The Society of Women Writers & Journalists www.swwj.co.uk
Issue No. 61
November 2011
Founded in 1894
The
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November
In this issue: • Writing holidays for 2012 • Reports from members • Email etiquette
r e t i r W
• Book reviews • Markets • Around the regions
Who’s who
Editor: Carol Cannavan 10 Dury Falls Close Hornchurch, Essex RM11 3AX Tel: 01708 459376 Email: c_cannavan@yahoo.co.uk Chairman/ Web Manager: Zoë King 8 Chestnut Close, Catfield Norfolk NR29 5RH Tel: 01692 580485 Email: zoe@zoeking.com
Press & PR: Doreen Friend Tel: 020 8505 2476 Email: oneder@ntlworld.com Poetry: Anita Marie Sackett Tel: 01245 262020 Email: miknitahow@blueyonder. co.uk Outings: Colleen McMath Tel: 020 8504 2506 Email: colleenmcmath@amserve. com
Vice Chair/Overseas Liaison: Susan Elkin - Tel: 01795 423708 Overseas Trips: Email: susanelkinltd@gmail.com Joyce Elsden - Tel: 01903 238582 Email: j.elsden123@btinternet. Hon. Treasurer/Drama: com Benita Cullingford Probationers: Tel: 01727 857388 Email: b.cullingford@btinternet. Rosemary Hudson Tel: 01273 945635 com Email: rosemaryhchudson@gmail. Membership/ com Workshops: Archivist: Wendy Hughes Sylvia Kent 14 Laburnum Walk, Rustington Tel: 01277 651062 West Sussex BN16 3QW Email: skent32@tiscali.co.uk Tel: 01903 785771 Email: wendy@stickler.org.uk SWWJ website: Competitions: Margaret Mounsdon Tel: 01444 451333 Email: mounsdma@sky.com
Lord Quirk, Sir Tim Rice, The Earl of Stockton, Simon Brett Honorary Life President: Baroness Williams of Crosby President: Nina Bawden CBE FRSL Vice Presidents: Jean Bowden, Valerie Dunmore, Joyce Elsden, Jocelyn Glegg, Barbara Haynes, Trish Hettena, Jennie Lisney, Mary Rensten, Jean McConnell, Jean Marian Stevens
Welfare/Benevolent Fund If any member requires help, please contact Jennie Lisney on 01444 412087 or write to: 4 Larch Way, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 3TY. Email: jennie.lisney@tiscali.co.uk Donations to benefit our members in times of illness or hardship should be made out to ‘SWWJ Benevolent Fund’.
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Quarter page (60mm x 90mm) £38 Half page (128mm x 90mm) £75 Full page (128mm x 184mm) £145 PDF format preferred. For further details please contact the Editor. Members can post events and items for sale and any other advertisements at £2 per line. SWWJ members have the right to express their opinions in The Woman Writer. These opinions are not necessarily those of the Council or Editor. Neither the Editor nor the Society accepts responsibility for errors in articles. The Editor reserves the right to amend articles submitted. November 2011 The Woman Writer
Letters Harrogate Crime Writers’ Festival Thanks Jackie (Usher) for your report on the Harrogate Crime Writers’ Festival, it was well written and I very much enjoyed it. Lucky you to have attended. Even glimpses of some of the big names in the field must have made your attendance worthwhile, not forgetting those with whom you managed a chat. Your article gave me names of some unfamiliar writers to try. I am especially anxious to read books by the Canadian, Linwood Barclay. I have visited Harrogate several times and remember it with pleasure. It forms one chapter of my book, The Getaway Guide to Agatha Christie's England, since it is where Agatha spent the eleven days of her mysterious disappearance. Thus Harrogate seems an apt choice for the mystery writers’ conference. Judith Hurdle - Valparaiso, Indiana, USA
You want money too...? Every so often, still (after more than 30 years as a published freelance), someone says to me in tones of incredulity, “Do you get paid for this?” The question is most usually asked when the enquirer has just seen a feature by me in a magazine or newspaper. My usual reply is, “Well, I don't do this simply to give the editor a treat.” What do other writers do and say in these circumstances? Hilary Townsend
Cutbacks Has anyone had a cut in payment for articles and photos? The modest sum I was receiving from my county magazine for 750 words plus photos has just been cut by 20%. The editor wrote to say that due to ‘budget cuts imposed by above’ she was ‘obliged to offer less for future The Woman Writer November 2011
commissions'. She wondered ‘if this affects your willingness to continue’. You bet your cotton socks it does! I’ve never been one to turn down commissions (and regular work in this case), but the time spent on these pieces is just not worth it now what with travelling to interview people, taking and editing photos and then writing the piece. What I want to know is - if a picture is worth a thousand words, why isn’t one paid the same rate for a photo as one is for the text? I politely told the editor that the ones I had still to complete would be my last. I did think that perhaps the editor wanted to get shot of me, for some reason. I obviously haven’t blotted my copybook as last week I got an email from her, asking me if I would like to do the Christmas What’s On feature – a poisoned chalice if ever there was one. It’s a nightmare collecting accurate information on events from councils, clubs, churches, businesses, etc two months ahead of copy date. Thanks but no thanks. Dee La Vardera
Nature or nurture in writing? I’ve just started the second year of a parttime MA in Creative Writing. My motivation was to find the discipline to finish the novel I’ve been writing since 2006. Going back to University as a (very) mature student has been challenging in a number of unexpected ways (not least – what on earth should I wear to my first seminar?) but hugely enjoyable. I’m reading books I’d never have considered before and using techniques I’d never heard of (especially in the current module on experimental writing). When I told another writer I was starting the course, she sniffed and said “Oh, you’re going down that route, are you? You know they can’t teach you to write, don’t you?” Well, she may be right, and this approach may not suit everyone, but ‘they’ 3
Letters can certainly cast a light on some interesting routes I didn’t even know I could take!
any signs or standing anyone there to notify passengers! Too many brain cells necessary. The purpose of this letter?
What do other members think? Are writers born like that or can they be taught?
I've spent time on trips with a lot of journalists from many different countries, who get paid well for their work, and wouldn't have it any other way. But most newspapers and magazines in the UK expect to get everything for free. And that includes a lot of the nationals. I know all the comments to make: 'Well you get paid, don't you? You wouldn't work for nothing.' If we expect them to give us a commission so that we get the trip, it's take it or leave it.
Kate McCormick Getting paid... Here's a plea to all you long-term experts. I seem to have spent the whole year on press trips. The specialised world of travel writing is new to me. I wish I'd known about it years ago! Although I'd had travel articles published, I'd never known about press trips, etc. As the state of the world is so unpredictable, I'm happy to collect a backlog of stories to write about in the future while I've got the chance. A few months ago, I returned from Italy, met hubby John at Gatwick, gave him my dirty washing, all the paperwork and a peach, crossed the road, got on a coach to Heathrow, and flew to Zambia. That was pushing it a bit - especially as National Coaches had moved the coach stop to the other end of the airport without putting up
Note from the Editor: Hi everyone! Time is flying. This is my fifth issue of The Woman Writer and it only feels like yesterday that I was working on the first one. I have noticed, over the course of the year, that there seems to be a small number of members who regularly send in material for the journal. For those of you who haven’t contributed before, please give it some thought. You all have so much to offer. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very creative new year!
Carol Cannavan 4
I've written for a few foreign magazines, and been paid very well. But that's no use for some of the trips I've been on. They want British publicity. Even the veteran writers are struggling to find paid commissions, and my list of contacts is growing all the time, so I shouldn't complain. It's an uphill battle though. It seems that every time I think I'm getting somewhere, they change editors and I have to start again. But I can't go on like this for the rest of my life. The trips are great, and all-inclusive, but we have bills to pay. I'm after a couple of things from y'awl. (Sorry, I just returned from a Mississippi trip.) First, any advice on how to get paid for my articles, and, second, Britain's best paid writing markets. Not necessarily about Travel. Well, I can't complain that I have nothing to write about..! Lyn Funnell
What gets you hot under the collar? Is it the cost of living, inequality or rejection letters? Send your views to The Woman Writer! November 2011 The Woman Writer
SWWJ Outing
FEBRUARY ISSUE The deadline for the next issue of The Woman Writer is 2nd January 2012. If possible, please email your contribution to the Editor: c_cannavan@yahoo.co.uk using Microsoft Word or pasting the text into an email. Images should be high resolution (300 dpi) and a good size. (In other words, make sure your camera is on the highest setting before taking any photographs - if you are unsure, check your camera’s instructions.)
For market information and to communicate with other members, contact Zoë King about the email loop, Society Women, email: zoe@zoeking.com
Special Offer For a limited time, we can offer signed copies of the The SWWJ History to members for only £8, including p&p (for the UK). These books were purchased at a special price, so when they’re gone they’re gone! Normally these books retail at £12.99 in most bookshops, so it is a real saving. If you would like a copy, please contact the author, Sylvia Kent, on 01277 651062 or email skent32@tiscali.co.uk
The Woman Writer November 2011
SWWJ Outing to the Geffrye Museum Thursday 1st December 2011 The Geffrye Museum specialises in the history of the English domestic interior. Its collections of furniture, textiles, paintings and objects are displayed in a series of period rooms from 1600 to the present day. The museum is set in the former almshouses of the Ironmongers' Company. These historic and beautiful buildings are surrounded by delightful gardens, which create a peaceful oasis in a busy area of East London. Located in Shoreditch just minutes from the City of London, it is easily reached by public transport. Admission to the museum's eleven period rooms and herb and period gardens is free. Special Exhibition admission is £5.00 and £3.00 concessions with under 16s free. Visitors may take photographs without a tripod for personal use. Commercial photography must be approved in advance. Geffrye Museum Trust, Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA. Tel: 020 7739 9893 Don’t miss out! Contact Colleen McMath on 020 8504 2506
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From the Chair Chair types... by Zoë King A Visit to Chawton House Most members know that the Society has strong links with Chawton House Library, the former home and working estate of Jane Austen’s brother, Edward Austin Knight. I had long wanted to visit, but invariably, Society organised visits clashed with other things. However, I am indebted to our Chawton House liaison officer, Pamela Birley, who arranged a trip for both of us in late September. I really hadn’t known what to expect of the place, but arriving there, being driven through the enormous gates and treated to the panoramic view of the house and grounds was like stepping into another world. From the start, we were treated like honoured guests. We were to stay in the old stables which have been carefully restored to provide comfortable accommodation for overnight visitors. Pamela was to have the ‘Cat’ room, and I the ‘Dog’. The mind boggled, but then seeing the rooms, all came clear. My room was furnished with coverlets and cushions featuring enough dogs to populate Crufts. Even the waste paper bin was ‘doggified’. Pamela’s room, of course, was a homage to cats. Both rooms were clean and welcoming and offered views of the gardens. Already, I knew I should be staying for weeks rather than the one night we had arranged. After freshening up, we made our way to Jane Austen’s House Museum, where there was so much to see. Apart from the contemporary artefacts - manuscript letters, music books, Jane Austen’s writing table - the museum had put together a series of costumes from film and TV adaptations of the books, which I found absolutely fascinating. I learned, for instance, that Kate Winslett is surprisingly 6
short if the dress she wore in Sense and Sensibility is anything to go by. This marriage of the original and the modern worked surprisingly well in bringing visitors to an understanding of Jane Austen and her world. The following day, after a long and lazy breakfast in the conservatory, we were treated to a tour of the house and the library itself. There was a surreal feel to the experience in that we were surrounded by antique furniture and fittings offering their own sense of the past, at the same time as perhaps a dozen or more staff were busy preparing for an evening event. It was almost like stepping into the film set of Downton Abbey, with ‘upstairs’ and ‘downstairs’ in the same scene. During the tour, we visited the Map Room, where we are privileged to store our various silver cups and trophies. They really couldn’t be in a more fitting setting; they are displayed in their own locked cabinet, which at the time of our visit was being ‘guarded’ by three ‘Austenesque’ mannequins.
Though I love Jane Austen’s work, my abiding passion is the life and work of the Brontë family, so I was thrilled to see the 1,600 volumes relating to the Brontës which have recently come into the gift of the library. November 2011 The Woman Writer
Chawton House Our final mission was to see the extensive gardens, and to spend some time with the rescue horses inhabiting the grounds. It was such a wrench to leave this wonderful place, and I will return, but in the meantime, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to Pamela, and all the Chawton House staff who went to such efforts to make our visit so memorable. For more information on Chawton House please visit www.chawtonhouse.org
Events at Chawton House Montagu Knight's Edwardian Christmas Open house with Edwardian-style Christmas decorations and staff in period costume. Traditional fare, including mulled wine and mead, storytelling for children and St Nicholas himself making an appearance, and other seasonal pleasures await. Gift shop open. 10 am - 3 pm Tickets: £4 Adults, £1 Children
MEMBER INDEX
17th & 18th December 2011
The Member Pages section of our website attracts hundreds of hits every month. Shouldn’t you be part of it?
Your page would include a photo, a brief resume of your writing life, and either details of up to four of your books, (with direct links to Amazon for those wishing to buy) or links to online content, including your own website where applicable.
Chawton House Library, Chawton, Hampshire GU34 1SJ. The Woman Writer November 2011
Cost is £35 for a books page, £25 for a links page. Contact Zoë King (zoe@zoeking.com) for more details, or to sign up! www.swwjmembers.info 7
Member’s report Authors at Selsey by Wendy Hughes There appears to be no collective noun for a gathering of writers, but perhaps I can say that there was an inspiration of writers at St Peter’s Church Hall, Selsey on Tuesday 9th August, when 23 authors released their fingers from keyboards for a day for a ‘Meet The Authors’ afternoon, as part of the annual Selsey Festival. The event is organised every year by SWWJ member Joan Moules and it has become a very popular event on the Festival calendar, giving so many southern authors a chance to chat to new and established readers about their books, favourite characters, research undertaken, and what they are working on at the moment. There was certainly a creative buzz in the air, and I am sure there was many a budding writer attending who went away
Janet Laurence has written crime, romance and cookery books Janet Laurence
inspired to put pen to paper or cursor to screen. It also gave visitors a chance to buy a signed copy of any book on display as an extra special birthday or Christmas present for friends and family. SWWJ was well represented, not only in those who visited, but by the many authors taking part in the event, which included Pamela Birley, Catherine King, Roberta Grieve, Eve Phillips, Patricia Carlton, Janet Laurence, Joan Moules, Susan Webb, Wendy Hughes, Eileen Robertson, and Josephine Chia, as well as our two honorary members Simon Brett and Peter Lovesey. There was also time for light refreshments and a little entertainment provided by crime writer Janet Laurence, who enthralled us by reading some very interesting and poignant published letters. Sadly with the advent of emails the art of letter writing seems be dying, but Janet encouraged us all to rekindle the craft by taking up our pens once more. Left to right: Peter Lovesy, Simon Brett and Janet Laurence
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Member’s report Friends of the Chalet School by Cynthia Castellan Elinor Brent Dyer is said to have expressed delight when her Chalet School books appeared in Armada paperbacks. These abridged editions were to make her books affordable, not only to a younger readership, but also to countless adults anxious to expand their Chalet collections. It may sound a little surprising that women of all ages should revel in these books. Many share their interest at combined group meetings of Friends of the Chalet School - www.chaletschool.org.uk - and the New Chalet Club - www.newchaletclub. co.uk - both here in the UK and overseas. This year Ingham's Lakes and Mountains summer brochure informs us that Pertisau on the Achensee is the Austrian setting for the early Chalet books. Visitors can find a memorial plaque to Elinor Brent Dyer at the entrance to Pertisau library. A Friend of the Chalet School raised the cost through a sponsored swim across the lake. But Armada paperbacks had their limitations. For one thing, the order of their publication was haphazard, to say the least. Extraordinary, really, when continuity is so important to readers of school stories.
The Woman Writer November 2011
Then, too, being 'abridged' often resulted in ruthless cuts to the text. A whole chapter was omitted from The Chalet School in Exile, considered by many to be one of the best books in the series. The original hardbacks are available second hand, some of them quite expensive since a rarer Chalet title could set you back £60. Even Armadas may not be exactly cheap. When pricing some of mine to sell on, I was told to check their value on Ebay. “They're not just any old paperback!” Evidently not, for an Armada copy of The Chalet School Does It Again can go as high as £25. But the reason for these unduly high prices remained elusively obscure until I remembered someone I knew in the second-hand book trade; I also wondered why Armadas were wanted in the first place, for in recent years, the Girls Gone By Publishers (www.ggbp.co.uk) have brought out highly superior and unabridged Chalet School paperbacks. My contact told me she always makes her purchasers aware of these, but finds collectors like all their books to match and insist on having Armadas. The high prices relate to scarcity value; some of the Chalet School titles in Armada had only one print run. It's as simple as that.
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Around the regions Regional meetings take place at the advertised venues. Council meetings and workshops, etc are held at The Writers’ House, 13 Haydon Street, London EC3N 1DB. SWWJ is affiliated with The New Cavendish Club, 44 Great Cumberland Place, London W1H 8BS. (Marble Arch tube or bus.) Telephone: 020 7723 0391. Southern Regional Meeting Report by Roberta Grieve Former newspaper journalist and BBC producer/presenter David Arscott was the afternoon speaker at the Southern Regional meeting in Chichester in October. David has written more than thirty books on Sussex as well publishing fiction under various pseudonyms and starting up his own self-publishing business, the Pomegranate Press. He spoke about his early days in journalism and working as a presenter on Radio Sussex (now Radio Brighton). Many of his radio programmes were about the history of the county and its quirkier characters and he amassed a vast amount of material which he felt deserved a wider audience. Some of this was put into a book but the difficulty of finding a publisher – something we can all relate to – led to him publishing his own books. There is something about Sussex, he said. Incomers, those not born and bred in the Left to right: Pauline Briggs, speaker David Arscott and Joan Moules
county such as Rudyard Kipling, all seem to recognise something about this unique county. And it is all there in his books. His advice when writing non-fiction is to make sure of your facts – self-evident you might think. But stories often told and handed down can acquire a veneer of truth which we take as read. Delve deeper, find the story behind the story, David told us. He went on to tell us how he had set up his own publishing enterprise and now publishes books for others as well as continuing with his own prolific output. He had helpful advice for those wanting to go down the self-publishing road. He emphasised the amount of time and effort needed to publicise and sell your books. You have to weigh up the pros and cons. The discussion then led on to ebooks – the future of publishing? During the morning Joan and Pauline got us all writing on the subject of ‘Magic Moments’, those memories which stay with you forever and bring a lift to the heart whenever you think of them. When it came to reading our work, I thought we would hear of wedding days and first children. But no, the magic moments were rich and varied – hearing wonderful music in a cathedral, the first sight of the Grand Canyon, a sea voyage, a granddaughter’s graduation, meeting a famous professor and many more. Thanks once again to Joan Moules and Pauline Briggs for organising the day. The next Chichester meeting will be on 22nd March 2012 at Christ Church Hall in Chichester. This is close to railway and bus station and is an upstairs room, but there is a stair lift if you need it. Once up there everything is on one level, meeting room, toilets, kitchen, etc. Lilian Harry, novelist, will be the guest speaker. For further details members may ring Joan Moules on 01243 607587.
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Around the regions Dorset/Hants/Wilts Meeting Report by Julie Ratcliffe There was a good turnout for the September meeting of the Dorset, Wilts and Hants Group. Twenty members, along with three visitors, gathered at the Ferndown home of the group’s new organiser, Tracy Baines. After a splendid lunch and lots of networking it was time to get down to business. Members had been busy since the last meeting. Four members, Pam Fudge, Alison Daniell, Julie Ratcliffe and Eve Bonham, have books published. There was news of a project by Ester Davies and Gwynneth Ashby called The Literary Detectives, a major project on women’s literature with a new website and a six-minute video proposal for a television series. Members discussed holding a ‘meet the author’ event to showcase work at local Literary Festivals as this had been successful in other regions. Tracy would look into this. Rather than have a speaker the group took advantage of expertise within the membership. At this meeting Hilary Townsend and Alison Daniell would answer questions posed on behalf of the group by Ester Davies. ‘Did they always have an ambition to be a writer?’ was the first question. For Hilary Left to right: Hilary Townsend, Ester Davies and Alison Daniell
the answer was yes, and she wrote her first play at the age of eight. Then life took a different path until she inherited her mother’s house. The roof was close to collapse and the house found to be medieval in parts, so she began selling articles as a way to pay for repairs. She has had two books on North Dorset published and hopes to self-publish a book on the restoration of her cottage. Alison wanted to be an actress, but became a lawyer. She had written a sit-com and had always wanted to make people laugh, but it was only when she started her family that she began to write her novels. Her break came at a Romantic Novelist’s Association meeting, when she was taken on by the Little Black Dress imprint. Alison, who writes under the name of Ali Spencer, is now the author of three ‘chick-lit’ novels. Did they regret not writing earlier? It was a ‘yes’ from Hilary, especially her not taking the London School of Journalism course sooner. Alison said needing to earn a living and also having something to write had held her back. And finally, did they have a good piece of advice to pass on? Hilary: “Don’t be precious!” and Alison: “Never give up!” The visitors reported enjoying the meeting and will be joining SWWJ as a result. The next meeting will be an informal Christmas get together to be held at Jill
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Around the regions Goulston’s home in Salisbury on 9th December and the Spring meeting 2012 will be at Judith Spelman’s home near Sherborne. Contact Tracy Baines for more information on 01202 892801/ 07749 813 208.
SWWJ welcomes new members The Society of Women Writers & Journalists is delighted to welcome these new members: FULL MEMBERSHIP
Essex Regional Meeting Report by Sylvia Kent Although well advertised in The Woman Writer a year before the Essex Regional gathering took place on Friday 21st October, sadly only half of the dozen attending Anita Sackett’s great gathering were Society members. It was lovely though to have our envoy, Val Dunmore, with us as usual. Anita provided an excellent lunch and the company of other writers and poets was stimulating. Huge talent abounds in Essex and Anita was an excellent host.
Marilynn (known as Mari) Wallace, Liphook, Hants Freelance writer and picture researcher Membership number: 605 Lana Jane Davison, BFPO 5348 Worked on television, film, video and radio scripts. Non-profit organisations script writer and co-coordinator - Membership number: 607 Barbara Janice Holmes, Westerham, Kent Journalist, editor and PR professional Membership number: 609 Lucy Segal, Finchley, London Journalist/tutor - Membership number: 610 Tania Hamraz Ahsan, Wembley, Middx Full-time author and journalist Membership number: 611 PROBATIONARY MEMBERSHIP
Knowing that Julia Donaldson, Children’s Laureate and creator of The Gruffalo, was appearing just up the road in Chelmsford town, several members and I drove to the Just Imagine Centre for Children to meet her and her director, Nikki Gamble, at the book-signing along with literally hundreds of children. This is where I flashed my SWWJ press card and we sailed through the throngs, took our pictures and were off. See photos on Sylvia’s weblog: www.sylviakent.blogspot.com
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Jennifer Alexander, Weymouth, Dorset Actress, script writer, tutor - Membership number: 606 Arike Oke, Barnet, Hertfordshire Blog writer (short stories) - Membership number: 608 FRIEND OF THE SWWJ Dee Williams, Cowplain, Hants Was a member and has rejoined as a friend - Membership number: 337
November 2011 The Woman Writer
Writing holidays for 2012 Writers’ retreat on beautiful Gozo Organised by Jennifer Pulling Gozo is a beautiful unspoilt island off Malta offering swathes of countryside, a mild climate and blue, blue seas: the perfect place for a writers’ retreat. My programme will be a mixture of workshops based on my highly successful Unleash Your Imagination workshops in the UK. They are designed to still our inner critical voice and tap into our true creative minds. I shall link aspects of writing such as landscape and myth, dialogue, showing not telling, etc with inspirational visits to some of Gozo's stunning locations. Accommodation is at the delightful Lantern Hotel, which is family run and beautifully kept. Evenings will consist of sociable meals offering local cuisine and wines and the chance to discuss the day's writing. There will also be plenty of time for undisturbed writing. I shall be on hand to discuss work with anyone who wishes it. As a writer I have found Gozo wonderfully inspirational and I would like to share it with others. For further details, dates and prices call Jennifer Pulling on 01273 454867 or email jpulling@o2.co.uk
Matera, Italy, 2012 Brainstorming at the Spa Having trouble plotting your latest novel? Are your characters out of control? Do you need a fresh burst of creativity? The Women's Fiction Festival is organising a special spring writing retreat at a charming hotel in the heart of Matera's Sassi District, La Locanda di San Martino (from 23rd to 26th of March 2012). The Woman Writer November 2011
There is no place on earth more suited to a writing retreat than the Sassi District of Matera, with its haunting beauty, hushed quiet streets and ancient buildings sculpted out of stone. Join us and writing coach and literary agent Christine Witthohn for a fourday writing retreat - and treat. Four days of creativity and progress on your book, brainstorming with other writers. Mornings are for an analytical discussion of our writing, the afternoons are for freewheeling brainstorming in the underground swimming pool, Turkish bath, sauna and jacuzzi of the Locanda di San Martino's spa in a relaxed and healthy setting with fellow writers. Punctuated of course by lunch and dinner, consisting of the finest food and wine this side of heaven. Only another writer can understand your problems and help you take your writing to the next level. The registration fee is: €250.00. Availability is limited, please email: contact@womensfictionfestival.com Please, book your room ASAP directly with La Locanda di San Martino: +390835256600. Double room (single use): €70.00 - Double room: €90.00. Transfer service: www.sassiweb.it - Aereoporti di Puglia. Ninth Annual Women’s Fiction Festival Matera 27th – 30th September 2012 Le Monacelle - Via Riscatto n.8 - 75100 Matera Libreria dell'Arco, Via Ridola, 37 Matera. www.womensfictionfestival.com/en 13
Members’ news News from Moonraker Country by Dee La Vardera Just as one book closes another opens. While waiting for Survivor of the Long March to be finally published (January, if you’re interested - now pre-ordering), I have started another for the History Press. I am tackling one in their Little Book of … series; mine obviously on Wiltshire - and not so little! Although I have a deadline well into 2013, I am fired up to complete it as soon as possible while enthusiasm and energy levels are high. Being well organised is vital and making sure that the sources for the many hundreds of entries are checked and double-checked. The internet is a wonderful tool but you don’t always know where material has originated. My address book of contacts at museums and libraries is positively red-hot from use. One diversion, however, was attending a premiere at BAFTA in London. I received an invitation, as a guest of my POW friend, Charles Waite, to the first showing of a new documentary for Yesterday Channel called The Long
March to Freedom. Charles was among a group of survivors who took part in the film, to be broadcast in three parts, starting 10th November. When I arrived at the premises at Piccadilly, it all looked rather seedy, the shabby entrance like the back door to some dubious nightclub. However, inside was all glitter and gold and marble staircases, and heavy red velvet curtains, and deep luxurious seats in the cinema. Apart from meeting other POW veterans, I got chatting to Bernard Hill who narrated the film. No, I didn’t say, “Give us a job!” - I don’t need one at the moment.
Success stories Val Waters has had a piece published in The Family section of The Saturday Guardian. She has also had four poems published in Weyfarers Poetry Magazine. Sue Benwell’s poem, Top Withens, is featured in the September issue of the Bronte Society's Gazette magazine. Dr Tessa Nelson-Humphries has had a poem, Something Broken to Declare at Every Customs’ Desk, in the Spring issue of the long-established (and hard to break into) poetry magazine Blue Unicorn, published in California. Glen Jayson took part in an afternoon of readings from This Island City at the Gazebo Garden, Havant. Her poem Whispers, about Southsea Rose Gardens, was published in this anthology about Portsmouth in Poetry. Margaret Mounsdon has sold a novella to My Weekly Story Collection, entitled Second Time Around. Jane Lockyer Willis has recently had two one-act plays published by Spotlight Publications - Cinderella’s Time Out, a new take on the classic fairytale, and Visiting Hours. Both are comedies in two
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November 2011 The Woman Writer
Members’ news acts, suitable for adult groups and for festival plays. For more information please visit: www.spotlightpublications.com Margaret Mounsdon has sold the large print rights to her novella, My Secret Love, to Thorpe. She has also sold a short story to Woman's Weekly entitled Looking For Storms. People's Friend has accepted her latest pocket novel entitled Heart Of The Matter. Pam Fudge's 8th novel, Never Be Lonely, was published by Robert Hale Ltd at the end of July, and the large print copy of A Change For The Better was published in August by Thorpe. Pam's 9th novel, Turn Back Time, has also just been accepted for publication in 2012 by Robert Hale Ltd. Philippa Lawrence’s poem, Screen Test, has been awarded the prize for Poem of
the Month for July 2011 on the Second Light Network's website (www.secondlightlive.co.uk). She has illustrated some of her poems and sold them as cards and is on the Salisbury Plain Arts Website at www.plainartssalisbury.co.uk Doris Corti has had two poems accepted for publication in the Welsh magazine Roundyhouse, also one poem accepted for publication in Acumen Literary Journal. Wendy Whitehead’s Play & Praise : Prayers for Pre-school Children is a new collection of 53 prayers covering a wide variety of topics along with the main festivals around the year. In this 50th anniversary year of Toddlers’ Clubs, she hopes that children, leaders, parents and carers will want to use the prayers along with other playgroup people too. There are Thank-you prayers; Prayers for special
SWWJ Christmas Tea - Thursday 8th December 2011 To be held at The New Cavendish Club, 44 Great Cumberland Place, London W1H 8BS Arrive 1.30pm for 2.00pm Name: ................................................................................. Membership No: ................. Address: ........................................................................................................................... Postcode: ...........................................
Tel No: ..................................................
No. of tickets at £20.00 per member ................. £21 per guest ....................................... Any special dietary requirements?.................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................... BOOKINGS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 20th NOVEMBER. There can be no refunds after this date. May we please ask members to bring a suitable gift as a donation towards the raffle, and also items for the Bring & Buy table, which helps with Welfare/Benefit funds. Cheques should be made payable to: SWWJ. Send to: Wendy Hughes, 14 Laburnum Walk, Rustington, West Sussex BN16 3QW. Tel: 01903 785771 - PLEASE ENCLOSE SAE.
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Members’ news people; Playtime prayers; Prayers for special times and seasons plus Things to do. The book is published by Moorleys at £3.95. Sylvia Kent and Carol Baker attended a book signing by top business people at the House of Lords on Wednesday 14th September. Sylvia took photos of Carol with the host, Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth, with the CEOs of Tesco, Vodafone, etc and with some of the Security (with Kalashnikovs).
out www.patrickforsyth. com and you can order a signed copy at a discount. Silja Swaby has won 2nd prize in the Arts Council England/Exeter University short story competition titled: Imagine There's a Future. She was presented with the published anthology and cheque by author Clare George (right).
Our member Alfa, the Liverpool poet, has been invited to give a reading of her poetry at the prestigious Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool on November 20th. Patrick Forsyth has a new book out for Christmas. This, due out on 1st November, is titled: Empty When Half Full and follows three years collecting the material it contains. The book is a review of the ways in which we are miscommunicated with, either because of sloppiness or, at worst, deviousness. The examples are chosen for their humour, though those originating consumer messages that confuse or mislead are wittily castigated; so there is a more serious message lurking here too, not least for writers. Patrick says: “The prime aim is to make people laugh, so the book will make an ideal Christmas present, but for members, and writers generally, there is a lesson here: it is all too easy to mangle the language and end up with something less than you intend.” Empty When Half Full is £9.99, but check 16
Her three volumes of poetry, Word Watching, Spiegelsplitter and Chaos have just been republished by Scriptora, the SWWJ self-publishing imprint. For details of the event and the books email erika.goulden@o2.co.uk Dorothy Pope has had eight poems published and was a runner-up in The Oldie Magazine competition. The launch party for SWWJ member Pam Whittington's latest book, Sunshine and Showers, was held at St John's Church Hall in Hythe and very well attended. Within the region of 50 copies were snapped up in a very short time. Sunshine and Showers, priced at £7, is an updated book of Pam's poetry and includes many favourites, plus several short stories. A number of Pam's paintings are reproduced inside with a particularly beautiful one featuring on the cover. November 2011 The Woman Writer
Drama Drama report Drama workshop 22/10/11 by Martin Cort There was an excellent response to the request for more work from our dramatists for the latest workshop. Six plays were presented for consideration. Among them, as is often the case in a normal workshop, two had been seen before as ‘work in progress’, and were presented as having been developed: Flash Flood by Valerie Dunmore read by Dorothea Phillips, Yvonne Martin and Clare Cameron, also Job Seekers by June Walker, which many members will remember was performed with great success in its earlier unfinished form at the 2009 SWWJ Summer Festival at the Royal Over-Seas League. Now a full two-act play with an additional male character, the completed Job Seekers was well received by the audience. With Flash Flood, it was noticeable that the tempo and tension had changed considerably, presenting a more emotional drama since it was first seen in the workshop some months ago. As a new development, Mary Rensten read an excerpt from a chapter of her latest novel, The Last English Witch, to introduce an excellent reading by James Bradshaw of the latest spine-tingling chapter. So close to Halloween, it proved to be very effective. A new member, Jane Lockyer Willis, brought her experience of theatre, journalism and play writing with Visiting Hours, published by Spotlight Publishing, which was read by Yvonne Martin, Clare Cameron, Eva Stylia, James Bradshaw, Edmund Dehn and Patricia Jones, leaving us with the disturbing question of ’who did poison the goldfish?’ and much more. We will reveal more about Spotlight Publishing in a later newsletter. The Woman Writer November 2011
In spite of being unable to attend, Doreen Friend allowed us the opportunity of reading her script Flying High, which gave the whole cast of actors, including the audience, a suitably comic break. Her play was set in the cockpit of an aeroplane which slowly became overcrowded with extraordinary characters. The frustration of the mispronunciation of their destination, Basildon, and the main character’s name, Margolis, became increasingly amusing. The audience agreed that this script could easily be presented for radio. With little time left, only part of Pat Jones’ Hickory Dickory Dock Pantomime was read. The members suggested that, with a stronger storyline, there might be more freedom for her genuine imaginative creativity to be better fulfilled as a children's play. The ideas within her writing were excellent and should not become restricted by the traditional form of the Pantomime genre. Pat said that she was exploring the structure of Pantomime, which she thought might be the most suitable form to bring her story to life, but that she would go back to the drawing board and explore the ideas suggested. The next workshop is planned for 11am till 4pm Saturday 3rd March 2012 at the Helios Centre, 16 Judd Street, London WC1H 9NS.
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Have a go... SWWJ Competitions All competition entries to be sent to: Margaret Mounsdon, The Oaks, Tylers Green, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 4BW. Please mark clearly on the envelope which competition you are entering. The prize money for SWWJ competitions is 1st £100, 2nd £50, 3rd £25.
The Elizabeth Longford Poetry Competition A poem no longer than 40 lines. Open theme. Closing date 31st January 2012. Entry fee £5 per poem or £12 for a maximum of three poems. Entries to be sent with an SAE and a cheque for the appropriate amount payable to SWWJ. Usual rules apply.
The Lady Violet Astor Rose Bowl Competition To be judged by Susan Elkin. An article published during 2010 or 2011 in a magazine or newspaper. The article should be between 500 and 1200 words long. Closing date 31st January 2012. Entry fee £5 per article or £12 for a maximum of three entries Entries to be sent with a cheque for the appropriate amount payable to SWWJ. PLEASE READ REVISED RULES BELOW.
The Clemence Dane Cup A monologue of no more than 1000 words. Open theme. Closing date 31st January 2012. Entry fee £5 per monologue or £12 for a maximum of three entries. Entries to be sent with an SAE and a cheque for the appropriate amount payable to SWWJ. Usual rules apply. Revised Rules for the Lady Violet Astor Rose Bowl Competition 2012 1. This competition is for an article published during 2010 or 2011. 2. Articles must be 500-1200 words in length. 3. Please keep a copy of your work because entries will not be returned. 4. Eligible articles should have been published in a recognised publication or on a website which is external to the writer. Articles should have been commissioned or accepted by an editor and, usually, paid for. 4. Entries must take the form of photocopies of printed articles or print-outs of website articles. Please note that copies of the author’s original Word or other typed document are NOT acceptable. 5. The name of the publication or website which published the article and the date of publication must be clearly indicated. 6. Entries must be anonymous for the judge. Please remove the by-line completely but enclose a separate sheet indicating your name and membership number with the title/s of your entered article/s so authorship is clear to the competition receiver. 7. The entry fee is £5 per article or £12 for three articles. Please enclose your fee with your entry/ies. 8. No member may submit more than three entries. 9. Entries should be exclusive to this competition and not entered for any other SWWJ competition. 10. The deadline for the receipt of entries is 5pm on 31st January 2012. 11. Failure to follow these rules will result in the entry’s being disbarred from the competition. 12. SWWJ Council reserves the right to cancel this competition if too few entries are received to make it viable. 18
November 2011 The Woman Writer
Competitions COMPETITIONS Choc Lit Short Story Competition - short stories of up to 1,500 words in which the central theme is chocolate - eating it, drinking it, cooking with it, or anything else. 1st prize £200, publication and Choc Lit’s authors corner blog and a box of chocolates from Plush Chocolates. A runner up will receive £50 and a box of chocolates from Plush Chocolates. Entry fee is £3 per story. All entries must be received by 31st January 2012. Please post your stories to: Short Story Competition, Choc Lit Ltd, Penrose House, Crawley Drive, Camberley, Surrey GU15 2AB. Please enclose a cheque for £3 per story. Cheques are payable to ‘Choc Lit Ltd.’ Full details, including emailing entries, are on www.choc-lit.co.uk Homestart, a charity based in Somerset, is running a short story competition, with the first prize being £500. Closing date is 1st Feb 2012 and entry is £7. The judge will be Patricia Ferguson. Details can be found on www.homestartbridgwater.org.uk Homestart Bridgwater, Victoria Park Community Centre, Victoria Park Drive, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6 7AS. Email: office@homestart-bridgwater.org.uk or ring 01278 238858. The Writers Bureau Annual Poetry Competition. The closing date is 31st December. 1st prize £500, 2nd prize £300, 3rd prize £200 and 4th prize £100. Full details on www.wbcompetition.com Entry forms can be requested, or entries can be made online. Entry fee £5. Poems must not exceed 40 lines. The Writers Bureau, 8-10 Dutton Street, Manchester M3 1LE. The Commonwealth Book and Short Story Prize. Entry form and full details are on the Commonwealth website: The Woman Writer November 2011
Competition in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. The theme of the competition is ‘Forbidden Fruit’. Submit stories of 1000 words. Prizes are £100. £50. £25. The entry fee is £5 per story and the deadline is 2nd February 2012. Details: Sue Johnson, 10 Woodward Close, Pershore, Worcs WR10 1LP. Visit: www.writers-toolkit.co.uk Emerald Writing Workshops’ Flash Fiction Competitions. Stories of a maximum of 500 words. Prizes: £65. £20. £15. Entrants may submit three entries for each competition. Fee for one entry is £1.80 (cheques payable to E Walsh) OR five second-class stamps. Fee for two entries is £3.24 or nine second-class stamps and three entries are £4.32 or 12 second-class stamps. Deadlines: 28th February 2012 – Story set on a train. 31st May 2012 – Story to include the words ‘nobody will ever know’. Details from: Eddie Walsh, 4 Abbott Street, Long Eaton, Nottingham NG10 1DF. Email: edwardjohnwalsh@hotmail.com emeraldwritingworkshops.co.uk
MARKETS - from Chriss McCallum Reason, USA - Covers politics, economics, culture, and science from a broad-minded libertarian perspective. Fees vary. Pays upon acceptance. http://goo.gl/Unqny 19
Markets Relevant Magazine, USA - Bimonthly Christian magazine whose tag line is: God. Life. Progressive Culture. Targets culture savvy twenty-somethings who are looking for purpose, depth and spiritual truth. Fees vary. http://goo.gl/C3Ich
Random House, Australia - Publishes a wide range of fiction, non-fiction, illustrated and children's books under imprints including Arrow, Bantam, Doubleday, Knopf, Random House and Vintage. http://goo.gl/HDoXW
Reader’s Digest, USA - Monthly magazine targeted to 5.5 million time-starved, familycentric subscribers and retail consumers. Accepts queries for dramatic narratives, articles about everyday heroes, crime dramas, adventure stories. High-paying market. Also pays $100 to $300 for jokes and anecdotes. http://goo.gl/9ApM2
Red Hills Traveler, USA - Published 11 times per year. Prefers adventure stories that are specific to the area: southeast quarter of Missouri, the east and central Ozarks. Adventures include fishing, hunting, camping, cooking. Pays $15 to $50 - usually $35. Pays an extra $15 for stories with photos. http://goo.gl/EkT5u
Reader’s Digest, New Zealand - My Story pays $500. A successful ‘All in a Day's Work’ or ‘Life's Like That’ contribution pays $250 while an accepted item for ‘Laughter, the Best Medicine’ pays $150. http://goo.gl/Unqny
Sailing Breezes, USA - A regional sailing magazine focusing on the great lakes and midwest sailing community. Recommended topics include: sailing destinations, local sailors, racing, boat maintenance, cruising, day sailing, live aboards, boat buying, vacation trips and reviews of boats, books and products. Pays $50 to $150. http://goo.gl/caOBr
Veritas, Ireland - Publishes books in the areas of theology, philosophy, spirituality, psychology, self-help, family, social issues, parish and church resources, bible study, and similar. http://goo.gl/p63Hd Renaissance Magazine, USA - Magazine that accepts manuscripts related to the renaissance and middle ages, including but not limited to: historical articles, martial arts, travel, interviews with artisans, articles on the SCA and related re-enactment groups, dragons, etc. Pays $0.10 per word. http://goo.gl/cMU1v
Sew Beautiful, USA - A bi-monthly magazine that celebrates the art of sewing by hand and by machine. Technique articles, designs, projects, and pictorials promote and inspire fine sewing at its best. Pays $50 to $400. http://goo.gl/JP4Sn Sacramento News & Review, USA - A weekly newspaper covering the four counties in and around Sacramento. Paying market. http://goo.gl/y15ky Home Digest, Canada - Quarterly home lifestyles magazine. Articles are devoted to food and wine, health, household hints, fitness, family activities, Toronto-area events, home decoration and renovation, raising children, keeping pets, and other issues of concern to homeowners and their families. Pays $0.10 per word. http://goo.gl/2Vab6
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November 2011 The Woman Writer
Markets Reader’s Digest, Canada - Looking for dramatic narratives, inspirational stories, articles about crime, adventure, travel and health issues. Paying market. http://goo.gl/a3Qm0 Granta, UK - A quarterly magazine of new writing. Publishes original literary fiction, non-fiction and journalism. Paying market, rates negotiable. http://goo.gl/Q7F2S Alive, Australia - Now incorporating New Zealand's Daystar magazine. Australia's major source of Christian non-denominational news and current affairs. Paying market. http://goo.gl/p8Fq0 Planet - A quarterly magazine covering the arts, culture and politics in Wales and beyond. Submissions welcome of short stories up to 4000 words. Payment is £50 per 1000 words, £30 minimum for poems. Send in proposals for articles and reviews to Dr Jasmine Donahaye, Editor, Planet PO Box 44, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3ZZ. Tel: 01970 611255. www.planetmagazine.org.uk Mind Body & Spirit - Duncan Baird Publishers/Watkins Publishing are looking for ideas for illustrated books and textbased titles on health, cookery, spirituality, religion and mind, spirit and body titles. Payment is by negotiation. To submit, send a synopsis, a short sample of the text and a CV by post or email. Details: Bob Saxton, Editorial Director, Duncan Baird Publishers, Sixth Floor, Castle House, 75-76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QQH. Tel: 0207 323 2229. Email: enquiries@dbp.co.uk www.watkinspublishing.co.uk The Guardian Newspaper - Welcomes readers’ stories for their Saturday Supplement, Family. Letters published for ‘Snapshot’, ‘Playlist’ or ‘We Love to Eat’ earn £25. Details: The Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1. Email: family@guardian.co.uk The Woman Writer November 2011
The Marine Quarterly - A beautifully produced new journal that includes original features on anything and everything of interest to lovers of the sea. Length can be anything from 1500 to 5000 words. Payment is a flat rate of £100. Send suggestions for articles to Sam Llewellyn, The Marine Quarterly, The Hope, Lyonshall, Kington, Herefordshire HR5 3HT. Tel: 01544 3400636. Email: editor@marinequarterly. com - www.themarinequarterly.com Outdoor Photographer, USA - A national magazine published 11 times per year for enthusiasts with a special passion for nature, travel and outdoor sports. Paying market. www.outdoorphotographer.com/ submissions.html OHS, Canada - Canadian magazine for people who make decisions about health and safety in the workplace. Contents include features dealing with trends, new developments and emerging issues in health and safety, as well as case studies and profiles of innovative and successful programs. Freelance writers almost always write on an assignment basis. Guidelines: www.ohscanada.com/contact/ writing.aspx Over My Dead Body, USA - Publishes a wide variety of mystery-related manuscripts, from cosy to hardboiled and everything in between. Submissions are open for fiction and non-fiction. Pays: $.01 per 21
Markets word for fiction; $10-$25 total for unsolicited nonfiction. Guidelines: www.overmydeadbody.com/wg2011.htm
Overseas poetry
On Nature, Canada - Publishes feature articles on all aspects of natural history, conservation and the environment in Ontario. Paying market. Rates comparable to trade magazines. Guidelines: http:// onnaturemagazine.com/contact-us
I thought some of you might be interested in hearing that the Madrid Poets have recently re-formed and I have become Stanza Rep for the UK Poetry Society in the Madrid area. We will be arranging monthly meetings (Tuesday nights) but the schedule will be a bit erratic until we get a little more established. We are always happy to welcome visitors to the group and may arrange 'extraordinary' meetings if people request them.
Nexus, Australia - An international bimonthly alternative news magazine, covering the fields of: health alternatives; suppressed science; earth's ancient past; UFOs & the unexplained; and government cover-ups. Pays approx. US$200 for 4,000 to 5,000 words. Guidelines: www.nexusmagazine.com/index.php?op tion=com_content&view=article&id=51 &Itemid=83 Hispanic Business, USA - A publication focusing on news, trends, and information relevant to the U.S. Hispanic economy. Feature stories highlight significant trends in the U.S. Hispanic market and include profiles of successful entrepreneurs, analysis of economic trends, and news and data on such topics as government procurement, workplace diversity, politics, advertising, entertainment, and events. Guidelines: www.hispanicbusiness.com/ aboutus/guidelines.asp Training Australia Magazine - A magazine publishing information that readers can use in a broad range of training environments and occupations. Material includes explanations of training systems, techniques, products, strategies and situations. Also e-learning, technology, trends, venues. Some humour. Guidelines: www.trainingaustraliamagazine.com.au/ editorial.htm
by Gwyneth Box
So if you know of anyone who is coming to Spain, please tell them they would be welcome and can contact me on rmp@gwynethbox.com Madrid also has a very welcoming general writers' group that meets every Tuesday. Both groups are mostly run through the medium of English, though we do have regular Spanish members and the writers' group has had members from all over the globe. There are two other Poetry Stanzas in Spain; both are on the south coast and details can be found on the membership area of the Poetry Society's website. (www.poetrysociety.org.uk) Further details of the Madrid Stanza will be added there when I've sorted them out.
Savage Kick, UK - Accepts three or four stories per yearly issue. Paying market. http://goo.gl/tuKGC 22
November 2011 The Woman Writer
Overseas: member profile Jane Skellett by Susan Elkin
prestigious Quill Award for Poetry in 2008, the first competition she had ever entered. From then on, illness and a career change gave more time to dedicate to writing.
Exuberant, 50something Jane Skellett, who joined the SWWJ at the beginning of last year, is now living in Andalucia where she teaches English, writes anything and everything from poems and song lyrics to articles and is developing inter-lingual community projects.
She has had articles commissioned for periodicals and magazines, and started contributing to writers’ workshops. She has also been developing her performance poet ‘alter ego’, Bag Lady, who quickly became a regular feature of the local South West performance poetry scene. In the lead-up to last year’s general election, her ‘political’ poetry was commissioned by a local candidate and used to stimulate discussion and debate at hustings.
Inspired by creative writing opportunities at school she recalls an ‘epic adaptation of the Snow White story, written in iambic rhyming couplets at the age of ten’. Later she wrote short stories and poems and a first attempt at an adult pantomime script at eighteen.
And then – earlier this year – she got the dream offer to teach in Spain where she says: “My professional and creative careers are blossoming like the branches of Almond and May…”
As a drama student at Bretton Hall College in West Yorkshire, Jane wrote a number of short plays for stage and radio, which were performed at various festivals and arts events. Then followed a career in primary school teaching where developing children’s writing was always a key interest. At the same time she raised a family of her own. The turning point came in 2000 when she found the courage to step out onto the streets of her home town in the South West to celebrate National Poetry Day. She handed out poems to passers-by and shop and café workers – stopped for impromptu performances - and encouraged everyone to comment on their own favourites. This event and the days leading up to it were featured on the local radio with Jane taking slots to rap and rhyme with one of the DJs.
Having spent eighteen months developing a new career as a performance poet in venues around the Bournemouth/ Southampton area she would like to export this to Andalucia as well. “However, in Spain this concept seems to be, as yet, unknown,” she says. “Poetry ‘reading’, yes, but ‘performance’ no!” She adds: “It all started when I tried to translate my ‘business cards’, only to discover that there is no translation for ‘performance poet/ry’. . .” So Jane is, as she puts it, ‘on the trail’ and, for the time being, ‘Bag-Lady Vagabonda-con-Bolsas - Poeta de Espectaculo’. She says: “Although this is the Spanish word for ‘show’, ‘spectacular’ isn’t really what I’m about. So the linguistic/cultural etymologies continue to fascinate.” She asks: “Does anyone out there have any ideas about this?”
Having joined her first writers’ network & support group in the New Forest, Hampshire in 2005, Jane won the The Woman Writer November 2011
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Reports from members A Day for Journalists at Worthing Library by Roberta Grieve
You don’t always have to buy them. Most magazines have websites and often display a selection of articles. We also looked at new markets such as e-magazines.
Wendy Hughes’ fifth Day for Journalists was designed for beginners as well as more experienced writers and it certainly filled the bill. Even those who had been writing non-fiction for some time got something – a lot actually – out of the day.
With the dwindling market for short stories in magazines it might be time for the fiction writers among us to start broadening our horizons and branching out into journalism. Wendy certainly gave us plenty of information and generated much enthusiasm among the group for doing just that.
The morning session concentrated on finding markets, pitching ideas to editors and that all-important first paragraph to catch the reader’s eye. Wendy held the group’s attention with her usual enthusiasm and expertise. The small group of eight kept the proceedings informal and there was time to put our own ideas and benefit from the collective experiences of the group. We had been asked to bring a proposed article and suggest the possible market we had in mind. The ideas were rich and varied, ranging from travel to far away places and those nearer home, heritage and literary articles, funerals (really), a new take on Jane Austen and an American view of life in England. Several of these had the potential for a full-length book or at least a series of articles. Wendy emphasised that research should never be wasted and that the information gleaned for one article can be used for further exploration of the same subject or a different slant on it. She also gave tips on generating ideas such as using mind maps and using our personal experiences. Marketing and pitching to the right magazine is very important and we were amazed at how many markets there are – magazines we might not have considered such as in-flight, trade, business and the Sunday supplements. Many of these will consider articles from freelances. Do your research and obtain the writers’ guidelines, read the magazines, Wendy said. 24
Previous journalists’ days have been held in London but it was decided to change the venue because most delegates in previous years were from the south east region and travelling to Worthing was easier and less expensive. Wendy would like to know if future sessions should be held here or in London so if you are interested in taking part in future please let her know your views.
Eyeball Massage an exhibition of Pipilotti Rist at the Hayward Gallery until 6th January 2012 by Mo Foster The name Pipilotti is an adopted one from Pippi Longstocking. This artist does ‘profound’ with the lightest of touches from the exuberant November 2011 The Woman Writer
Reports from members Massachusetts chandelier, to really disturbing handbag installations that peer out in many guises. There are vast installations that cover walls, floors and ceiling; human body shaped cushions are supplied to rest upon and take time to appreciate the movements. It is dark and companionable as you lie on the floor and realise that there are many other people alongside you. I hadn’t come across Pipilotti Rist until now and she is a delightful surprise with her clever references to the body as art and her obvious love and respect for all bodily functions. The Massachusetts chandelier celebrates that part of the body that brings us into the world: ‘the chandelier bridges the contradictions between the things we ignore and the things we long for, the places we come from and the places we want to go back to’. And for me this is what is so marvellous about Rist - with her light touch she brings you into a serious consideration of the body in all its forms and functions. I enjoyed this exhibition enormously and I intend to go back to see it again. And from being a creature who has always been slightly suspicious of the video as art form I am now an enthusiast. Thanks Pipilotti Rist, you have opened my eyes in a very good way and have enlightened me in the most pleasant manner possible.
Map for Children
One of them had a children’s map of London. I bought one and immediately decided that Epping, where I live, would be a lovely subject for the same treatment. I phoned the printers, Guy Fox Ltd, and asked them if they would print one for me. I soon discovered that I had struck gold! They weren’t just printers but artists and designers who drew, painted and printed historical posters and maps of London. Over the next few months they nursed me through all the stages of drawing and painting the little pictures to go on the map and producing something that would be attractive and interesting to children. A friend went through all the historical facts with me and helped me plan where they could go on the map for easy reference. Just after last Christmas they were printed and are now on sale in Epping. The local primary school is using them and I have been busy contacting the Museum, the Council and local history society and anyone else I can think of. It has been great fun to do - and so far everyone seems to like them!
by Dorothy Organ One thing can lead to another if you keep your eyes open. A couple of years ago Pat Alderman and I had arranged to meet up before the annual seminar of the British Federation of Women Graduates at the House of Lords. I was a bit early and wandered around looking at the shops. The Woman Writer November 2011
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Computer basics Email etiquette by Gwyneth Box Does anyone remember carbon paper? Do you remember the days when only secretaries and the girls in the typing pool were expected to know how to use a typewriter? Correspondence, reports, etc were all done by people who were trained in how to format documents correctly, who knew what a circulation list was, who understood how to use abbreviations such as cc, pp and enc. – and who always put the carbon paper the right way up! Not all of us have been trained to use computers. But the way we use programmes like Word, and the way we organise our own files, doesn't really affect anyone other than ourselves, so it doesn't matter much if we aren't experts. Email, though, is about sending things to other people, and it's no longer only ourselves who are affected by our inefficiencies and ignorance. One thing that is very important is just who we sent our messages to. Email distribution etiquette When you send an email, there are three places where you can specify who is to receive a copy: the ‘to:’, ‘cc:’ and ‘bcc:’ fields. Each of these three fields can contain not just one name, but a list, separated by commas. The question is, though, who should you include in each of these lists?
Computers make it so easy to ‘cut-pastesend’ that we end up sharing more information than is strictly necessary – and often more than is desirable – with more people than is necessary, or, again, desirable. Before you start sending emails willynilly, think about who the information is really relevant to, and make sure that's who gets a copy. To: In the ‘to:’ field you should only include people who are directly affected by the email and who need to take action. If you are replying to a message, check and see what address has been put into this field. If the message has come from a mailing list, a reply may go back to everyone on the list, but if your answer is for a specific person, that may not be what's needed. For example, if a friend sends a message to the Society mailing list announcing a book signing, not everyone needs to read your reply saying, “That's marvellous. How was your holiday?” Messages from me to the loop will appear with something like – From: Gwyneth Box gwynethbox@gmail.com To: SocietyWomen@yahoogroups.com If you want to reply just to me, you need to replace SocietyWomen@yahoogroups.com in the ‘to:’ field with gwynethbox@gmail.com
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November 2011 The Woman Writer
Computer basics CC: People who need to be aware of the information contained in the message but who do not need to take any action should usually be included in the ‘cc:’ field. This is the equivalent of sending a carbon copy for information only to a named distribution list. Note that all names and addresses in the ‘cc:’ field will be visible to everyone who gets a copy, so be wary of how you use this field. As a general rule, you should not disclose anyone's email address to other people unless you have their permission. Some recipients who don't understand how important email confidentiality is may add other people's addresses automatically to their own address books and mailing lists. Often these same people are the sort who will send out jokes and round-robin messages indiscriminately, as well as unintentionally sending out computer viruses. BCC: If you want to protect the anonymity of recipients, you should put their address in the ‘bcc:’ field, where ‘bcc:’ stands for ‘blind carbon copy’. No one else will see what appears there. This is equivalent to what happens with a distribution list such as the Society loop: we don't see all the names and addresses of the people who get copies of our messages, which is probably why we tend to forget that the messages we send to SocietyWomen@yahoogroups. com are actually going out to scores of other people. If you have to send a message to a lot of people – for example details of a change of meeting place for a club – to protect people's privacy, you can put all the names in the bcc field and send a single email. If you put your own address, or that of the club admin, in the ‘to:’ field, you'll get a copy for your records and all the recipients will see this address. The Woman Writer November 2011
Three tricks for printing web-pages Courtesy of Tim Wakeling of The Really Useful Book Company Lots of websites nowadays, especially articles, forms and the like, have a special 'print' button or a link to a 'printer friendly version'. You can then print them out as normal with no problems at all. Look carefully for these - they're often small and tucked away at the bottom or over to one side, but they can save a lot of hassle. Unfortunately, there are plenty of webpages that don't have a handy print version. If the page you want to print doesn't, it's a good idea to do a Print Preview before you start printing. To do a Print Preview, just click on File in the top left corner of the screen and choose Print Preview from the list that pops up. If you have the latest version of Internet Explorer, click on the little arrow next to the picture of the printer on the right instead, then select Print Preview. The problem you're most likely to come across is the right hand side of your page being cut off. The first thing you can do to try and solve the problem is to change the left and right hand margins. Go to the File menu, select Page Setup, and a window will open with a bit about margins at the bottom. If it's still being cut off, it's back to File and Page Setup again. You get that same window, and this time you want to look to the left of the bit about margins. You need to change the ‘orientation’ from portrait (which is what it's automatically set to) to landscape. That makes it print sideways instead of vertically - pretty much any webpage will fit this way round. It does mean it takes more sheets of paper to fit it all on, though, so I only use it when I need to, not all the time.
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Book reviews To the End of the Day
Shipwrecks of Sussex
by Eve Bonham
by Wendy Hughes
Published by Book Guild Publishing - Price £16.99 ISBN 978-1-84624-582-4
Published by The History Press - Price £12.99 ISBN 978-0-7524-6010-9
Reviewed by Carol Cooper
Reviewed by Roberta Grieve
Anna and Lizzie formed a strong emotional bond as children, treating each other more like sisters. The girls made a pact in their teens that they would always share their secrets and should one of them have to leave the other, there would be no turning round or looking back. They kept to this pact throughout their lives, often sharing various amours as well.
All around our coast there are thousands of shipwrecks – some famous, some whose names will never be known. In Shipwrecks of Sussex, Wendy Hughes has focused on the county of Sussex, from Chichester harbour in the west to Rye in the east. And what a wealth of maritime history she has unearthed in her extensive research – as she says, enough for two or more further books.
They had entirely different personalities, Anna pursuing a career in writing and Lizzie becoming an actress. The book begins whilst they are in their fifties, taking you through their memories and recollections of past events, which had often led to arguments and alienation. However, rifts always ended in them being reunited. Anna and Lizzie’s rock-like companionship invariably impinged on their relationships with spouses or partners, who often felt threatened by their closeness. When Anna is diagnosed with a terminal illness she decides, on impulse, to end her life. In that instance Lizzie immediately becomes aware that she has lost Anna for good, remembering their pact of no turning round or looking back. I enjoyed this book very much. Certainly, one for the women and compelling in its simplicity. Please send all books for review to: Jean Morris 31 Eaton Court Eaton Gardens Hove East Sussex BN3 3PL 28
More than four thousand ships have gone down in these waters, sometimes referred to as the ‘Divers’ Paradise’, and it would be impossible to tell the stories of all of them. Wendy has selected some of the lesser known but historically interesting wrecks to illustrate the dangers of this stretch of the English Channel and its treacherous coastline over a period of some 400 years. As you can see from the illustration on the cover of the book, it is not just the rocky cliffs and headlands around Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters that have lured ships to their doom over the years. The shoals and sandbanks of Bracklesham Bay and Cuckmere Haven were just as treacherous and many a ship was forced by wind and tide onto the shore where it lay stranded to be battered by wind and waves. Collisions too played their part in adding to the total of wrecks, especially in the days before there was any navigational equipment. Some wrecks were the result of enemy action – we always seemed to be at war with the French. This is not a tale of wreckers and smugglers, although they do feature in some of the stories. But there are tales of heroism, November 2011 The Woman Writer
Book reviews tragedy and even humour as we see in the account of the ‘St Paul’, which was attacked by a French privateer in 1747. The French got their comeuppance on that day.
Life is not a Trifling Affair – a Collection of Short Stories by Elizabeth Ducie and Sharon Cook
The lives of those on shore are documented too, with stories of brave rescues, memorials, and songs and poems commemorating events. Many of the tragedies resulted in the raising of money to provide lifeboats and rocket equipment.
Published by Chudleigh Phoenix Publication (A Division of The Chudleigh Phoenix Community Magazine) Price £4.99 ISBN 978-0-9569508-0-2
For anyone who is fascinated by ships and the sea, as well as Sussex history, this book is a must. It is lavishly illustrated with photographs taken by Wendy’s husband, Conrad, as well as pictures from the archives of West Sussex Library Service and local museums.
Reviewed by Wendy Hughes
Never be Lonely by Pamela Fudge Published by Robert Hale Price £18.99 (HB) ISBN 978-0-7090-9253 Reviewed by Lyn Funnell Francesca Dudley received a phone call from Canada, telling her that her father had died. She was surprised as she’d thought he’d died when she was four. But it turned out that he’d moved to Canada and produced another family. She was about to confront her mother, who then told her that she had suspected cancer. Her newlydiscovered half-sister arrived to live with her, while her jealous ex-husband popped up everywhere. When I started reviewing this book I felt that the book was written fairly quickly. Maybe Pamela had a deadline. But it would have benefited from having a bit more time spent on it. I kept forgetting the heroine’s name as nobody seemed to use it. This is a girly book and a bit predictable, but a good holiday read.
The Woman Writer November 2011
This slim volume of 10 varied short stories – five from each author – embraces various aspects of human life, and is an ideal gentle read for anyone looking for a satisfying read, and not wishing to start, or to work hard at the complexities of a novel. I found the stories interesting, although not riveting. They dealt with the trifling problems of life, the authors coming up with some unusual situations. Some of the characters were excellently portrayed whilst others could have been fleshed out a little more, which would have added another dimension and depth to the stories. From a personal point of view, I think I would have chosen to start the collection with one of the stories further on the book, such as The Second Pair of Slippers, which I found so poignant, a super story told well. This would make an ideal Christmas present for anyone interested in short stories.
Turn of the Tide by Joan M Moules Published by Robert Hale Price £18.99 ISBN 978-0-7090-9249-0 Reviewed by Jacqueline Addison-Brown In this tear-drenched novel one woman is desperate for a child; another woman is 29
Book reviews desperate for money. Anonymous surrogacy is the answer for both of them and once they have won over their reluctant husbands they manage to fulfil their dreams. Maureen gets the newborn baby she has so longed for and ambitious Katie is able to leave her cramped rented flat and start climbing the property ladder. But both marriages suffer from this extreme solution to their problems. Katie embarks on an affair and has a love child, and Maureen’s neglected husband also embarks on a fling. However, the presence of a precious child in each marriage is a powerful reason for both couples to try to save their precarious marriages and, against the odds, they manage to stay with their partners. But many years later unforeseen coincidences conspire to undo this hard-won contentment and past errors of judgment have a devastating effect on the happiness of both their grown-up children. This novel packs a memorable emotional punch and forces the reader to consider
what he or she might do faced with similar circumstances, viz. childlessness and poverty. We might be critical of the protagonists’ choices but we are compelled to sympathise with their individual predicaments. And anyone who has ever had a child will recognise how forcefully parental love can affect the dynamics of marriage. Joan Moules writes convincingly about ordinary people caught up in extraordinary situations, whilst her compassion for her characters rarely becomes over-sentimental. She has a clear-eyed view of human foibles and moral dilemmas, giving the reader much food for thought.
Weather Eye by Margaret Gleave Published by Indigo Dreams Price ÂŁ5.99 ISBN 978-1-907461-52-7 Reviewed by Brenda Holbrow The effect of this collection of poems is immediately interesting. Written artistry becomes visual; atmospheric; childhood observations through to completeness of life.
Readers still required for the Open International Life Writing Competition. If you have not entered the competition and would be willing to help read some of the entries, please contact Jean Morris.
Margaret Gleave expresses sentiments for us all to experience. One can relate to her poems, the thoughtfulness, for example, behind First Fall and Days Like These, both poems expressing thoughts we all experience. Sometimes there is a sombre landscape and yet an intuitive understanding that can make us smile or commiserate. There is anticipation of pleasure in the whole compilation. Such is the magic of Weather Eye.
Telephone: 01273 773821 30
November 2011 The Woman Writer
Diary dates
SWWJ competition rules 1. Only fully paid-up members (excluding ‘Friends’) may enter the competitions. 2. Wherever possible, the Society would like the prize winners to attend the prizegiving ceremony. 3. Your membership number (not your name), the title of your work and page number should appear on every page of your entry (and on the enclosed SAE for return of your manuscript - please ensure sufficient postage is affixed). 4. Every entry must have a cover sheet with the title of your work and your SWWJ membership number, which is on your SWWJ membership card. Your title and membership number must be on each page of the text. 5. Prose entries to be typed with double spacing on one side only of white A4 paper. (This is a standard requirement of most judges.) Poetry (not more than 40 lines) should be typed in single spacing on one side of the paper only. 6. Entries must be accompanied by the appropriate fee and closing dates for competitions will be strictly adhered to. A maximum of three entries are allowed for each competition. 7. Entries should not have been published (except for the Lady Violet Astor competition) in any form or read or performed in the public domain up to the closing date of the competition. 8. DO NOT send your entry by recorded or special delivery. Enclose a stamped addressed postcard if you require a receipt. 9. Keep a copy of your work in case the Society needs to ask for it again, should it get lost in the post on its way to the judge. 10. In the event of a great number of entries, the Council reserves the right, should the judge request it, to appoint a short-listing panel.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 2011/12 1st Dec:
SWWJ outing to the Geffrye Museum - call Colleen on 020 8504 2506.
8th Dec:
Christmas Tea (bookings by 20th November please!).
9th Dec:
Dorset/Hants/Wilts Christmas get together - call Tracy on 01202 892801.
2nd Jan:
Editorial deadline for the February issue of The Woman Writer.
31st Jan:
Deadline for SWWJ competitions (see page 18)
3rd March:
Drama Workshop - call Martin Cort on 020 7582 5839.
22nd March:
Southern Regional Meeting - call Joan Moules on 01243 607587.
The Woman Writer November 2011
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www.swwj.co.uk
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