The inaugural competition in honour of former member Janet Barclay was adjudicated by her son Philip and won by Solvig. In the photograph above, our competitions secretary Susan is presenting the magnificent trophy donated by the Barclay family in loving memory of their mother.
Philip, who is currently working in Azerbaijan, emailed his remarks to us. He mentioned that it has been just over a year since his mother died and how much she had enjoyed being part of the group. She also really enjoyed comic writing herself, hence the genre chosen in her memory. Turning to the entries he wrote,
‘There were seven entries: 3 short stories – one of them quite like a play; two dramatic scenes, maybe veering towards screenplays for a comedy sketch, an essay and a poem. Most of the pieces had a timeless feel.’ After a brief reference to some recurring themes, he then went on to say, ‘The one thing they all had in common was that I read them all with pleasure’.
Maggie concluded her reading of the adjudication text by sharing Philip’s notes on each individual entry and announcing the results, which were as follows:
Joint 3rd ‘The Lemon Squeeze’ by Louise Joyce and ‘Welcome to my World’ by Susan Perkins.
2nd ‘Why? A Question of Power Tools’ by Carol Mayer.
1st ‘Fairness and Justice’ by Solvig Choi.
We are very grateful to Philip and look forward to maintaining contact with the Barclay family.
Our Chairman gave an illustrated talk based on her long experience of writing ‘fillers’ for a wide variety of publications. Originally odd little bits and pieces used to fill spaces between main articles, these have taken on a life of their own and can be a very useful source of additional income for writers.
Maggie’s little handbook, pictured above, was offered at cost to members not already in possession of a copy.
There is a one-off change of venue for the Group’s next meeting which will be held at the Workhouse Museum, Allhallowgate at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 7th June. The theme for the evening will be ‘Fairy Tales’ or ‘Dreams’ and there will also be an opportunity for those attending to view the exhibition prepared by museum volunteer and Group member Solvig Choi.
TRANSFERRED BACK TO OUR USUAL VENUE DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL.
Our popular ‘six objects in search of a story’ is scheduled for Tuesday, 24th May and here is this year’s selection. The task is to incorporate ALL SIX into a piece of creative writing. Good luck!
Maggie is very grateful to Tim Flanagan, Ripon correspondent for the Stray Ferret. for this boost to her charity appeal.
We were delighted to welcome writer, editor and poet Andy Croft to be our adjudicator this time round. Despite admitting that he doesn’t write short stories himself, Andy had obviously read a great many in the past and he treated us to a detailed analysis of the eight entries.
Secretary Peter Page received the trophy for ‘Inciting Incident’, a story of flirtation between a woman who thinks her husband is having an affair and a widower she meets on an Arvon playwriting course at The Hurst in Shropshire. (The title is a playwriting term.). Sheila Whitfield’s ‘Hat Tricks’, a story about a 57 year old loner who surprises himself by coming to the aid of a woman whose carrier bag fails in a supermarket car park, was in second place. The title refers to the fact that the protagonist often feels that he is wearing the wrong hat. Third was ‘Fisherman’s Tale’ by Denis Whitaker. A retired fisherman sitting on the harbour wall tells anyone who will listen about his possible encounters with a mermaid. The end of the story implies that the fisherman went to join the sea people after telling his tales for the last time.
After a break for refreshments, the three winners read their stories. Other entries will be given priority at our next Members’ Manuscripts meeting, which will also feature a book sale.
As a prelude to his adjudication, Paul spoke to us about his own wide-ranging writing, which includes two books on creative writing. He then went on to ask if writing poetry was different from other writing forms. Does it use a different part of the brain or is it so focused that it blots out other things? He said that writing poetry involves concentration, imagination and something which acts as a prompt. In addition he stressed the importance of reading other people’s work to sharpen one’s mind. A wide discussion of what makes a piece of writing a poem followed, touching on punctuation amongst other things.
When Paul turned to what he was looking for in a poem he emphasised that there were many different ways of writing one, but that the result should hold the reader’s attention – the reader should not feel that he is wasting his time. There are no hard and fast rules about form or subject or rhyme. However, the poem must mean something to the writer as well as to the reader.
Turning to the individual competition entries it was agreed to follow Paul’s suggestion that the writers should read their work before he gave his comments so that the comments meant something to the others present. The poems read were:
• Susan – ‘Going Downhill on a Bicycle’ – a poem supposed to have been written by a character from her recent novel
• Maggie – ‘The Last Amen’ – a lament for ‘the one who got away’
• Denis – ‘Dusk to Dawn’ – a poem inspired by a blind girl and looking at how senses can become sharpened
• Ros – ‘Living in Denial’ – a very personal poem about climate change
• Sheila – ‘The Enchantment of Birdsong’ – a poem inspired by hearing a song thrush while out walking
• Carol – ‘Not April but February Mr T S Eliot’ – a poem disputing the opening lines of Eliot’s ‘The Wasteland
• Peter – ‘The Naming of Books’ – a parody of ‘The Naming of Cats’ from ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’
The authors of the remaining three entries were not present so their entries were held over.
Paul then proceeded to announce his choice of winners as follows:
• 1st – Susan Perkins with ‘Going Downhill on a Bicycle’
• 2nd – Ros Swaney with ‘Living in Denial’
• 3rd – Lindsay Trenholme with ‘The Power of Words’
Susan was presented with the trophy.
Maggie thanked Paul for his adjudication and invited him to read a selection of his own poems. These included ‘General Swim’ (about Ripon Spa Baths) and ‘Saturday Bells’ (about wedding bells at Ripon Cathedral) from his published collection ‘Voting for Spires’, both of which had also been published in the ‘Ripon Gazette’. He also read poems from his collection ‘Nomad’ and from a smaller collection inspired by a film.
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