Those abroad on the seafront on Monday 23rd May might well have wondered if they were in a time warp and it was really Halloween, as members of Hastings Writers’ Group made our way to the ‘White Rock Hotel’ clad in ghastly garb for the 1000-word ghost story competition.
Hunched and huddled in the gathering gloom, seventeen members took turns to read out their entry by torchlight. As the web of words was woven, we saw swirling mists, smelt rancid water, heard the pitter-patter of tiny, long-dead feet, tasted revenge and felt the chill of loss, despair and terror. While some tales were scary, others were sad and a few just plain funny, but all authors had risen to the challenge of conjuring up a riveting range of souls stranded in that haunting hinterland between life and death – with a myriad of murky motives.
We look forward with a thrill of anticipation to award-winning writer Jill Hucklesby’s feedback and judging on 20th June.
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
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Monday, 16 May 2011
Meeting Report: 9th May 2011
Members of Hastings Writers’ Group were honoured and delighted to have Richard Evans, award-winning Bexhill poet, as their poetry competition judge on 9th May. Richard provided an engaging start to the evening by reading four of his own poems, three of which were inspired by Hastings Pier.
He then gave deep, detailed feedback on each entry. In first place was Laura O’Brien’s “thought-provoking” ‘Blazon’, which was “played out with irresistible delicacy”. Jill Fricker’s ‘Angel of the North’ took second place: "There is so much which is wonderful about this poem, particularly in terms of technical skill". Mike Walsh was third with his ‘emotionally pure’ ‘Terminus’, which Richard described as “eye-opening in the way poetry should (must) be.” ‘Sea Changes’ by Ezzie Ward came fourth: “the shift in perception from Romantic to cold realist powerfully enacted with the sensually accurate and visually dramatic”.
All winners were extremely well-deserving, and Richard commented on how the group as a whole had evolved as poets, particularly in their use of imagery. He brought the evening to a close with some thought-provoking reflections on this, for example: ‘Poetry deals with the problems of the world with image’ and ‘Imagery is the poet’s secret weapon.’ We are very grateful to him for judging this competition with such expertise and sensitivity.
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/
He then gave deep, detailed feedback on each entry. In first place was Laura O’Brien’s “thought-provoking” ‘Blazon’, which was “played out with irresistible delicacy”. Jill Fricker’s ‘Angel of the North’ took second place: "There is so much which is wonderful about this poem, particularly in terms of technical skill". Mike Walsh was third with his ‘emotionally pure’ ‘Terminus’, which Richard described as “eye-opening in the way poetry should (must) be.” ‘Sea Changes’ by Ezzie Ward came fourth: “the shift in perception from Romantic to cold realist powerfully enacted with the sensually accurate and visually dramatic”.
All winners were extremely well-deserving, and Richard commented on how the group as a whole had evolved as poets, particularly in their use of imagery. He brought the evening to a close with some thought-provoking reflections on this, for example: ‘Poetry deals with the problems of the world with image’ and ‘Imagery is the poet’s secret weapon.’ We are very grateful to him for judging this competition with such expertise and sensitivity.
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/
Meeting Report: 18th April 2011
The first half of our meeting on 18th April was devoted to memories of David Buchan, former publicity officer and committee member, who sadly died recently. Following Chairperson Monica Percy’s opening reminiscences, John Cole read David’s ‘The Shakespeare of the Speakeasy’ about the writer Damon Runyon. Richard Holdsworth then gave a moving tribute, highlighting David’s Fleet Street career, his writing skills and achievements, interspersed with anecdotes about his wonderful wit and knowledge of football, golf and cricket. Finally, Alan Crozier read one of David’s humorous pieces: ‘Socks’ which appears in our latest ‘Strandline’ anthology. David will be remembered with affection and it was agreed to have a members-only journalistic competition later in the year in his honour.
In the second half, we looked at works in progress and gave constructive feedback. Sally Ricketts read chapter 3 of her children’s science fiction novel ‘Anderson’s Sundial’, which saw characters from three different time zones meeting with the threat of evil hovering in the background. This was followed by a selection of four poems: ‘Tree’, ‘The Wedding Chest’, ‘Young Love’ and ‘Planning for Old Age’ from the versatile Roz Balp, which demonstrated a variety of styles, including a villanelle, and ranged from beautiful to hilarious. Fairly recent new member Stephen Martin read the beginning of his as yet untitled novel, which was his first – and very adept – attempt at writing for adults, and was urged to continue it, as everyone was left wondering what would happen next. Due to the Bank Holiday, our next meeting will not be until 9th May, when we await the results of our Poetry Competition. For further enquiries about membership or activities please contact membership.hwg@gmail.com or visit www.hastingswriters.co.uk
In the second half, we looked at works in progress and gave constructive feedback. Sally Ricketts read chapter 3 of her children’s science fiction novel ‘Anderson’s Sundial’, which saw characters from three different time zones meeting with the threat of evil hovering in the background. This was followed by a selection of four poems: ‘Tree’, ‘The Wedding Chest’, ‘Young Love’ and ‘Planning for Old Age’ from the versatile Roz Balp, which demonstrated a variety of styles, including a villanelle, and ranged from beautiful to hilarious. Fairly recent new member Stephen Martin read the beginning of his as yet untitled novel, which was his first – and very adept – attempt at writing for adults, and was urged to continue it, as everyone was left wondering what would happen next. Due to the Bank Holiday, our next meeting will not be until 9th May, when we await the results of our Poetry Competition. For further enquiries about membership or activities please contact membership.hwg@gmail.com or visit www.hastingswriters.co.uk
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Meeting Report: 4th April 2011
At our meeting on 4th April members enjoyed hearing Mike Walsh’s story 'The Bells of Christmas Morning', which was the runner-up in our Catherine Cookson Cup competition last year.
John Cole put forward the idea of members writing reviews of books they had particularly enjoyed so that these could be shared on the group blog. He started the ball rolling by reading 'Plain Vanilla Closeness' his own review of 'The Corrections' by Jonathan Franzen.
This was followed by reading of extracts from various works in progress for constructive feedback. Pauline Piper read the prologue and beginning of her crime novel ‘Driven’, set in and around Hastings, whilst Amanda Giles had group members getting into character by reading parts from her radio play ‘Jewel’. Alan Crozier ended the evening with a further chapter from his hard-edged science-fiction novel ‘Black Daffodils’. These were all very different and made a stimulating variety for listeners to discuss and offer their comments on.
For information about membership and our group activities, please contact membership.hwg@gmail.com or visit our website http://www.hastingswriters.co.uk/ Rosemary Bartholomew, Programme Secretary
John Cole put forward the idea of members writing reviews of books they had particularly enjoyed so that these could be shared on the group blog. He started the ball rolling by reading 'Plain Vanilla Closeness' his own review of 'The Corrections' by Jonathan Franzen.
This was followed by reading of extracts from various works in progress for constructive feedback. Pauline Piper read the prologue and beginning of her crime novel ‘Driven’, set in and around Hastings, whilst Amanda Giles had group members getting into character by reading parts from her radio play ‘Jewel’. Alan Crozier ended the evening with a further chapter from his hard-edged science-fiction novel ‘Black Daffodils’. These were all very different and made a stimulating variety for listeners to discuss and offer their comments on.
For information about membership and our group activities, please contact membership.hwg@gmail.com or visit our website http://www.hastingswriters.co.uk/ Rosemary Bartholomew, Programme Secretary
Monday, 4 April 2011
Plain Vanilla Closeness: A Review of 'The Corrections' by Jonathan Franzen
At the end of the day I like to read soothing balm for the frazzled mind, such as Rebus or Wallander stories. But occasionally I stumble upon what I call a real book. A brilliantly written book that has depth and texture, with layers of meaning that resonate within me. Jonathan Franzen’ s The Corrections is one such book.
Like so many great books, The Corrections is about families in all their loving madness. It is the story of Enid and Alfred Lambert, living in St. Jude, Iowa, and their three grown up children, who are not really so very grown up, living their screwed-up lives scattered across America. Enid is a worrier and frets over just about everything, while Alfred is slowly losing his mind to Parkinson’s disease. The storyline is surprisingly simple: Enid wants to have one last family Christmas together before Alfred sinks totally into the dark recesses of dementia.
What makes The Corrections so powerful is the way Franzen weaves together the lives of all five Lamberts, jumping from one family story to another, overlapping, backtracking and interweaving their lives so that you gradually understand and enter into their lives. Franzen manages to do this amazing juggling act of storylines by writing that is quite simply brilliant: at times Henry James-type sentences that meander over two pages but always come back home; sometimes short, sharp declarative sentences that catch your breath; and always an honesty of observation that certainly resonated with my family life. Infusing all of his writing is a poetry of words, a use of metaphor that makes you think, “How did he do that?!” and a thread of empathetic (and at times dark) humour running throughout the book.
One poignant passage sticks in my mind. Enid decides that she and Alfred should take a cruise. While Enid works hard at socialising, Alfred, slipping further into dementia, falls overboard. “Alfred was remembering the nights he’d sat upstairs with one or both of his boys or with his girl in the crook of his arm, their damp bath-smelling heads hard against his ribs as he read aloud to them. How his voice alone, its palpable resonance, had made them drowsy. These were evenings, and there were hundreds of them, when nothing traumatic enough to leave a scar had befallen the nuclear unit. Evenings of plain vanilla closeness in his black leather chair; sweet evenings of doubt between the nights of bleak certainty. They came to him now, these forgotten counterexamples, because in the end, when you were falling into water, there was no solid thing to reach for but your children.”
“Evenings of plain vanilla closeness…” Wow! Review © John Cole 2011
Like so many great books, The Corrections is about families in all their loving madness. It is the story of Enid and Alfred Lambert, living in St. Jude, Iowa, and their three grown up children, who are not really so very grown up, living their screwed-up lives scattered across America. Enid is a worrier and frets over just about everything, while Alfred is slowly losing his mind to Parkinson’s disease. The storyline is surprisingly simple: Enid wants to have one last family Christmas together before Alfred sinks totally into the dark recesses of dementia.
What makes The Corrections so powerful is the way Franzen weaves together the lives of all five Lamberts, jumping from one family story to another, overlapping, backtracking and interweaving their lives so that you gradually understand and enter into their lives. Franzen manages to do this amazing juggling act of storylines by writing that is quite simply brilliant: at times Henry James-type sentences that meander over two pages but always come back home; sometimes short, sharp declarative sentences that catch your breath; and always an honesty of observation that certainly resonated with my family life. Infusing all of his writing is a poetry of words, a use of metaphor that makes you think, “How did he do that?!” and a thread of empathetic (and at times dark) humour running throughout the book.
One poignant passage sticks in my mind. Enid decides that she and Alfred should take a cruise. While Enid works hard at socialising, Alfred, slipping further into dementia, falls overboard. “Alfred was remembering the nights he’d sat upstairs with one or both of his boys or with his girl in the crook of his arm, their damp bath-smelling heads hard against his ribs as he read aloud to them. How his voice alone, its palpable resonance, had made them drowsy. These were evenings, and there were hundreds of them, when nothing traumatic enough to leave a scar had befallen the nuclear unit. Evenings of plain vanilla closeness in his black leather chair; sweet evenings of doubt between the nights of bleak certainty. They came to him now, these forgotten counterexamples, because in the end, when you were falling into water, there was no solid thing to reach for but your children.”
“Evenings of plain vanilla closeness…” Wow! Review © John Cole 2011
Thursday, 31 March 2011
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
Monday, 28 March 2011
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
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