Next Writing Day: Saturday 20 March 2010
Contact us to let us know if you're planning to attend, and sign up here to receive Writing Day reminders.
John McAuliffe — A Midgie
A new pamphlet from John McAuliffe — A Midgie — is available this month. Read a poem from it here.
Yvonne Green — The Assay
Yvonne Green's first full-length collection, The Assay, is due for publication in June, but you can pre-order copies now from here.
Yvonne's first collection, Boukhara (a winner in the 2007 Book & Pamphlet Competition), is still available.
Also coming soon from Smith/Doorstop:
— Allison McVety's second full-length collection, Miming Happiness, in May
— Paul Mills' fifth full-length collection, Voting for Spring, in June
— and later in the year, new books from Gerard Benson, River Wolton, Jane Routh, Jonathan Davidson and Ed Reiss; as well as pamphlets by our 2009 competition winners.
The 2009 Competition Winners
The first-stage winners of the 2009 competition are Nina Boyd, Sue Boyle, Alan Payne and Jane Aspinall. These four poets have been invited to submit a full-length MS to the second stage of the competition, for the chance to win book publication.
First prize in the Sheffield Poetry Prize category went to Beverley Nadin, for her poem 'R.S.V.P.' — read it here. Second place went to Liz Cashdan and third to Jenny King.
See here for quotes from Andrew Motion on the overall winners, and the short- and long-lists.
In Defence of Poetry
This campaign is sponsored by The Poetry Business.
Should children be protected from controversial literature? Should works be studied because of their literary merit or as springboards to discuss particular issues? Should students be taught to analyse poems in order to understand their meaning or should they be asked to provide a personal response? How important should poetry be in teaching English? Who should determine the content of the school curriculum and according to what criteria? What are the roles of the poet, the critic, the teacher and the reader in upholding the importance of poetry? And what, if any, is the role of government?
Read more about the campaign...
Read site visitor responses to the questions raised (and contribute your own)...
The Writing Squad is Now Recruiting
The Writing Squad is looking for fifteen motivated writers aged between sixteen and twenty who are from, live, work or study in the Yorkshire and Humber region. See here for more information.
Anna Woodford Wins Crashaw Prize
2008 Book & Pamphlet Competition winner, Anna Woodford, has just been named the winner of this year's international Crashaw Prize, run by Salt Publishing. She will have a full-length collection published in the UK, USA and Australia later this year. Anna's pamphlet, Party Piece, is still available from us.
Enjoy a magical place and write about it!
"The beautiful Greek island of Paxos is a truly inspirational location in the Ionian Sea just nine miles south of Corfu and it is hard to imagine a better place to hone your writing skills.
Poet and script writer Adam Strickson will be leading a week of creative writing on the island from the 13th to the 20th September. His Writing about Paxos course offers you the chance to explore the fascinating landscape of the island through your own writing. Spirit of place has always inspired writers, from Thomas Hardy’s Dorset to Lawrence and Gerald Durrell’s Corfu, and, whether you are an absolute beginner or an experienced writer, Paxos will provide the perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in an inspirational place and find a rich source for your own poetry or prose.
Adam is an experienced writer, tutor and Teaching Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of Leeds. He has taught poetry, fiction, life writing and the use of myth and landscape as creative sources and has written plays for several theatre companies. His first collection of poetry was published in 2005; he was one of six writers included in Interland: Six Steps Underwater published by Smith/Doorstop in 2006 and his second collection, 'Tear up the lace', published by Leeds-based Graft Poetry, comes out this year.
The course costs £275 plus accommodation and travel, which can be arranged by Paxos Life who are organising the course. Further details can be found at http://www.paxoslife.com/writing_paxos.htm."
