Another View from the Pier The new anthology of prose and poetry, fiction and non-fiction from the award-winning group Deal Writers is now available (price £4.99) from all good local bookshops (see below). Our first publication is still on sale at £3.50 from: Deal Library Deal Bookshop, Queen Street Ropers stationers and bookshop, 34 High Street Tylers stationers and bookshop, 104 High Street Or e-mail us at dealwriters@hotmail.co.uk to order copies post-free in the UK. | Marilyn has a poem in the March issue (No 19) of Equinox poetry journal. This is just the latest of many successes for Marilyn. Well done! Bettine Walters Our own playwright/story-writer continues to excel! Bettine's play Spygame, presented last year at the Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury, is to be published by Samuel French later this year. And her short story Under the Greenwood Tree appears in Writers' Forum, having achieved second place in the monthly competition for February. Judge's comment: '. . . who needs 'rules' when you have wit, style and imagination?'. Congratulations Bettine. Orange Street Music Club Seven members came along to
Canterbury on Sunday evening, 11th January, with five of them reading
their poetry to an appreciative audience. This resulted in sales
of the Anthology, thereby benefitting Deal Writers as a whole. Many thanks to those who supported this event. Harry Harris has had 'a little bit of nonsense' published in the February issue of the above magazine: Waste Disposal - An unusually filthy load rains on this driver's parade. It is indeed a dirty story . . . Save As at Orange Street, Sunday 14th December Save As Writers' Group launched their first anthology of poetry and prose. It is called Between the Lines and features work by Deal Writers Gary Studley, Jacqueline Bentley and Jo Field. It's for sale at £4.00. 4th December Challenge WinnersGuest poet and judge Patricia Debney, the Canterbury Laureate, announced the winners of the inaugural Save As Poetry and Prose competitions. Poems by Deal Writers Alan Gleave, Gary Studley and Jo Field were shortlisted, with Jacqueline Bentley achieving third place. Gary Studley was given an 'honourable mention' in the Prose, while Jo Field came second.. Gary's Challenge was to write a piece on the theme 'TALLY'. There were to be two prizes: one
for the best entry as voted on by the audience of members, and one
chosen by Gary himself. In the event, there were three equal
runners-up in the popular vote: Alan Gleave, Lorraine Lloyd and Bob Le
Vaillant. But the winner was Ron Ogilvie with his beautiful poem Reckoner. Read it here Gary's chosen winner was Jo Field with her story, The Rat and Sparrow Club. Read it here The Bridport Prize 2008 Jen Kahawatte, a member of Deal Writers, has won a runners-up prize in one of the UK's most prestigious international writing competitions. The Bridport Prize is an annual competition for short stories and poetry, attracting thousands of entries, not just from the UK, but also from over 70 countries around the world. At an awards ceremony on Saturday 8th November, Jen received her cheque for £50 for her poem, entitled A View from Bulbarrow. The poem had taken the eye of one of the UK's best-known poets, competition judge David Harsent. He said: All writing is about re-writing. I looked for a poem that didn't have about it the whiff of a first draft, or second (or, for that matter, a third). I also looked for those unmistakeable lines that fall to hand when the poet has broken through to the poem: something that might make me shiver with sudden recognition. To read Jen's prize-winning poem, buy the new Deal Writers anthology, Another View from the Pier, where A View from Bulbarrow appears on page 44! Many congratulations Jen. For full details, and to enter the 2009 competition, go to www.bridportprize.org.uk Deal Writers' latest joint publication Another View from the Pier was launched at a special event at Deal Library on Thursday 6th November 2008. Here's what our new Chair, Alan Gleave, thought of the evening: Our first anthology (I'll leave you to guess the title) was an immediate success, both with readers and critics - being awarded first prize in the competition run by the National Association of Writers' Groups, and needing to be reprinted to meet demand. Not surprisingly therefore, our second launch was extraordinarily well attended, with the literary-minded of all ages crammed into the library's largest reception space, and the Deputy Mayor of Deal, Tracy Whitton, and various local (and not so local) artistic luminaries present. The evening was carefully planned, with something appropriate to the occasion for everyone. A complimentary glass of wine set the civilised tone at the outset, and a limerick competition had been organised, to encourage members of the audience to test their own powers of impromptu inspiration - before or after imbibing, as they chose! The winner came up with a very witty rhyme indeed. The main business was twofold: a brief outline from the Chair on the scope and essential activities of Deal Writers, followed by readings from the anthology. In short, Deal Writers has good reason to believe that it is a welcoming, inclusive organisation, its members ranging from those who regularly find publishers, to those who are just emerging as writers for a public audience; it is composed of poets, short story writers, novelists, children's authors, dramatists, writers of ghost stories and romantic fiction, local historians, humorists, travelogue writers, writers of science fiction and fantasy - among others! Though we regularly have guest speakers (and social events), our central activities are daring each other to literary 'challenges' - to come up with a literary response when asked to write about 'Childhood' or 'Trees', or whatever. Our other main activity is the critique session, when writers present their work in progress to the keen-eyed and sympathetic scrutiny of their fellow writers. It is wonderful how illuminating and encouraging these sessions are, and perhaps not surprising that they are so popular; for every writer wants to be taken seriously, in the best possible sense of the word . . . View from the Pier awarded Trophy for the Best Group Anthology of the Year Deal Writers' first joint publication, View from the Pier,
an eclectic mix of poetry and prose, was published in
November 2007. It was so successful it had to be reprinted
by the New Year and is still selling well.Now the group has learnt that View from the Pier has been awarded the Denise Robertson Silver Trophy for the best group anthology of the year. The award was made by the National Association of Writers Groups at a Gala Dinner in Durham. The Chair of Deal Writers and editor of the anthology, Paul Curd, said: We are thrilled and delighted to have won this award. View from the Pier was our very first publication, and fot it to have come first in such a highly-regarded national competition is an honour for everyone involved. It just goes to show what good writers we have here in East Kent. View from the Pier is still available at £3.50 from local bookshops, or direct from Deal Writers. |