Book your Flash Festival tickets now!

Trinity College BristolCelebrating its fourth year, Flash Fiction Festival 2023 spreads out over three intensely creative days in July. The in-person version of the festival unfurls ofrom 14th-16th July, welcoming fabulous flashers including Kathy Fish, Nancy Stohlman, Ingrid Jendrzejewski, Carrie Etter and Tania Hershman.

The weekend takes place at Trinity College, Bristol, and is packed with inspiring workshops tackling every aspect of flash fiction, from ‘Writing Climate Change’ with Deb Tompkins, to ‘How to Haibun’ (a form of prose poem) with Roberta Beary and Lew Watts.

I’ll be inviting writers to ‘Unlock your fairy tale toolkit’ in my workshop where fairy tale motifs offer the chance to shine new light on modern day darkness.

These are just a few of the wonderful offerings tempting you to sign up. See the website to find out what else is happening.

The festival team, headed by director Jude Higgins, make this a weekend of imaginative adventures, attracting some of the loveliest writers ever to dip a toe into the art of flash writing. Join the throng before all spaces fill up!

Book your flash festival admission here.

Ahead of this weekend-long fiesta of flash, Jude is organising a night of readings in the Gallery room at St James Wine Vaults, Bath, from 7pm on Saturday 20th May.

I’ll be reading my story ‘The Finch in My Sister’s Hair’ from my 2022 short fiction collection The Stairs Are a Snowcapped Mountain.

Jude promises cake and other nibbles. The event is free and un-ticketed, but there will be a raffle raising funds towards a reduced-cost place at the Flash Fiction Festival.
I hope to see you there!

Guernsey Literary Festival 2023

Guernsey Literary FestivalFancy flitting over to the Channel islands for a long weekend? The Guernsey Literary Festival, which takes place from 2nd-14th May 2023, offers the perfect excuse for a retreat. There’ll be more than 65 creative talks, workshops, film screenings and family story sessions.

GuernseyThis year themes are Community and Connection, and

The line-up includes an array of expert wordsmiths, including Suzie Dent’s An Emotional Dictionary – Real Words for How We Feel, from Angst to Zwodder and Onjali Q. Raúf speaking about Hope on the Horizon – A Children’s Handbook on Empathy, Kindness and Making a Better World

Emily Kenway became a carer for her elderly mother, an experience that prompted her to question whether carer treatment could be improved. She will speak about her book Who Cares?

Other notable attendees include Jon Snow, Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho and acclaimed poet and novelist Jackie Kay, who will head the poets and novelists’ section. She will read from her work and lead a poetry workshop. Novelists include Georgina Moore talking about her book The Garnett Girls, set to be one of the biggest debuts of the year, and Liz Hyder, whose rich gothic mystery The Gifts follows her award-winning YA novel Bearmouth. Abigail Burdess will talk about her new novel, the thriller Mother’s Day.

The Festival Tea Party will feature be led by Andrew Hislop and feature Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, one of the most iconic book characters created by children’s author and artist the late David McKee.

Art lovers can delve into an exhibition by artist Šárka Lee to view the original illustrations from her books The Bear Truth about Goldilocks and The Kingdom of Deep Sleep. Illustrator and author Rob Biddulph will lead Draw with Rob for children, and there will be live drawing and music with Tom Percival (Milo’s Monster, Perfectly Norman, Ravi’s Roar).

For YA readers, award-winning author Sita Brahmachari explores the rewilding storytelling, environmental and human rights inspirations behind her bestselling novel Where the River Runs Gold.

Event tickets are bookable at www.guernseyliteraryfestival.com where you can also find the growing diary of events.

Enter National Flash Fiction Day’s microfiction competition

Sweets by Judy DarleyNational Flash Fiction Day’s 100-word microfiction competition invites your submissions. Send something funny, something that resonates, is fresh and exciting, and leaves the judges lost for words.

The deadline is 15th February 2023. You’re invited to submit up to three flash fictions on any theme at no more than 100 words each. Titles aren’t included in the word count.

Last year’s winner was Jan Kaneen with her beautiful mini-tale ‘Just a Word to the Snowblind.’ Read it and the other winners here.

The microfiction competition prizes are:

  • £150 for first place
  • £100 for second place
  • £50 for third place

There are also seven awards of £20 for highly commended pieces. The winning and highly commended authors will be published in the National Flash Fiction Day 2023 anthology, and will receive a free print copy of this anthology.

This year’s judges are:

  • Tim Craig
  • Amanda Huggins
  • Fiona J. Mackintosh
  • Johanna Robinson

Read more about the judges here.

Please only submit work that is not and will not be under consideration elsewhere before 15 March 2023.  By submitting work to the NFFD Microfiction Competition, you are agreeing to publication online and in the 2023 NFFD Anthology if your work is selected as a prizewinner or highly commended flash.

Find full details here.

This year, National Flash Fiction Day is on Saturday 24th June. How will you celebrate?

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw attention to? Send me an email at JudyDarley (@) iCloud (dot) com.

Jaipur Literary Festival

Jaipur Literary Elephant

Image © Steppes Travel www.steppestravel.co.uk

Founded by William Dalrymple and Namita Gokhale sixteen years ago, Jaipur Literature Festival takes place from 19th-23rd January 2023. From Nobel Laureates to local language writers, Man Booker prize winners to debut novelists, the annual event brings together more than 400 authors, thinkers, politicians, journalists and popular culture icons from India and from around the globe.

Events to look forward to include talks and insights from authors ranging from Abdulrazak Gurnah to Bernadine Evaristo, Katherine Rundell to David Olusoga and Shobhaa Dé to Edmund de Waal. Set alongside discussions on global issues including climate crisis, geopolitics, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Indo-China relations, agriculture, and energy, there will be plenty to fire up your synapses, whet your imaginative appetite and send your spirits soaring!

Keen to take part yourself next year? Contact the organisers through the website to find out more.

Find full details of Jaipur Literature Festival here.

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Dive into Bath Children’s Literature Festival

Child reading cr Julian Foxon Photography

© Julian Foxon Photography

Hungry for writing inspiration or simply got young book-worms to entertain? Bath Children’s Literature Festival returns this autumn with ten days of fantastic, imagination-stirring events.

The festival runs from Friday 23rd September – Sunday 2nd October 2022, with events for all ages.

Don’t miss History and Mystery with Lindsay Galvin and A. M. Howell on Tuesday 27th September 2022.

There’s a focus on happiness, diversity and nature, with storytelling, draw-alongs and events from poet Rachel Piercey, Jenny Pearson, Benjamin Dean, Tessa Yates, Sarah Surgey, Maudie Smith, Rachel Morrisroe, Emma Carroll, Hannah Gold and Simon James Green, plus a great workshop for grown ups on finding the heart of your story with Tanya Byrne.

Plus there are the usual assortment of events with comedians turned children’s authors including David Baddiel, Rosie Jones and Richard Ayoade.

Not able to travel to Bath? In 2020 and 2021, Bath Festival hosted the online Reading is Magic Festival instead. with writers, illustrators and poets from across the globe taking part. You can watch online events recorded during both festivals for a small one-off fee of £5.

Image supplied by Bath Festivals. Photo by Julian-Foxon-Photography.

Find details at bathfestivals.org.uk/childrens-literature.

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw attention to? Send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

Edinburgh Book Festival welcomes word-lovers

Edinburgh Book Festival. Shows people in a park enjoying the literary festivalThis year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival is on from 13th-29th August 2022, with more than 550 world-class performers, musicians and thinkers from 50 countries contributing to over 600 events touching on the theme ‘All Together Now.’

The programme builds on the hybrid format developed over the past two years, with live, in-person events, many of which are also available to stream or watch at a later date. Expect a celebration of the imagination, ideas and issues at the heart of books and stories, offering new perspectives on the world around us.

Authors taking part this year include Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, Vietnamese American poet Ocean Vuong, Outlander writer Diana Gabaldon, plus Noam Chomsky, Jack Monroe, Alexander McCall Smith, Denise Mina, William Dalrymple and Armando Iannucci. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon steps up  for two events, interviewing novelist Louise Welsh about her new novel The Second Cut, and  Brian Cox about a life on the Scottish stage and his role in television hit series Succession. There are also events with some of the world’s most beloved children’s authors, including Jason Reynolds, Cressida Cowell, Julia Donaldson, Michael Morpurgo and doctor turned writer and doctor-turned comedian and author Adam Kay.

The festival’s director Nick Barley says: “The world has changed immeasurably since 2019: we’re learning to live with the effects of the pandemic and war in Europe – but we’re also beginning to imagine what a better future should look like. Exploring these issues in inspiring conversations with scientists, historians, poets and novelists is exactly where the Book Festival comes into its own. I’m thrilled that thanks to Baillie Gifford, every young person coming to a Schools event gets a free ticket and a free book this year. With all online events and a selection of our in-person theatre tickets also available on a Pay What You Can basis, we’re doing everything we can to make the festival accessible to everyone.”

Find full details of the Edinburgh International Book Festival programme.

Got an event, challenge, competition, opportunity or call for submissions you’d like to draw attention to? Send me an email at JudyDarley (@) iCloud (dot) com.

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Foraging for Inspiration at the Flash Fiction Festival

Owl carving and baby shoe by Judy Darley
The Flash Fiction Festival takes place from Friday 8th until Sunday 10th July, with real world events happening at Trinity College, Bristol, and six hybrid workshops (online as well as face-to-face) workshops occurring over the weekend.

There are some amazing flash fiction writers teaching over the weekend, including Kathy Fish, Nancy Stohlman, Vanessa Gebbie, Eltra Rhodes, K.M. Elkes and Susmita Bhattacharya.

I’m delighted to be leading a workshop on ‘Foraging for Inspiration’ at 8.45am on Sunday 10th July. Expect random word prompts and other stimuli to get your imagination whirring!

One of the questions I’m asked most is where I get ideas from. The truth is that inspiration can come from anywhere, if you’re open and ready to gather the ideas as they come.

As someone who is, in all honesty, easily bored, I’m constantly on the lookout for entertaining distractions that can convert into story fuel, from overheard conversations to momentarily misunderstood glimpses (the weirder the better), to objects that could be important to a character in a tale.

I publish weekly writing prompts on my SkyLightRain blog,and collect small found objects and images that lead to piece of narrative prose. In this workshop you will be provided with a variety of writing prompts and investigate ways you can combine different sources with your own unique experiences to build up an original story.

Suitable for beginners and up. I intend to take participants on a short stroll of the grounds to forage for inspiration, returning to the workshop room for half an hour or so for the writing exercises.

I’ll also be reading my story ‘How to Hook a Heart’ from the Freedom-themed National Flash Fiction Day Anthology 2022 on the Friday evening. Find the full festival programme here.

I hope to see you there!

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw my attention to? Send me an email at judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

Time to rev up for the I AM Writing Festival

Red ladybird on a red rosebud. Photo by Judy DarleyFormerly known as the Writers’ Weekend, (and before that Winchester Writers’ Festival), the I AM Writing Festival is a hybrid literary event with 65+ talks and workshops, some online and some in-person at the University of Winchester.

Aimed at budding writers keen to improve writing and editing skills, find inspiration, pitch to an agent or better understand the world of publishing, there are nine package prices available ranging from £37 for a single workshop to £597 for an Access All Areas pass.

The 11 live virtual talks take place 4th-8th June, with access to recordings available until midnight on 8th July 2022.

The in-person chapter of the festival is at the University of Winchester from 10th-12th June.

Speakers, workshop leaders and industry experts you can expect to encounter include:.

Keynote speakers: Philip Ardagh, Joanna Cannon, Lucy Diamond, Juliet Mushens and Adele Parks;

Workshop leaders: Rhoda Baxter, Helen Dennis, Karen Hamilton, Debbie Howells, Lauren James, David Litchfield, L.V Matthews, Nicola May, Jenny McLachlan, James Nicol, Neema Shah, Amy Sparkes, Bookouture, HarperCollins, Tracy Corderoy, Adrienne Dines, Simon Hall, Scott Pack and many, more.

Don’t miss the famous Agent121s!

The festival’s new organisers Elane and Sarah exclaim (presumably in unison):”Of course, we couldn’t have a festival without bringing #Agent121 to the fore – so we have a multitude of in-person literary agents/editors for you to seek feedback from and 20 to choose from online!”

Find full details here.

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw attention to? Send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

Live online – Culture Unconfined Festival

Red Fox Theatre

Seeking some drama, music, poetry and film to see you through the week ahead? Culture Unconfined festival launches online on 11th May.

Masterminded by the University of Liverpool, Culture Unconfined offers five days of drama, documentary, poetry, film and music to help people engage and stave off isolation during these lockdown times.

The online festival opens on Monday May 11th with A Museum for Me!, a chance to imagine and create your own perfect museum, tell your own stories and curate your own exhibition. There is even a special lockdown version to experiment with.

This is followed by renowned Irish composer, Gerald Barry’s dispatch from Los Angeles, where he is composing an opera based on Oscar Wilde’s Salome for the Los Angeles Opera, before former Royal Liverpool Philharmonic violinist Roisin Walters delivers a 30-minute concert connecting Irish songs and Bach dance movements from the Partitas.

The first day concludes with an exclusive radio documentary from Red Fox Theatre, around the making of their Dingle based performance piece, Catch of the Day.

Professor Peter Shirlow is Director of the University’s Institute of Irish Studies and co-organiser of Culture Unconfined. “One of the first casualties of Covid-19 was culture with the closure of venues, rehearsals and programming,” he says. “However, one of the first responses to the lockdown were performances on balconies and people using their creative talents to deal with the trauma of crisis. As much as crisis defined culture, it was clear culture was going to define crisis.”

Shirlow adds: “Culture Unconfined is the University of Liverpool’s response.’ “Culture Unconfined is the University of Liverpool’s response. It drives creative ambition with digital and live performances, it galvanizes hope and history and plays upon mirth and more thoughtful moments.”

Deidre,Ni,Chonghail

Deidre,Ni,Chonghail

Look out for musician, broadcaster, and writer Dr Deirdre Ní Chonghaile mapping the music of the Irish diaspora. This live talk is one of only two you need to rebook for.

Other highlights in the line-up include Alternative Bedtime Stories – definitely not one for the kids – by the Makey-Uppers, and poetry from Rita Ann Higgins.

Each day of the festival follows a schedule, with specific timings for each event. You can access each performance – and view the entire programme – through the Culture Unconfined website.

Festival Director and the University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Cultural Engagement, Professor Dinah Birch says: “As the novelty of working from home begins to settle into a routine, it’s important that our online lives should continue to be refreshing and rewarding. Engaging with a variety of cultural resources is one of the best ways of staying connected, and expanding our sense of the new experiences that a virtual world makes possible.”

To access the performances, see the full schedule and find out more about Culture Unconfined, visit www.liverpool.ac.uk/culture-unconfined

Liars’ League NYC seeks stories to perform

Kalamazoo railway tracks by Judy Darley

The folks at Liars’ League NYC have announced a new set of submissions themes and deadlines for 2020. they say: “In a nutshell, we’re looking for fresh, character-driven fiction up to 3,000 words, except in the case of our Flash Fiction event in May, where the word limit is 1000.”

Liars’ League offers creative opportunities across the globe, with regular literary nights in London, Hong Kong and New York, matching up writers’ tales with actors and audiences.

Submission themes

Success & Failure – Deadline: Wednesday, 4th March 2020

Short & Sweet Flash Fiction – Deadline: Wednesday, 6th May 2020

Before & After – Deadline: Wednesday, 9th September 2020

Weird & Wonderful – Deadline: Wednesday, 4th November 2020

Simply send your story by email to info@liarsleaguenyc.com by midnight PST of the deadline day in either doc., docx., or rtf. format. Not sure what to send? It’s worth taking a look at the stories in their Archive to get a sense of the type of work they love.

Find full details of how and what to submit here.

Meanwhile, Liars’ League London are currently inviting submissions on the theme of Young & Old, with a submission deadline of Sunday March 1st 2020. Find full details on their website. 

Liars’ League Hong Kong are seeking submissions on the theme Terms & Conditions, with a submission deadline of Friday 24th April 2020. Find full details on their website.