discussion about the evolution of the
cookbook – from print to online. Are cookbooks a thing of the past? Catherine Fulvio
is proprietor of the Ballyknocken House Cookery School, a prolific
cookery writer and one of Ireland’s top television culinary stars. Lilly Higgins is a Ballymaloe-trained chef and an enthusiastic food blogger. Sheila Kiely
runs a Food Safety Management Consultancy and her blog
www.gimmetherecipe.com is one of the big names in the foodie
blogosphere. Jane Travers is the author of Tweet Treats, a book of over 1000 recipes which were composed on Twitter in 140 characters or less.
Main Theatre, Smock Alley Theatre
Ages 7-8 years
Designed for those who have always wanted to assay the short story, or who are already underway, the workshop will consist of on-site writing exercises together with discussion of the various elements of fiction: from language and theme to how is a story set, and how do we go about peopling it in persuasive fashion?
Over
the course of the two days we will explore various aspects of your work
and the work of your peers to give you a better sense of your abilities
and how best they might be applied to move your work on to the next
level. Each participant will be expected to send a poem in advance so
that we can focus on your work in a critical, but always constructive,
workshop environment. In addition to looking at the work of the group,
we will also look at a selection of contemporary poets and examine how
lessons we learn from their work can be applied to our own.
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