Tag Archives: literary events

A day of flash fiction

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Last Saturday, writers, readers and interested passersby got involved into the celebrations for National Flash Fiction Day 2016. I was part of the team organising events (led by Kevlin Henney and along with Freya Morris and Tino Prinzi) in my home city of Bristol, and had a blast!

The day kicked off at 10.30am outside Bristol Central Library for the first ever Bristol #FlashWalk. Writers from across the UK had submitted tales inspired by our harbour area, and some wonderful stories had been selected for actors Jo Butler and Tom Parker to perform.

We began with the spine-tingling The Harbour Festival by AA Abbott, read by Jo Butler under an ornate archway leading down to the waterfront. Tom followed this with Diane Tatlock’s Harbouring Friendship, and then we made our way to Millennium Square, where Jo performed Juliet Hagan’s Johnny Pencloud, a thought-provoking tale of the women left behind in the days of press-ganging.

Jo Butler reading Johnny Pencloud by Juliet Hagan pic cr Judy Darley

Jo Butler reading Johnny Pencloud by Juliet Hagan

My story Altitude followed, with both Tom and Jo taking a role to share the dizzying story of a lad encouraged to climb a crane by an adventurous and reckless lass, and then regretting his lust-driven choice!

On Pero’s Bridge by Holly Atkinson could take place nowhere other than actually on Pero’s Bridge, followed aptly by Ingrid Jendrzejewski’s emotive Your Name is Pero, telling the tale of the little slave boy the bridge is named for.

On the corner by the statue of John Cabot, Dolphins by Lucho Payne gave us a moment of light and hope.

Jo Butler reading A Thousand Words by Gemma Govier

Jo Butler reading A Thousand Words by Gemma Govier

Then came Gemma Govier’s intriguing A Thousand Words, followed by Lynn Love’s gorgeous Will There Be Pirates.

Tom Parker reading Will There Be Pirates by Lynn Love

Tom Parker reading Will There Be Pirates by Lynn Love

The morning wrapped up outside St Nick’s Market, with Mark Rutterford’s Singing Out Loud, leaving us with the satisfaction of a potential happy ending.

The sun shone throughout, the actors and writers were wonderful, and the audience well behaved – we even picked up a few more folks along the way!

Next came a free flash fiction writing workshop back at Bristol Central Library, where KM Elkes made us regard strawberries in a whole new light, and Alison Powell armed us to create extraordinary similes.

At 7pm, events moved to At The Well for an evening of flash tales with the father of NFFD, Callum Kerr, and the launch of this year’s beautiful NFFD anthology, A Box of Stars Beneath The Bed.

Thirteen readers, masses of stories, and countless emotions! The orangutan story by KM Elkes still haunts me. A fabulously inspiring night to finish a truly splendid day.

Ooh, and throughout the day there was the #FlashFlood to enjoy. You can still drop by to read the tales at flashfloodjournal.blogspot.co.uk.

Penzance Literary Festival 2016

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Penzance views cr Judy DarleyPenzance Literary Festival runs from 6th-9th July 2016. It’s the perfect excuse to enjoy Cornish views and sea air while revelling in the written and spoken word!

Look forward to a guest appearance by best-selling author Gavin Knight, whose new book, The Swordfish and the Star, a gritty portrayal of life in the fishing communities of Newlyn and The Lizard.

I love how inclusive and friendly this festival is – in 2013 I had the chance to read my short story The Scent of Summer at a Telltales literary event in the Admiral Benbow and loved the experience.

Headliners for this year’s festival include Rachel Joyce, author of best-selling The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry, and writer of BBC Radio’s dramatised version of Jane Eyre, part of this year’s 200th anniversary celebration of Charlotte Brontë’s birth.

Other folks set to tingle your literary tastebuds include Costa award-winning novelist Andrew Miller, Guardian journalist Patrick Barkham, whose book Coastlines: The Story of Our Shore celebrates many of Cornwall’s coastal National Trust properties, and poets Bert Biscoe, Pol Hodge, Gray Lightfoot and Colin Stringer. And don’t miss the Bookshop Band, with a brand new selection of bookish songs!

There will also be writing workshops, theatre, and literary tours of Penzance run by local tour guide Anna McClary. It’s a great way to get to know the heritage of this Cornish town, and be inspired! Find full details at www.pzlitfest.co.uk.

For details of where to stay in Penzance, go to www.visitcornwall.com.

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

Reading at Novel Nights

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Mussel shells cr Judy DarleyOn Thursday 16th June, Novel Nights is on at Bristol’s Belgian beer bar (got that?) Strawberry Thief. I’ll be there, reading my short tale Preservation.

It looks set to be an excellent evening, with readings from a number of local writers in the first half, and then a discussion with author Babs Horton about the risks and riches of  mining your own life for your writing inspiration.

Do come along if you can. Tickets are £5 on the door, and there will be opportunities to ask questions and find out things to further your own writing. Plus, the night’s talented organisers Grace and Helen will let you know how to submit your own writing for the chance to read at future Novel Nights’ events.

Seeking shelter

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St John in the Wall by Judy DarleyOn Thursday 9th June from 7pm I am hosting a literary event at St John on the Wall, an ancient church filled with atmosphere and forgotten histories.

The evening will involve poetry, tales and music inspired by the themes love, life and mortality. Just the big human topics, then. Tickets cost £4 on the door, and all proceeds will be split between The Churches Conservation Trust, who look after this magnificent space, and St Mungo’s, a charity dedicated to helping homeless people back into a life of security and self-worth.

The latter is a cause close to my heart. I believe, as St Mungo’s do, that everyone has the right to a home where they feel safe.

Homelessness is increasing in Bristol. St Mungo’s aim is sustainable recovery – supporting people via hostels and supportive housing projects, advice, physical health and mental health services.

“Outreach workers go out in the early morning and late at night to check on people sleeping rough,” says Jo Lenny at St Mungo’s. “It takes time to build up trust and a relationship. Once people agree to engage, they’re assessed so their individual needs can be supported, such as housing, or more complex needs around mental health, addiction or both.”

Aside from providing beds, St Mungo’s run a recovery college, where people can learn a new skill, or share a skill, and so be helped to feel part of the community and to engage. “A horticultural project called ‘Putting Down Roots’, supports clients to work in public parks, hostel gardens, and in the Recovery College garden, developing gardening skills, growing wildflowers and carrying out hard landscaping and building projects,” says Jo. “Current projects are in Castle Park and at New Street Centre, with plans for more. Through this, people gain skills, qualifications, paid and voluntary work.”

The number of people sleeping rough doubled between 2011 and 2013, and doubled again between 2013 and 2015.

You can help by going to www.mungos.org.uk where you can sign an open letter to David Cameron to Stop the Scandal.

If you’re concerned about a person sleeping rough, you can make a street referral by visiting www.streetlink.org.uk.

Find out more about the Love, Life and Mortality literary event and buy tickets at www.visitchurches.org.uk/lifeloveandmortality.

Flash Fiction Day celebrations in Bristol

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Pero's Bridge cr Judy DarleyNational Flash Fiction Day happens on Saturday 25th June 2016, celebrating literature in its briefest forms from dribbles to drabbles and beyond. There will be events erupting across the UK, but the hotspot is in Bristol, with three fab events to mark the fourth official day of Bristol Flash.

In the morning from 10.30am until midday, you can take part in a Flash Walk around Bristol’s harbour area, with site-specific flashes being read by trained actors along the route. Until 9th June, you’re invited to submit stories between 40 and 400 words for the chance to hear your words included on the trail. Find details here and here.

In the afternoon from 13-30-16:30), there will be a flash fiction workshop at Bristol Central Library led by award-winning writers Alison Powell and Ken Elkes. Find details here.

From 7pm that evening at At the Well on Cheltenham Road, Bristol, you can settle in for a mass of flash readings from local and not-so-local writers, including Alison Powell, Calum Kerr, Diane Simmons, Freya Morris, Jude Higgins, Ken Elkes, Kevlin Henney, Pete Sutton, Tim Stevenson, Tino Prinzi, Tom Parker, and me! Find details here. Find details here.

Every event is free to attend, and designed to inspire, amuse, disquiet and enthral you, all in the name of flash fiction!

Life, Love and Mortality – a literary night

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St John in the Wall photo credit Andy MarshallSt John in the Wall photo credit Andy Marshall

St John in the Wall © Andy Marshall

I’m really excited to be hosting a special literary event on 9th June 2016, at a very special Bristol venue. St John on the Wall is one of those magical places you can pass a thousand times without truly realising it exists, and then find it hard to believe you ever failed to notice it.

Late last year, I visited this church embedded in one of the only remaining sections of Bristol’s walls still standing. The atmosphere of the place, which is no longer used for religious purposes, immediately stirred my imagination.

Happily the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT), who manage the space, were just as taken with the idea of a literary evening at this site as I am.

So this is what’s happening – nine individuals (poets, prose writers and musicians) are creating works inspired by the space and the themes life, love and mortality. These pieces will be performed in the setting of St John on the Wall, with many pieces being read from the pulpit. Doors open at 7pm, with the evening expected to end around 10.30pm.

There will be a small entrance fee of (£3 for early bird tickets, £4 thereafter, and a bar selling drinks. Proceeds will be split between the CCT, and homelessness charity St Mungo’s. Tickets are available from www.visitchurches.org.uk/lifeloveandmortality.

Here’s some text from the official press release that has gone out:

“Featuring the words of Judy Darley, Paul Deaton, Louise Gethin, Harriet Kline, Mike Manson, Helen Sheppard, and Claire Williamson, plus the music of Joanna Butler and Paul Bradley, this will be an evening focused on the things that can stop us in our tracks, and spur us on to achieve our dreams.”

Hope you can come along!

Novel Nights this Thursday

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Budapest tree with heart cr Judy DarleyOn Thursday 21st April I’m co-hosting Novel Nights, a monthly literary event in Bristol, along with founder Grace Palmer. Taking place at Strawberry Thief, it should be a really lovely evening.

Five local writers, Mel Ciavucco, Kevlin Henney, Angela Brooks, Paul Deaton and Mark Rutterford, will be sharing short stories and novel extracts inspired by the theme of romance – taking some unexpected, moving, humorous and thought-provoking tangents through the genre.

In the second half (after a break for mingling and buying drinks), bestselling author Lucy Robinson will share her experiences of getting published, staying motivated and the submission process. Think of it as a mini-literary masterclass!

The evening begins at 8pm. Find full details at www.novelnights.co.uk. 

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

Stories at Strawberry Thief

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Strawberry Thief by Judy Darley
This week marks the first Novel Nights of 2016, taking place on Thursday 21st January, from 8pm. Excitingly, the literary night has a brand new venue – The Strawberry Thief, a rather delightful Belgian beer bar on Bristol’s Broad Street.

The night’s co-founder and organiser Grace Palmer has kindly invited me to read at the event, and I’ll be sharing a story inspired by the new venue, or rather, by the William Morris wallpaper that inspired the bar’s name. Got that?

I’m one of four writers filling the first half of the evening with stories, then for the second half author Mimi Thebo will be discussing the importance of voice in fiction.

Do come along if you’re in the area.

A flurry of short stories

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CarolPeace-sculpture-reading

Reading © Carol Peace

October is aglow with literary happenings, and I’m happy to be able to share the news that I’ll be at several literary events in the coming weeks, reading short stories and flash fictions.

First, on Friday 16th October, I’m excited to be heading over the Severn Bridge to the launch of Skylark Journal, a brand new literary magazine from publisher Little Lantern Press. I’ll be reading my story Breathing Water during the annual Made in Roath Festival in Cardiff on the 16th of October in the Waterloo Gardens Tearoom from 6.30-8.30pm.

Then, with Bristol Festival of Literature kicking off on 15th October, I’ll be preparing for two very different events. The first, led by Mike Manson, is Unreliable Histories on Tuesday 20 October, and takes place down in Redcliffe Caves, so wrap up warm! I’ll be reading a tale based on the life of World War II aviator Elsie Davison, better known among her friends as Joy.

The second is Written from Art, led by me and hosted by sculptor Carol Peace in her beautiful studio at Bristol Paintworks on Wed 21 October. Ten writers will be reading stories and poems inspired by art. It promises to be an uplifting evening. Tickets are free but essential due to the small and atmospheric setting of Carol’s studio. Get yours here.

A flash flood this Saturday, and a poem

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Flood cr Judy DarleyMy story On The Rocks is getting another outing this week as part of National Flash Fiction Day’s FlashFlood event.

National Flash Fiction Day is on  Saturday 27th June this year, and the organisers plan to flood the internet with flash-fictions. I’m pleased to say that my story ‘On the Rocks’ will be published on the FlashFlood journal blog at around 9am (BST) on 27th June 2015.

Stories will be posted at flashfloodjournal.blogspot.co.uk throughout National Flash-Fiction Day, so do pop by to take a look!

In other news, I’ve recently had a poem published!

I admit, I have a curious fondness for pigeons. Something about their dauntlessness as they crowd the city streets, pecking for crumbs and dodging vehicles impresses me, possibly more than it should. So when I saw a call for poetry submissions about these generally unbeloved birds, I had just the poem in mind.

Happily, my poem Crusty was accepted for publication and now roosts in the poetry anthology Poeming Pigeons along with many feathered friends. It’s available from The Poetry Box, but you can read it here.

Crusty by Judy Darley

We’ve reached an understanding, he and I
sharing the same street corner
ignored by the same passersby.
His stained blanket mirrors my ragged wings
We both limp from hunger and on twisted limbs.
His fractured, fractious stories echo my plaintive call
His rheumy eyes, filth-clouded, reflect my skies, dismal.
We’ve both experienced the same fall from grace,
existing on life’s edges in this wretched place.
He raids the bins, eats what he can, and what he can’t he passes on.
When night crowds in, I rise to roost
watching over him till dawn.