Slough Writers Support Burnham Library

Slough Writers Support Burnham Library (2014-02-10 18:34:37)

The financial crisis continues to threaten the future of many libraries and we recently joined forces with The Friends of Burnham Library to help create an arts festival aimed at increasing community involvement in this vital resource while celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the library. Two of our members were co-opted onto the committee to help organise a writing competition. They went on to serve as judges in two of the sections of the arts festival. The result was a very successful two week event culminating in a prize giving at which Sir Terry Wogan presented the awards.

The photos show Sir Terry Wogan, visitors to the library reading the winning entries in the writing competition and Slough Writers member David England giving a reading of traditional folk tales to a full house at the library - one of many public events held during the festival.

2013 Poetry Competition Results

Winners of the 2013 Poetry Competition Announced (2013-11-14 21:44:40)

Wally Smith, Jenni Heward Craig and David England.

At our meeting on 11 November 2013 the results of the self-judged Summer Competition were announced.

• 1st and the SW Summer Trophy: Winter Tales by Jenni Heward Craig

• 2nd: Learning Curves by Wally Smith

• 3rd: Ness of Brodgar by David England

Carol Breuer's Jagged Pieces and Tony Matthew’s Wonderstruck were runners up to the top three.

The task set for the Summer Competition was to create an anthology of five poems. The project was judged by those taking part and submissions were anonymous to ensure fairness. All those taking part wrote critiques on all the work which provided a valuable source of reference for all those taking part.

Terry had collated the results and critiques on the 11 entries. To score the entries he gave 5 points to the first place from each entrant, 4 to the second and so on. He said that every entrant was awarded points. He read a selection of the comments on each anthology before giving the results. The result was very close.

Wally Smith who took second place reads his anthology.

Christine Webb on Poetry

07 October 2013 Christine Webb on poetry. (2013-10-13 22:39:26)

Terry introduced and welcomed poet Christine Webb. She talked about poetry and how it has evolved through the ages, reading a selection of her own and other poems to illustrate her talk. She has published a number of anthologies of her poetry and the poems she read included After Reading the Bible, After That Hour. Horace at Sea and Fly6.

There were eighteen members present and Christine gave an inspiring talk based on her passion for and wide knowledge of poetry.

2013 Poetry Competition Results

Back row from the left: second place Sally East, third place Mike Pearcy and winner Dan Hicks. Guitarist Ally McCulloch is the one with the guitar.

Winners of the 2013 Poetry Competition Announced (2013-07-26 07:24:27)

At our meeting on 15 July 2013 the results of the annual poetry competition were announced.

• 1st and The Poetry Cup: Three Steps to Prison (based on Three Steps to Heaven by Eddie Cochran) by Dan Hicks

• 2nd: I Must Be Loved (based on It Must be Love by Madness) by Sally East

• 3rd: Nigel, Don’t Take My Party Down (based on Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town by Kenny Rogers) by Mike Pearcy

Lee Taylor was commended for – Madness in America (based on Breakfast in America by Supertramp).

The task as set be Terry Adlam was to write a parody of a well know song, replacing the lyrics with our own words in the style of The Treason Show. Terry writes regularly for the Treason Show - Brighton's legendary satirical comedy show now in its record breaking 13th year.

He then introduced Ally McCulloch and his guitar who would sing the winning entries. Terry said that it was difficult and soul-destroying to judge because they were all so good (and so much better than his own!). He judged the entries on singability, humour, creativity, originality, closeness to the original, the extent to which they were topical and enjoyability. The final places were only separated by one point. They were all shortlisted! Terry read his comments on each entry before giving the results.

Terry’s friend Ally played and sang the top two songs for which Terry thanked him. William thanked Terry for judging the competition.

These pictures show Ally McCulloch on the left Terry and Ally during the announcement of winners and members Applauding Dan's parody.

2013 Annual Awards

Annual Awards July 2013 (2013-07-21 11:51:25)

Slough Writers paid tribute to some of our best writers at the Annual General Meeting tonight. Three awards were given out, as follows:

• Writer of the Year went to Tony Matthews, for his many successes over the year, including publishing his memoir Late Developer.

• The Taylor Award (for services to the group) went to William Campbell for his continuing commitment to SW and in particular his long service as treasurer.

• Newcomer of the Year went to Sonia Weiss for her excellent work and successes in the short time she's been with the group.

Congratulations to all concerned.

Pictured from left to right: Tony Matthews (Writer of the Year), Sonia Weiss (Newcomer of the Year) and William Campbell (Taylor Award). The Taylor Award (pictured right) was unable to attend on the evening and will be presented to William on a future occasion.

2013 Short Story Competition Results

Results of the 2013 Short Story Competition Announced. (2013-03-28 22:41:48)

Results of the short story competition using ‘piano’ as the stimulus and judged by Reading Writers were announced at our meeting on Monday 25th March 2013. There were 14 entries.

The winners were:

• 1st The End of a Concerto by Carol Breuer

• 2nd: Encore by Jennifer Heward-Craig

• 3rd: Tombstones and Keys by Sonya Weiss

From the left: Carol, Jenni and Sonya. Unfortunately, two of the winners were unable to attend so we could not take a group photograph of the successful writers with our visitors.

Three members of Reading Writers, Josh, Julia and Charles (left hand photo above), joined us for the meeting to give the results and talk about the judging. They said that they were an incredibly creative set of stories, given the single word prompt, with an astonishing diversity of themes. The stories were particularly impressive where the writers took risks.

Reading Writers is a group of 25 writers, 9 of whom agreed to judge the competition. Each judge read all the entries and gave feedback to the administrator, Alana, who produced a shortlist of 5 stories:-Tombstones and Keys (Sonya), Encore (Jenni), Captain Fantastic and the Dirt Brown Cowboy (Sally E), The End of a Concerto (Carol) and Tuning into the Past (Mike)

Terry thanked the Reading Writers for such thorough judging. We will be judging their writing competition next term. The theme is earth or Earth and can be a short story, play or novel extract.

Theatre Writer and Producer Visits SW

Theatre Writer and Producer Visits SW. (2013-03-08 18:28:55)

Writer and producer Bart Lee (centre front) with group members.

Terry introduced our guest speaker, Bart Lee, an actor/director/producer/playwright who works with South Hill Park arts centre and Scribblers writers group that is based there. Bart gave us invaluable advice and insights into writing drama. He recommended writing collaboratively; taking part in acting/directing workshops; going to see as many plays as possible; and writing as a different person.

Tony Matthews Publishes His Autobiography

Tony Matthews Publishes His Autobiography (2013-02-23 22:01:14)

Tony has self-published his memoir Late Developer. He has copies for sale and the proceeds go to Crossroads, the charity for carers.

2012 Article Competition Results

Winners of the 2012 Article Competition Announced (2012-11-27 19:47:01)

The theme was: The Legacy of the London 2012 Olympics.

The brief was to write an article suitable for inclusion in a magazine or journal of your choice about the legacy of the London 2012 Olympics and/or Paralympics. This could, but does not need to, focus on the sports events and participation. Other aspects could be the effects on construction, infrastructure, regeneration and/or the economy.

Sally East introduced the judge, Louise Dance. Louise is a teacher who, during a long career, has taught children from age 4 to 16. She enjoys reading, swimming and walking. Having volunteered for the London 2012 Paralympics, the topic that she chose for the article competition is close to her heart.

Louise said that the entries were completely different, so she looked for originality and empathy with the reader. The standard was very good, so she chose the ones that appealed to her.

Louise commented on each of the five entries, before giving the results.

• 1st and The Summer Trophy: The Art and Soul of The Olympics by Sally East

• 2nd: The Legacy Balancing Act by Mike Pearcy

• 3rd: More Than a Games by Wally Smith

From the left: Second place Michael Pearcy, winner Sally East, Louise Dance who was the judge with Wally Smith who came third.

2012 Summer Competition Results

Winners Announced Summer Competition 2012 (2012-11-27 19:26:08)

The meeting on 12 November 2012 was to award the prizes for the summer writing competition which was to produce a ‘How To’ manual.

The judge, Tony Rossiter, was unavailable, but had sent a message, which Terry read out. Tony said that although there were only five entries the judging was not as easy as he had imagined it would be. He detailed the main areas that he was looking for in the submissions and gave examples of where things could have been improved.

• 1st and The Summer Trophy: How To Make Do And Mend A Merry Christmas by Sally East

• 2nd: How To Write Your Own Funeral by Tony Matthews

• 3rd: Observing The Night Sky Naked by Wally Smith

From the left: Third place Wally Smith, winner Sally East with Tony Matthews who came second.

An Old Friend Visits

An Old Friend Visits (2012-10-05 16:17:59)

Former member Charlotte Betts gave a talk to the group about how she wrote her novels and the road to publication. Charlotte started writing 12 years ago and spoke of the invaluable support she received from Slough Writers, before leaving 9 years ago. She has had two novels published by Piatkus and is due to have a third published. Her novels are historical romances. The first, The Apothecary’s Daughter, is set in London during The Restoration and the sequel, The Painter’s Apprentice, is set during the Glorious Revolution in the 17th century.

The Apothecary’s Daughter was picked up by an agent via the You Write On website, having been voted book of the year 2010 and also won the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers Award in 2011

Charlotte read a couple of passages from the books and talked about her research. The evening ended with a period of questions and answers and then Charlotte signed copies of her books for members.

Author Charlotte Betts (sitting) visits Slough Writers.

From the left standing: Visitor Tom, Sally Clark, Chair Terry Adlam, Sally East and Carol Breuer.

2012 AGM Awards

AGM Awards 2012 (2012-07-16 22:30:00)

Slough Writers paid tribute to some of our best writers at the Annual General Meeting tonight. Three awards were given out, as follows:

• Writer of the Year went to Wally Smith, for his many successes over the year, including publishing his novel The Intricate Soul.

• The Taylor Award (for services to the group) went to Sally East for her hard work on behalf of the group.

• Newcomer of the Year went to Linda Hurdwell for her excellent work and successes in the short time she's been with the group.

Congratulations to all concerned.

Pictured from left to right: Wally Smith (Writer of the Year), Linda Hurdwell (Newcomer of the Year) and Sally East (Taylor Award).

2012 Poetry Competition Results

Poetry Competition 2012 Results (2012-07-16 22:33:00)

At the AGM tonight, we were pleased to announce the results of the 2012 poetry competition. The competition was judged by Gill Smith - comedy writer, stand-up comedian and poet - on the theme of "Obsession". Entrants had to write three poems on the theme, producing a related cohesive collection.

Gill remarked on the many approaches taken by the authors in dealing with the subject matter, from lightly humorous to the serious and disturbing. Gill also noted the high quality of the poetry and the difficulty in the judging process, but ultimately awarded prizes as follows:

• 1st and poetry cup: Folding Alaska by Sonya Weiss

• 2nd: Daily Obsessions by Terry Adlam

• 3rd: Teatime, Hope and Attainment by Kay Woods

• Highly commended: Obsessions and How to Overcome Them by Dave Smith

Pictured from left to right: Terry Adlam (2nd place), Dave Smith (Highly Commended), Gill Smith (judge), Sonya Weiss (1st place), Kay Woods (3rd place).

2012 Spring Competition Results

Spring Competition Results from Judge Carole Matthews (2012-04-02 21:48:26)

Slough Writers is pleased to announce the results of our Spring Competition on the theme of "Missing". The competition was judged by romantic comedy author Carole Matthews.

The results were as follows:

1. Far from the Malling Crowd by Wally Smith.

2. Missing by Kay Woods.

3. Polly Put the Kettle On by Linda Hurdwell.

From left to right, first-place winner Wally Smith, judge Carole Matthews, second-place winner Kay Woods.

Carole congratulated all the writers while also offering valuable insight into a full-time author's life.

2012 Article Competition Results

Result 2012 Article Competition (2012-02-01 19:19:10)

1. Mike Pearcy with Scooping A New Future Down On The Farm

2. Jenni Heward-Craig with Hidden Vintage

3. Lee Taylor with Paley Street

Fourth place was awarded by the judge Janice Raycrost to Wally Smith for A Village Passed.

The competition judge, Janice Raycroft, attended the meeting to give the results and present the prizes. Janice has worked on the Bucks Free Press; was editor of the Slough Observer; worked for Trinity newspapers; and is now editor of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire Life magazine. She said that the standard of entries was very high and judging was a difficult task.

Video Performance of "After the Wedding" Competition Winners

Video Performance of "After the Wedding" Competition Winners (2012-01-21 01:05:19)

Following Slough Writers' 2011 poetry competition, we're very pleased to present a video performance of the winning entries. After the Wedding features Sally East's The Bridesmaid, Jenni Heward-Craig's The Marriage List and Terry Adlam's After The Wedding Is Over, all read by competition judge Jonathan Steffen.

Additional performances by the authors themselves.

Video produced and directed by Mike Pearcy.

2011 Summer Competition Results

Summer 2011 Competition Results Announced (2011-11-29 16:24:47)

Monday 31 October - Halloween - was the night for the results of the Summer Competition with the theme of Horror.

1. Mike Pearcy with An Unexpected Act of Mercy

2. Sally East with All That I Am

3. William Campbell with Angel's Trumpet

Picture shows Sally East, Mike Pearcy and William Campbell.

There were 9 entrants and the entries averaged 4,600 words. Seven of the nine entrants attempted the ‘guess the author’ competition. Six of the entrants correctly guessed that Wally was the author of ‘Solo Descent’. Jenni and Mike identified five authors correctly; Wally identified seven authors; Sally E was awarded a bottle of wine for identifying all nine.

There was a maximum possible score of 80 points. The leading 5 entries were separated by 10 points. The result was: In joint 2nd place with 49 points were William (‘Angel’s Trumpet’) and Sally E (‘All That I Am’). First place with 53 points was Mike (‘An Unexpected Act of Mercy’).

Entrants commented on the quality of the critiques. While some people found it difficult to write the critiques, others said that the workshop evening on critiquing led by Wally earlier this term was very helpful. The entrants had a range of ways of going about the task of judging – some read all the stories through first to gain their first impressions, while others read them through more than once, before moving on to the next.

2011 Poetry Competition Results

Poetry Competition Summer 2011 Results Announced (2011-07-14 00:07:26)

Monday 11 July We were joined by Jonathan Steffen our judge for the annual poetry competition. After a few introductory remarks about himself and his writing he said how he had enjoyed judging the poems. How different and quite surprising they were and all of the utmost high quality. The Theme was After The Wedding. The results were as follows.

1. Sally East with The Bridesmaid

2. Jenni Heward-Craig with The Marriage List

3. Terry Adlam with After The Wedding Is Over

He gave a special mention to Dave Smith, William Campbell, Mike Pearcy, Sally Clarke, Tony Matthews, and Wally Smith whose poems he enjoyed very much. Mike took photos of the Judge with all the winners.

Sally East (front) came first, Jenni Heward Craig (left) was second and Terry Adlam (right) came third. The judge Jonathan Steffen is standing behind.

Annual Awards 2010/2011

Annual Awards 2010/2011 (2011-07-13 23:58:04)

At our recent AGM held 11th July we honoured three members with awards for their writing achievements and contribution to the well-being of the group over the last twelve months.

• Writer of the Year award to Mike Pearcy.

• Taylor Award (for services to the group) to Wendy Naylor.

• Newcomer of the Year Award to Kay Woods.

Kay, Wendy and Mike

Writing for Dummies!

First and Second In National Competition. (2011-07-13 23:40:34)

On 11 July we learned that Terry Adlam had taken first place in the Ventriloquists Club of Great Britain script competition earning £50 and Jenni Heward Craig took second place with a £30 prize. Jenni made the announcement with a fixed smile but it sounded an awful lot like Terry.