Annual Poetry Award 2021

Poetry judge Patrick Henry

Guest Speaker Patrick Henry, Judge of the poetry competition, read out results of the poetry competition and gave feedback on the winners and all the entries. He was thanked for his detailed and insightful comments.

• First and the SW Poetry Trophy: The Bereaved by John Brown

• Second place: Autumn Breezes by Michael Raines

• Third place: I forgive by Robert Kibble

John Brown (left), Michael Raines (centre) and Robert Kibble (right)

There were two highly commended stories

Forgiving by Terry Adlam and Lady At The gate by Carol Breuer

Terry Adlam (left) with Carol Breuer

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2021 Annual Awards

Writer of the year award - Michael Raines

The Taylor Award for services to the group - Terry Adlam

Newcomer of the year award - Michael Raines

The Endeavour Award - Neil Dickenson

At a Zoom presentation the winners of the four categories were announced.

Neil Dickenson (left), Michael Raines (centre), Terry Adlam (right)

Ted Jones Memorial Short Story competition results

Joan and Ted at Hay Festival

Ted Jones Memorial Short Story competition results (2021-05-13 15:03:02)

• First and the Ted Jones Memorial Trophy: I Got Life by Lorraine Forrest-Turner

• Second place: The Heat and the Beat by John Brown

• Third place: Love Supreme by Philip Kavvadias

Highly commended: Strange Fruit by Michael Ranes; Cuban Heals by Edward Harte; All The Things You Are by Lee Taylor

The topic for the competition was Travelling with Jazz which reflected two of Ted Jones' passions - travel and Jazz. Joan Jones, Ted's wife, was our judge and she provided detailed and insightful feedback on all the stories. There were eighteen entries. Joan was unable to attend the presentation so actress Jane Heptonstall read Joan's comments on the winners and the highly commended stories. Joan provided feedback on all the entries. This was the first year we have presented the Ted Jones Memorial Short Story Trophy which was purchased from a very generous donation left to Slough Writers by Ted, a much loved and respected member for many years.

Ted Jones with two of his books and the new trophy.

Jane Heptonstall who read Joan's comments for us.

The first winner - Lorraine Forrest-Turner

The Ted Jones Memorial Short Story Trophy

Guest Speaker: Mary Nonde

Feb 13th 2021 - Guest Speaker: MARY NONDE (Coach and Feng Shui Consultant)

On Monday 8th February we had Guest speaker, Mary Nonde, author of Awaken Your Intuitive Vision, life coach and innovator of creative vision boards.

Mary explained: 'Life is a series of transitions. The Intuitive Vision Board (IVB) gives you an excellent steer in how to prepare for this. A wonderful example of what happens when you get out of your own way and allow quantum intelligence to work through you.

'I became a pioneer of the Intuitive Vision Board and author of Awaken Your Intuitive Vision. I have inspired many people to seek a breakthrough in their lives with this ground-breaking process.'

This technique, Mary told us, could be used to map out a future as a writer and help to see the way through all the pressures in life that stand between us and the achievement of our goals.

Mary explained, 'Once upon a time a metaphorical hurricane whipped through my life and flattened the lot. I lost everything all at once except thankfully my teenage daughter and our dog. Faced with a crisis of such magnitude, I created a new Intuitive Vision Board. It became both my lifeline and pathfinder to get back on my feet and this proved once and for all the potency of the method.'

Mary also found her calling and now empowers others to become the authority over the direction their lives should take.

Mary Nonde Speaking live at Slough Writers on Zoom

Mary would love to have feedback from members. Her email is: mary@marynonde.com. The first two to reply with feedback could receive a signed copy Awaken Your Intuitive Vision!

To visit her blog - https://www.marynonde.com/blog/makinglifechanges

To buy her book on Amazon - http://bit.ly/AwakenIntuitiveVision To make an intuitive vision board or find out more about heronline event - https://marynonde.com/intuitive-vision-board-life-coaching-programme

Four or five writers got in touch about the book. Some offered to buy/pay - Lorraine, Neil, Vin. Sonia was the first and Ian was the second for the freebees.

2020 Article Competition Results

7th December - Results 2020 Article Competition (2020-12-15 17:03:59)

The challenge was to write 1000 words on the theme of the one piece of advice I would give. The judge was the editor of the Maidenhead Advertiser James Preston. James gave detailed feedback of all the entries.

• First and the Poetry Trophy: Short Cut by John Downing

• Second place: Never Rly On Spellcheck by Neil Dickinson

• Third place: To Write Lists by Robert Kibble

Highly commended: If You Want My Advice by Michael Pearcy

Picture shows the judge and the three winners clockwise from top left: James Preston (editor of Maidenhead Advertiser), John Downing, Neil Dickinson and Robert Kibble.

Old Windsor-based writer John Downing has shown he is the worthy winner of the 2020 Slough Writers Endeavour award by going on to win the group's annual article competition.

The Endeavour award is given to the member who has yet to be published or win a competition but continues to practise their art and improve.

The December article competition on the theme of the one piece of advice I'd pass on was judged by Maidenhead Advertiser editor, James Preston.

John's winning article Short Cuts tells the harrowing story of a ski trip in Verbier, Switzerland. Instead of returning to the village using ski-lifts, John decided to take what he thought was a short cut. The serious mistake left the writer with a terrifying choice - spend the night in an uninhabited area closed off to skiers or risk a perilous walk down the mountain in pitch blackness.

Second place was awarded to Neil Dickinson for his witty article Never Rly On Spellcheck. Robert Kibble took third place with his amusing piece To Write Lists and Michael Pearcy received a highly commended with his thought-provoking If You Want My Advice.

Slough Writers has been holding weekly meetings for over 50 years and has continued to hold them, albeit remotely, throughout the Covid pandemic.

Report by Lorraine Forrest-Turner

2020 Summer Competition Results

Lockdown inspires rich tapestry of heartfelt stories 

Winning writers clockwise from top left: Harvey, Edward, Lorraine,John and Sonya

Lorraine with Summer Competition Trophy

The latest Slough Writers competition has produced a surprising collection of short stories. Based on the theme of the spring lockdown, members wrote about loneliness, anxiety, frustration, death, boredom and the rediscovery of love and beauty.

First place went to Lorraine Forrest-Turner for Chinchilla Rats at Machu Pichu. Like the chinchillas returning to Peru's biggest attraction during lockdown, a tired marriage gradually reignites when life's intrusions are taken away.

Runner up was Sonya Weiss with Ellie, a beautiful telling of a little girl searching for her sick mummy in a place full of people too preoccupied to notice her.

Edward Harte took third place with the vividly descriptive A History of Nordic Dreams. Unaware he is on a ventilator, a Covid patient tries to make sense of a curious time spent with friends in Stockholm.

Two stories were highly recommended Lockdown by John Brown and Mrs Reynolds Moment by Harvey Martin. The competition was adjudicated by Robert Kibble and judged by the participants.

[Report by Lorraine Forrest-Turner]

Guest Speaker: Jenny Barrett

28th September - Guest Speaker Jenny Barrett (2020-09-28 14:46:14)

Jenny is Senior Lecturer in Film, Department of Creative Arts, Edge Hill University, Liverpool. She writes both novels and short stories and her fiction blends the everyday with the slightly odd. She has taught, studied, researched and written about cinema for nearly twenty years. She has an MA in Creative Writing and has read her stories at a number of local events, including the Tate Liverpool. Her short piece, On the One Hand, On the Other Hand, uses the many everyday phrases linked to hands in the context of Covid-19 and was recently published by Writing on the Wall's literary festival in June 2020. Her short story about Crosby Beach entitled Number 42, was published by Short Kid Stories this year. Her passions also include watching her partner cook. She is dreadful at gardening but tries anyway. She lives in Liverpool and loves the beaches of the north west coast.

An excellent evening where Jenny gave a fascinating talk about not only her background in academic writing and teaching but an in-depth and thought provoking and enlighten discussion about what the writer can learn from the cinema in all its forms. It was an evening that educated, entertained and inspired.

There was a video recording made of the evening and if you would like to see it, please email Lorraine who will send you the link.

[Report by Terry Adlam]

2020 Annual Awards

7th September 2020 - Annual Awards (2020-11-03 16:06:40)

Newcomer of the Year: Philip Kavvadais

Endeavour Award: John Downing

Writer of the Year: Mike Pearcy

The Taylor Award: Terry Adlam

2020 Poetry Competition Results

Results of 2020 Poetry Competition - Secrets and Lies (2020-07-18 11:30:43)

• First and the Poetry Trophy: Tammany Adieu by Edward Harte

• Second place: The Power to Send by Harvey Martin

• Third place: Crickets and Flies by John Brown

(top from the left) Edward Harte, Harvey Martin, John Brown, (bottom from the left) Andy Barrett (Judge), with Michael Pearcy and Terry Adlam who were highly commended.

Poets Embrace Secrets and Lies challenge written by Lorraine Forrest-Turner.

The 2020 poetry competition has been won by Edward Harte with his poem Tammany Adieu about the life and death of Mary Anderson, who led a secret life as New York bondsman, and politician Murray Hall.

Inspired by a secret and lies workshop earlier in the year, the theme of the 2020 competition prompted a wide range of subjects from fake news and marital betrayal to twins separated at birth and biblical tragedy.

Second place went to Harvey Martin for The Power to Send and third place to John Brown for Crickets and Flies. Two additional poems,The Third Magpie by Terry Adlam and What is Stolen by Mike Pearcy, were highly commended.

The competition was judged by Andy Barrett a song writer and poet, and former journalist and editor. On announcing the competition, Andy advised members of the group that he was looking for "a balance of poetry and verse". He said, "Poetry is the inspiration, the moment, the feeling, the idea captured in words. Verse is the form the words are constrained by."

During his excellent adjudication, Andy gave an in-depth, intelligent and erudite analysis of each of the 12 entries, often offering advice on how to improve the writing further.

He said of Edward's winning poem, "It's a piece of free verse with a clear structure in its subverted stanzas each of which takes the story one step forward, seen through the eyes of Mary Anderson's step-daughter. The reader immediately wants to know more and the poem shows glimpses of superb language: 'A kind of kissing; January's North Atlantic wind keening', and 'as Boston fades in the mouth of the Charles'.

Andy delivers the results

Slough Writers members

Guest Speaker: Steve Crocker

Child Welfare a Priority - Guest Speaker (2020-05-25 22:45:13)

Our Guest Speaker on Monday 18th May was Steve Crocker, Director of Children's Services for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. He is responsible for all aspects of child welfare including young asylum seekers smuggled into the UK.

Steve gave a fascinating, frank, sometimes harrowing, sometimes uplifting insight into his role and child welfare overall. An eloquent speaker who kept us all engaged for well over an hour, explaining the work of his department, some of the legal complications that arise and how the work of his team has an overwhelmingly positive outcomes for the children involved, not a message that the media like to highlight.

Being a coastal county with major ports nearby, there are often calls for child welfare support for Illegal immigrants and sometimes young people who are victims of trafficking gangs. These cases obviously bring with them harrowing experiences but also uplifting stories of young people, often fleeing from wars in their own countries, who are willing to face many dangers and make huge personal sacrifices for the opportunities our society can offer.

Amongst the professional stories, Steve also told a personal story from his youth concerning his father who was an ex-military policeman. With his wife, Mr Crocker senior would offer sanctuary to local women who were victims of domestic violence. Steve rounded off his talk by offering the thought that domestic abuse was by no means a new phenomenon, and solving it could well be the next challenge for society.

Slough Writers is grateful to Dave Smith who introduced Steve to the group. Chair Terry Adlam thanked Steve for his fascinating talk.

Slough Writers are always pleased to meet people with experiences outside writing and publishing. All these interactions serve to broaden our experience and inspire us to write in new areas.

2019/20 Short Story Competition Results

Results Of The Short Story Competition 2019/20 (2020-04-07 11:41:33)

We held a virtual meeting using Zoom on 6th April 2020

The judge this year was novelist Nicola May who decided to recognise six writers in the 2020 short story competition.

• First and the Summer Competition Trophy: You Always Hurt by Michael Ranes

• Second place: The Red Right Hand by Lorraine Forrest-Turner

• There was a joint 3rd place award: Hollywood Dream by John Downing and Kielder Water by Edward Harte

Nicola also recognised two writers in the category of highly commended stories, the first was These Three Remain by Robert Kibble the second commended story was Misfits and Misadventures by Carol Breuer.

Her most recent number one bestselling novel is The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay. The School Gates and Christmas Spirit won awards for Best Author Read at the Festival of Romance in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

Prior to becoming a full-time author, Nicola worked in PR & events management for various blue chip corporations.

Nicola lives in Ascot in Berkshire, with her rescue cat Stanley. The third book in her Cockleberry Bay series is out in April 2020.

Flashback to last October when Nicola visited the group.

2019 Article Competition Results

WINNERS OF 2019 ARTICLE COMPETITION (2019-12-21 14:46:10)

• First and the Summer Competition Trophy: My Top Five Sugns of Aging by Lee Taylor

• Second place: My Top Five Super Heroes by Neil Dickinson

• 3rd place: My Top Five Ways to Leave a Pub by Philip Kavvadias

Pictures show from the left Philip Kavvadias (third place), the judge editor and journalist Graeme Osborne and the winner Lee Taylor.

Our 2019 article competition has been won by Lee Taylor for his piece My top 5 signs of ageing.

The competition, judged by freelance journalist and editor Graeme Osborne, invited members to write a 1,000 word article on the subject of My top Five. The competition inspired a wide range of subjects including zombie movies, nostalgic smells, clickbait and soul searching.

Speaking on how he judged the competition, Graeme Osborne said he did not want the process to be purely subjective so he drew up a list of key points, including how entertaining he found the article, how crisp the writing was, how well the writer argued his/her point and if the article left questions unanswered.

Lee's winning article scored highly in all categories and Graeme said it was a good example of being funny by not trying too hard to be funny. He felt the writing was "pithy and to the point."

Graeme awarded second place to Neil Dickinson for My top 5 super heroes and third place to Philip Kavvadias for My top Five Ways to Leave a Pub.

He also highly commended Terry Adlam for My Top Five Michael Caine Comments and Lorraine Forrest-Turner for My Top Five Conspiracy Theories.

Report by Lorraine Forrest-Turner

2019 Summer Competition Results

Results Summer Competition 2019 (2019-11-13 16:12:22)

• First and the Summer Competition Trophy: Resistance by Michael Pearcy

• Second place: Bible John by Edward Harte

• 3rd place: It's good enough for Socrates by Zoe Downing-Lane

Commendations were awarded to: Lorraine Forrest Turner for , Logie's Place; Terry Adlam for Duty calls and Carol Breuer for The Viennese connection.

In the photo from the left: Zoe Downing-Lane, Lorraine Forrest-Turner, Michael Pearcy, Terry Adlam, Edward Harte and Carol Breuer.

The short story competition, judged by local thriller writer Vera Morris, attracted a record number of entries from the group.

Entrants were asked to write a 3000 word short story starting with the line "Even after 30 years, his/her name still filled me with dread/guilt/desire."

Slough writer Michael Pearcy has won Slough Writers Group's �thriller� competition with his moving war time story �Resistance�.

Second place was awarded to Edward Harte for his chilling tale Bible John and third place to Zoe Downing-Lane for her black comedy It's good enough for Socrates.

Three members received commendations � Terry Adlam for Duty Calls, Carol Breuer for The Viennese Connection and Lorraine Forrest Turner for Logie Place,

On presenting her summing up, Vera Morris said: "It was wonderful to read about such a wide variety of ideas, characters and situations. Writers have to be prepared to step out of their comfort zones � and this collection certainly shows that! We had every aspect of human life with some striking scenes, arresting images and good twist endings."

Report by Lorraine Forrest-Turner

Guest Speaker: Nicola May

Author Nicola May visits (2019-10-13 16:29:56)

The meeting was addressed by a guest speaker, Nicola May, a friend of Lin’s, who is a self-published author based locally in Ascot.

Nicola gave a very entertaining, informative and candid talk about her journey to become an author. Having had considerable commercial success in recent years her latest novel has over 180,000 sales, making her the most successful self-published author in the UK (via Amazon) Nicola has been able to give up her job in PR to become a full time writer.

Nicola gave a very practical description of what she had needed to do to become successful, particularly the effort and marketing/negotiating strategies she has had to employ to earn a good income from her writing.

Summer BBQ 2019

SLOUGH WRITERS SUMMER BBQ (2019-09-18 09:54:51)

All the gang at this year's BBQ. Thanks to Merle and Danny for hosting us.

2019 Slough Writers Awards and AGM

Slough Writers AGM and Annual Awards (2019-09-02 14:01:12)

ANNUAL AWARDS

2019 awards and winners

Chair Terry Adlam presented the annual awards as selected by the members and the committee.

Writer of the Year, as selected by her fellow writers, is Linda Hurdwell.

Terry Adlam was selected by members to receive the Taylor Award for services to the group.

The Sandy Lee-Guard Award for Endeavour was presented to Sally Clarke, decided by the committee.

Mary Fraser won the new writer award.

Annual General Meeting

During the group's AGM, in his summary of 2018-2019, Slough Writers chair Terry Adlam said it had been a challenging year but nonetheless successful. He praised the group for continued writing successes in print, on stage and online, and its collaborations with local groups such as Friends of Burnham Library, Slough Arts, Resource Productions and Wycombe Sound.

After several votes of thanks, Terry presented the group's annual awards, which included him receiving the Taylor Award for Services to the Group.

2019 Poetry Competition Results

Poetry Competition Results 2019 (2019-09-02 14:40:53)

The assembled writers with judge Pete Cox, Harvey Martin (third place), winner Linda Hurdwell and judge Declan Grant.

Linda Hurdwell who won both the poetry competition and the writer of the year award.

(Second place winner Lee Taylor was not present at the awards.)

• First and the SW Poetry Competition Trophy: Empty Shoes by Linda Hurdwell

• Second place: The Only Thing Necessary by Lee Taylor

• 3rd place: When The Birds Stopped Singing by Harvey Martin

Two of our judges, Declan Grant and Pete Cox.

Harvey Martin reads his poem.

Slough writer Linda Hurdwell enjoyed a successful evening at the Slough Writers Group AGM on Monday 22 July when she won both the Writer of the Year award and the Performance Poetry competition with her poem Empty Shoes.

The competition was judged by Slough Innerverse performance poets Pete Cox, Declan Grant and Donna Gerrish.

Speaking at the prize giving, Pete and Declan said that judging the competition had given them "real pleasure" and had taken them on a "roller coaster of emotions". They said that Linda's winning poem was "a powerful piece of writing filled with exceptional similes and metaphors".

Guest Speaker: Vera Morris

VERA MORRIS Crime Novelist Talks To SW (2019-07-09 17:21:05)

Although Vera Morris has always been an avid reader she gave no thought to actually writing a book until she retired. She said 'since childhood I've always had to have at least one book on the go and sometimes more. Not having a book to read makes me feel lost and incomplete'.

Agatha Christie is an author who has always impressed Vera so when, in an idle moment, she set about writing her first book the crime genre was an instinctive choice.

After completing several gory crime novels she joined a creative writing class having realised her books lacked something. She said she discovered there was a huge gap between enjoying reading and having the craft skills to write successfully. Vera joined the Romantic Novelists Association (RNA) and learnt that her work was too gory and violent for the RNA.

But she was able to meet a woman from publishers Accent Press at the RNA who encouraged her to submit the first of her Anglian Detective Agency novels entitled Some Particular Evil (the title is a quote from Pride and Prejudice). The latest in the series is The Loophole. She is now writing her fourth book in the series with a contract to write more.

Vera does not indulge in detailed plotting saying, 'If I sit before the screen something will always happen.' She begins with a firm idea of the characters, the crime and who the perp is.

She said, 'having believable motives for a crime is very important to me - it is not enough simply to have a random psychopath on the loose.'

She has a male/female duo as the lead characters both of which have strongly developed identities. She avoids the trend of having deeply flawed heroes, preferring to have well rounded but interesting people in her books and a strong element of humour stirred in with the blood and guts.

Vera keeps notes on each chapter as the book develops and writes notes for the future development of the story, but she added, 'I keep notes but I make sure these notes do not become a straight jacket that limit my creative freedom.'

She is relaxed about her writing schedule aiming to produce about 7000 words per week in several intense sessions. 'I like to get exercise in the mornings -walking, gardening - and tackle the writing when my brain is stuffed with oxygen.'

She gets a lot of inspiration whilst showering and if she is not in the mood writing has to wait until tomorrow! She reckons to complete a book each year.

Her novels are approximately 95,000 words and go through three or four draft versions before completion. 'The first draft is completed without stopping to edited previous pages,' she said.

It seems Vera follows the well-established principle that is so familiar to Slough Writers - don't get it right, get it written.

Words and Pictures by Mike Pearcy

2019 Short Story Competition Results

Results Of 2019 Short Story Competition (2019-06-03 17:19:09)

Andrew Unsworth has won first prize in the Slough Writers dystopian story competition with his chilling tale A Burden Eased.

• First and the SW Summer Competition Trophy: A Burden Eased by Andrew Unsworth

• Second place: No Law Against It by Robert Kibble

• 3rd place: Isolde by Elaine Simmond

There were three highly commended stories: The Doors Of Deception by William Campbell, The reliable Sunrise Tin by Carol Breuer and White Coats and Edward Harte.

Andrew's story, set in the not too distant future, tackles the painful subject of coerced suicide. Following the legalisation of euthanasia, the elderly are persuaded to ease the burden of care on their family and society by dying gracefully on live TV.

The competition, which attracted a record number of entries, celebrated the 70th anniversary of the publication of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

It was judged by Eton College academic Dr Anna Camilleri in recognition of Orwell's attendance at Eton from 1917 to 1921.

Anna, who currently teaches English at Eton, said of Andrew's winning story, "The idea of publicly executing people on live TV is a really compelling concept. Very Charlie Brooker-esque. It was the one I kept returning to as I read through the entries."

Second place went to Robert Kibble's story No Law Against It, which focused on the reduction of police presence on the streets leading to total indifference towards crime.

Third place was awarded to Elaine Simmonds's story Isolde, an intriguing tale of objectivity versus treachery.

Anna said that she loved the process of reading and critiquing the stories. When delivering the results, she took over an hour to comment on the entries, giving each writer hugely in depth and insightful feedback.

Terry Adlam, Slough Writers Chair shared all the members' thoughts in praising Anna for such a considered and helpful adjudication.

(This report by Lorraine Forrest Turner, pictures by Michael Pearcy.)

2018 Summer Competition Results

Summer Competition Results Announced (2018-11-10 16:36:36)

The judge Richard Palmer

Members of the Slough Writers group took on a challenging brief this summer when they were asked to write a short story from the viewpoint of an inanimate object. The results were announced on Monday 5th November.

• First and the SW Summer Competition Trophy: One Carrot Gold by Lorraine Forrest-Turner

• Second place: CFEF by William Campbell

• 3rd place: Eleanor's Engagement by Robert Kibble

There were two highly commended stories: The Lippinazer Glass by Carol Breuer and Dave and Mike by Julian Davidson

Photographed from left to right are: Carol Breuer, Lorraine Forrest-Turner, Richard Palmer, William Campbell and Robert Kibble (Julian Davidson could not attend the presentation).

The judge, poet and former English teacher Richard Palmer, said, "The competition produced some imaginative and daring writing. I was impressed with the way stories were constructed and the humanity shown in the way writers treated their characters. I also learnt a lot about Scottish history, quantum theory and the manufacture of fine Bohemian glassware!"

Richard continued, "The most successful stories, in my view, held most firmly in mind the fact that a tale was to be told... There had to be some kind of narrative drive... Another important consideration was the personality of the object. That personality should be coloured by the material or shape or function of the object, and the more successful stories did this, their objects exhibiting pride, a knowledge of art theory, empathy with a character wearing it."

(This report by Lorraine Forrest Turner, pictures by Michael Pearcy.)