Category Archives: On the Internet

Anything new I’ve published online.

East Midlands-based BME Writer needed for graphic novel

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I’ve not been posting much on this blog of late because my life has been taken over by a graphic novel I’m producing/editing together. But it’s worth sharing this news here as there’s an opportunity for a BME writer from the East Midlands to write our final chapter. I’ve tried to get a balance between established and up-and-coming writers so far so don’t worry if you haven’t been paid £5 for a story yet. The only thing that matters is your idea. Anyway, here’s a copy and paste job to get you thinking…

Dawn of the Unread is an interactive graphic novel that is available across all media platforms (iPad, Android, iPhone, website) and aims to raise awareness of Nottingham’s literary history. The narrative is a loose twist on the zombie genre: ‘When the dead go unread there’s gonna be trouble. Writers from Nottingham’s past return from the grave in search of the one thing that can keep their memories alive: boooks’.

On the 8th of each month a new comic is released and is created by different artists and writers. These include: Alison Moore, Eddie Campbell, Hunt Emerson and Nicola Monaghan. Each writer explores one iconic figure from Nottingham’s literary past that includes: The 5th Duke of Portland, Slavomir Rawicz, the fictional hybrid Byron Clough, Alma Reville (Mrs Hitchcock) Alan Sillitoe, D.H Lawrence and many more. This is literature in its most diverse sense, exploring medieval ballads, black-letter verses, poetry, philosophy, literature, and reportage.

Dawn of the Unread was created to raise awareness of the importance of libraries and independent bookshops. We wanted to raise the question of what happens to writers if their work is not preserved and accessible. However, one thing that became pretty evident early on was most of the writers resurrected from the dead tended to be Caucasian males. This got us thinking: what happens to all of the stories of BME writers who never made it into the library in the first place. How can we celebrate their lives? How can we ensure their stories are preserved and celebrated?

Writer needed

We want you to pitch a small synopsis of a story that involves a real BME literary figure for our final chapter. Your story must address the following issues:
• Your synopsis should be no more than two paragraphs. It should also include an additional paragraph on your chosen literary figure. As a general guide, all the information should fit on one page.
• Your story must feature a library, bookshop or reading in some capacity. This doesn’t have to be on the nail. For example, in Nicola Monaghan’s story Psychos, a disused library is used for an illegal rave. That’s it.
• Your character needs to fight the cause for black/Asian writers, pointing out their absence from our story so far. One thing I am particularly interested in is a story that addresses the concept of ‘zombie’. This can be traced to Haiti and voodoo culture. Perhaps your literary figure is sick of other culture’s narratives being hijacked by the West…
• Your literary figure needs to be from Nottingham. Duh!
• Also include a small biog. Tell us who you are why you want to be involved in this graphic novel.

General information/criteria

• You will be given a script editor to help you through the process so don’t worry if you haven’t been published before. Your idea is what matters.
• You must be based in the East Midlands (we will cover travel costs for editorial meetings)
• You must be from a BME background. Age and gender are irrelevant
• The fee is £250 for 8 pages (remember this is a graphic novel so words are precious)
• The publication date would be 8 May 2015 but we need the approved script by 8 January 2015
• Closing date for your synopsis is 8 October 2014.
• The shortlisted writers will be announced at the Festival of Words event Zombie Mastermind (with Lydia Towsey), in the spoken word tent ‘Word Space Two’ at Old Market Square, 3 – 4pm on Sunday, 19 October
• Send your synopsis to info@writingeastmidlands.co.uk
• The successful writer will be notified via email on 23 October 2014

For further information on this project see the Dawn of the Unread website

The Forgotten Writers’ Foundation

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Last year I met an Egyptian writer called Mahmoud Mansi at WEYA and he told me about a project he was running called The Forgotten Writers Foundation. As part of the process of raising awareness of exiled writers he has developed a series of writing competitions loosely themed around oppression with the aim of gearing opinion from a global network of writers.

The first competition was for the Women’s Domination Award and I submitted a rehash of an old story called Oral Communication. It tells the tale of an Asian-British couple who decide to spice up the bedroom by introducing a bit of bondage, but the much-maligned wife only wants to tie her husband up so that she can give him a verbal mouthful. It was difficult to write as it deals with sex but it couldn’t have any explicit references due to being targeted at a more culturally sensitive readership. It was one of 25 selected stories.

The prize itself was announced at this time last year but I’ve simply been too busy to blog about it. So a year to the day seems as good a time as any to share the news. The winners were then asked to join a Facebook group to create collaborations but as I’m not on Facebook this went no further. I don’t think there are any plans for a collection to be released but if there is I will amend this blog accordingly.

I mention this as I recently attended the Writers’ Conference put on by Writing East Midlands. One of the key note speakers was Jon McGregor and he talked about writing being an intrinsically solitary process but one that also needs to be part of a community. Jon is the founder of the Nottingham Writers’ Studio which is the only writer-led organisation of its kind in England (London being a separate country). I’m very proud to be the current Chair of the Studio and one of the first things I did was to make Jon our patron in recognition of his creation of a vibrant community of writers.

Jon is a big advocate of reading and believes this is just as important as writing. He discussed how he writes for specific publications (that he reads) because he has an idea in mind of a particular community of readers. In many ways this is what Mahmoud is hoping to achieve. Given the constant upheaval in his home country brought about the Arab Springs and the endless re-elections of government, he, along with other writers in the Middle East, must crave community more than most.

The Forgotten Writers Foundation from Egypt have now teamed up with Democracy Chronicles from New York and have put a call-out for The Seven Dictators Play-Writing Competition. There is a general call-out for submissions with winning pieces published in a book. This would be a good first step for a writer looking to get their first writing credit.

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