Call for Entries: Aesthetica Creative Works Competition

The 2011 Aesthetica Creative Works Competition is now open for entries! Aesthetica Magazine is inviting all artists, photographers, writers and poets to submit their work into the Creative Works Competition, Now in its fourth year, the competition is dedicated to celebrating and championing creative talent across the disciplines and welcomes entries from writers working in short fiction and poetry. The Competition has three categories, Artwork & Photography, Poetry and Fiction. Winners and finalists are published in the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual. Winners of each category receive £500 prize money plus other prizes. Entry to the Creative Works Competition is £10. The entry fee allows the submission of 2 images, 2 poems or 2 short stories. The deadline for submissions is the 31st August 2011. More guidelines on how to submit can be found online at http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/submission_guide.htm

Meeting Report: 21st March 2011

Entries for our second competition of the year were read out at the meeting held on 21st March. This was for an open-theme poem of up to 40 lines, with own choice of form. The fifteen entries submitted showed once again the versatile talent within the group with a rich variety of strong, imaginative work. Whether lyrical, humorous, thought-provoking, inspiring or poignant, contemporary or more traditional, all the offerings made enjoyable listening. This competition will be judged by Bexhill poet Richard Evans, who will attend on 9th May to give his feedback and the results. For further information about our group please visit our website www.hastingswriters.co.uk or contact membership.hwg@gmail.com - we currently have a few places available for new members. Rosemary Bartholomew Programme Secretary

Meeting Report: 7th March 2011

On 7 March, Hastings Writers’ Group got to howk (dig) deep into their brains and work out the meanings of such neglected lexical gems as ‘carriwitchet’, ‘pilgarlic’ and ‘bullimong’. One of our members, Richard Holdsworth, took time out from his busy schedule promoting his latest book In the Hot Seat to organise a fun and fascinating quiz on the ‘Words of Yesteryear’. This was followed by a related exercise in which members had to incorporate as many of these tricky terms as they could into an impromptu piece of writing. They ranged from a poem, inspired by ‘The Jabberwocky’, to a dark tale of rustic crime. Finally, scores for both the quiz and the story were combined, and Laura O’Brien won a well-deserved bottle of wine.
If you love words and writing, why not come along to one of our meetings and give it a go?
For enquiries about activities and membership please contact the membership secretary at membership.hwg@gmail.com or visit our website: http://www.hastingswriters.co.uk/
Roz Balp, Membership Secretary

Meeting Report: 21st February 2011

On Monday 21st February, all HWG members who had entered the first competition of the year waited with bated breath for the judge, Brion Purdey, to give feedback and announce the prize-winners. As he said, judging the entries had been a challenging task as the standard of entry was high. Each entrant had written a piece on a writer who had inspired them, and chosen authors ranging from EB (Enid Blyton) to EB (Emily Bronte). Mr Purdey, former Principal Library Manager for the Hastings area, local historian and member of many, many literary groups, proved to be an entertaining and informative judge. His individual critiques were interspersed with fascinating facts about writers and local history. Finally, he announced the winners, and a well-deserved first prize went to Mark Towner for his sincere and honest account of how Isaac Asimov had switched on his hitherto dormant interest in literature and writing. Second place went to Jill Fricker for a very detailed and powerful description of Don Paterson’s influence on all aspects of her life and poetry. Third prize went to Laura O’Brien for her moving evocation of the comfort and clarity gained from Walt Whitman’s ‘Song of Myself’. Roz Balp came fourth with her personal homage to D H Lawrence. Our thanks go to Brion Purdey for executing his judgely duty with such admirable conscientiousness and aplomb.The next meeting will be held on 7th March, when member Richard Holdsworth will be running a workshop 'Words from a Bygone Era'. Visitors may attend this open evening at a fee of £3. Please contact membership.hwg@gmail.com for further group information.
Roz Balp, Membership Secretary

Meeting Report: 7th February 2011

Monday 7th February was this year's first Manuscript Evening at Hastings Writers’ Group. These evenings give members the opportunity to air their work, which might otherwise gather dust in drawers, and read it out so that other members can give constructive criticism. First, Laura O’Brien read out her Catherine Cookson Cup prize-winning story, ‘How Not to Leave’, a tense and harrowing account of a relationship in trauma. Then, we were treated to some superb poetry from Lynn Ward and Jill Fricker. So well-crafted, moving and beautiful were these pieces that some less poetically inclined members were inspired to seek out their own muses. In complete contrast, Mark Towner gave us an excerpt from his autobiographical novel, a tale so fascinating, it demands to be told. This was an auspicious start to a year of mutual support and inspiration; we look forward to more home-grown goodies in 2011.For enquiries about activities and membership please contact the membership secretary at membership.hwg@gmail.com or visit our website: http://www.hastingswriters.co.uk/
Roz Balp, Membership Secretary

Meeting Report: 24 January 2011

The first competition of the year kicked off with the brief ‘Write about an author whose work you particularly admire/enjoy and how they may have influenced you’ with a 1500 word limit. There was a wide-ranging choice of authors including: Agatha Christie, Enid Blyton, Isaac Asimov, Dickens, DH Lawrence, Nabokov, Emily Brontë, F Scott Fitzgerald and Virgina Woolf, amongst others. We had a very enjoyable evening listening to just what it was about particular writers and books that appealed so much to individuals and were even in some cases inspired to read-read old favourites or perhaps try something we hadn’t discovered before.
This competition will be judged by former principal librarian Brion Purdey, who will attend a meeting later in February to give his comments and results.
For more information about our group please visit our website www.hastingswriters.co.uk or e-mail our membership secretary at membership.hwg@gmail.com
Rosemary Bartholomew, Programme Secretary

Meeting Report: 10 January 2011

Hastings Writers’ Group got off to a thought-provoking start on 10th January with a trio of speakers, who described their joint venture of writing a 3-part, linked memoir. Ken McEwan, John Dowling and Philip Elms have a combined experience in local newspapers of nearly 150 years, so when ‘cut adrift’ from their careers, they decided to tell the stories behind their news headlines in a book, entitled ‘Three Men and a Quote’. Ranging from council subterfuge, through football cheating to tackling various incendiary devices and fires, most accounts are funny, while some are poignant.
At the beginning of the evening, each speaker described his background, and in the second part, they read snippets of their writing. In the final Q and A section, they gave open, honest and full responses, which provoked some lively discussion. The speakers gave a valuable insight into the function of local newspapers in a town community as well as what is involved in bringing such a writing project to fruition.
Roz Balp, Membership Secretary