It may feel a little early to be reflecting, however for Wirral Writers our two judged competitions have already happened. Therefore it’s time to review what’s happened and, for some, to celebrate.
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Can Writers Thrive at Local Fairs?
Three of our members recently took a table at a local craft fair.
Hulme Hall, in Port Sunlight, regularly holds fairs in one of its larger rooms. They do tend to vary according to season, so there was the hint of tinsel and a whiff of nutmeg in the air as THAT season approaches.
Mike, Alexandra and Tom shared a table and displayed their wares – Mike had his Sphere of Influence trilogy, plus other sci-fi titles, as well as his humorous travel series. Tom brought A Step Beyond, his collection of short stories, and Alexandra brought five of her titles of different genres.
There were a couple of sales — nothing to write home about, But it was an experience.
We talked about the unsuitability of the fair and how there is nothing on the Wirral dedicated to writers. There is an annual Arts Festival that includes, music, visual art and a poetry event. The idea was mooted to approach someone involved in the organising of that Festival to include something for writers.
We may look around for suitable venues, such as the Floral Pavillion in New Brighton, and enquire if anyone would be interested in running a writers event. A book fair for local authors perhaps.
Watch this space!
The 2023 club competition named after our founder, Maynah Lewis, was based around historical fiction. Those who took part, were tasked with creating a story based in a decade provided by one of the other members.
This is because this year’s judge, John Donaghue, is a historical fiction novelist.
WOWFEST: Class of ’23 is holding a month-long celebration of working-class culture and life, in all its diversity. The line-up of writers is expected to explore how class shapes our perceptions, experiences, opportunities, and culture. And how literature addresses or reinforces class inequality. Each year, they produce an anthology of writing from northern writers.
One of our own, Amy Watkins, has a story in the new anthology Pulp Idol: Firsts 23.
It has been a while since someone deigned to tackle the pages of the Wirral Writer’s blog! It seems to be a thing writers aren’t wholly comfortable with – at least creative writers – or should that be authors?
Anyhoo, Happy New Year to you all – fingers crossed for an immensly successful year to make up for the shenanigans of the past two or three.
Here’s a link to my interview this week on the Analog blog. It’s a follow-on from my short story, Caoimhe’s Water Music, that’s in the November/December issue of the magazine.
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Maynah Lewis 2021
Annual Competition Results
We have been graced with some wonderful judges in the past; fiction writers, artists, a poet, librarians and more. This year was a little different – we also felt like we had stepped up a notch in the nervousness stakes, as we were extremely lucky to get the co-owner and Vice Chairman of Tranmere Rovers Football Club, Nicola Palios.
Well, here we are folks, at the beginning of another year, fresh and shiny – let’s hope we can keep it that way!
Hope you all had a restful Christmas – despite the ‘goings on’ in 2020, but it’s time to get going again (if you didn’t stop, then kudos to you)
Here’s a few things to, hopefully, get everyone in the right frame of mind for cutting a swathe and making our marks in publishing, writing, reading, whatever…
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Competition Suggestions
Entering writing competitions is great for three reasons:
It encourages one to write to deadlines. This may become more necessary once you get that contract signed for a six book deal!
It forces one to think outside of your customary way of creating. You will probably have to work fast to hit the submission date (see #1, which means the creative process is somewhat different to usual)
Hello folks!
As some are aware, Wirral Writer’s group holds a number of in-house competitions. However, due to the current pandemic, our meetings in real life have ceased and now take place through the marvellous medium of video conferencing! And we fell a little behind with our calendar of events. So the ‘500 Word’ short story competition meant to take place in September, took place late October. I am very happy to announce that through the process of anonymous voting, mine won – by a whisker, a half a point!
Here it is:
Wirral Writers 