Celebrating the short story - part 4

Very brief short story love today, because my laptop battery's running out and the power cord is downstairs (lazy, lazy) - just to say that I am loving the comments left on the Save Short Stories on Radio 4 petition, which has now been signed by Deborah Treisman, Fiction Editor of the New Yorker! This demonstrates that the reduction of short story broadcasts on radio 4 is an international issue, affecting writers worldwide.

I think all the comments should be compiled into something... something to be sent around to mainstream publishers who are convinced there's no market for short stories, perhaps? Staying positive here, it's just heart-warming, reading all the responses. Apparently, Radio 4's Feedback programme will be dealing with the issue next Friday, July 29th, so do tune in. Have a great weekend - happy reading!

Celebrating the short story - Part 3

One lovely thing that has emerged from the fight to stop BBC Radio 4 cutting its once-daily Afternoon Reading short story program to once-weekly is the wealth of wonderful messages left by those signing the petition to protest the cuts. Here are a few:

"Short stories are gems that light up our lives. Please retain them on Radio 4. Readers, writers and listeners all have our lives enriched by short fiction. I urge you to reconsider and then reverse this extraordinary decision."

"My father went blind in his later years and relied on audio recordings. Yes, there are audio books but the whole point to the radio is to have an opportunity to taste the unexpected."

"I've been learning English by reading AND listening to short stories. Reducing the short story output on Radio damages not only the pleasure of the listeners but culture/education/learning also."

Radio 4 has always been a beacon of light in the world of the short story - why turn off that light when it costs so little and achieves so much?  

My husband doesn't really enjoy reading, but will happily listen to short stories on Radio 4 and will thoroughly enjoy them. If we're listening in the car we have stay there until the story is finished, even if we've reached our destination! Far too important to cut back.

"I LOVE the short story slot. I switch on my radio at 3.30pm purely for that and nothing else...I even listen to the end of Money Box Live so I don't miss the beginning of the story. It is the one moment in my day where I can switch off from everything else and enter another world. We all need stories: they make us understand the world in which we live. They persuade us to empathise, to see another perspective, to understand other cultures, to imagine ourselves in someone else's shoes. Stories are what make us human and interactive. Don't take them away."

Click here to read more comments... and don't forget to sign!

Some more story positivity - Vanessa's comment on my last blog post needed a bit more exposure:

...Philip Pullman, speaking last night in support of the Save Our Six Libraries initiative, came out strongly in support of story. And spoken story. And the importance of hearing fiction read, (he talked about children, but in context, in a celebration of language - and his remarks can equally be applied to radio, and adults...)

Yippee! Save the libraries too...

And finally, a great way to celebrate the short story is to send your own stories out into the world, so here are a few upcoming deadlines for you:

July 31st: Sean O'Faolain Short Story Prize: Judged this year by Ian Wild. Entry fee €15, US $20 or £15, up to 3000 words. Prize is €1,500 for the overall winner, €500 for 2nd prize and €120 for four shortlisted stories. Online or postal entry.

August 12th: Manchester Fiction Prize: Judged by Heather Beck, John Burnside, Alison MacLeod and Nicholas Royle . Entry fee £15, up to 3000 words. Prize is £10,000 for the overall winner. Online or postal entry. All work submitted for consideration must be the entrant's own original writing, and should not have appeared in print or appear on a website (including blogs and social networking sites) or have been broadcast, or be submitted for publication or consideration elsewhere, for the duration of the Manchester Fiction Prize (which is deemed to begin on the date of entry and end on Friday 14th October 2011)

Sept 21st: Glasswoman Prize: a work of short fiction or creative non-fiction (prose) written by a woman. No entry fee, 50  to 5000 words. Prize is $500 for the overall winner, €100 for 2nd prize and €50 for runner-up. Online entry. Subject is open, but must be of significance to women

Help Save Short Stories on BBC Radio!

Following swiftly in the footsteps of the first short story festival in Bristol, UK, ShortStoryVille, which was hugely successful - comes the distressing news that BBC Radio 4, which until recently broadcast a short story in the Afternoon Reading programme 5 days a week, which was then reduced to 3 days a week - and now will be only once a week. This is the BBC - who only a few years ago was proud to announce the BBC National Short Story Award, and on their website say:

The BBC National Short Story Award, managed in partnership with Booktrust, continues to serve as a reminder of the power of the short story and to celebrate a literary form that is proving ever more versatile in the twenty first century, enjoyed not just on the page, on air and increasingly on every sort of screen, but also in flash fiction events, short story festivals and slams. The short story has moved beyond the revival of recent years and is now experiencing a golden age.

BBC Radio 4 is the world's leading broadcaster of short stories and a staunch and long-time supporter of the form. Short stories are broadcast every week, attracting over a million listeners.

BBC- you are a "staunch and long-time supporter", don't let us down now!

The Afternoon Reading has for many many years been a showcase not just for well-known writers but for new voices - on a personal note, it was my first "big break", the first time I felt I was taken seriously as a writer, coupled with the joy of hearing my story, The White Road, (later the title story of my first book) brought so wonderfully to life. Not only that, the payment the writer receives is no paltry sum and has formed a significant part of my writerly earnings in the years since.

There are many, many writers, listeners and readers who are very concerned about this development. Writer Susie McGuire and Ian, organiser of the UK's National Short Story Week, have formulated the following:

The new Controller of Radio 4, Gwyneth Williams, will be a guest on FEEDBACK on BBC Radio 4 next week. How very timely.
Would you add your name to a letter/question to ask her?
Would you pass on this email to other writers who care about the health of the short story…?

The more of us, & the better known the writers who sign it, the more likely it is to have some effect.

If so, please find below a short, polite question, proposed by Ian of http://www.nationalshortstoryweek.org.uk

Reminder: info on her decision to cut the short story’s presence on Radio 4 outlined here  http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/07_july/10/radio4.shtml

If you’d like to add your signature, please email YES to
ian AT shortstoryweek DOT org DOT uk

& cc to me: info AT susiemaguire DOT co DOT uk

NB – It would be really helpful if you could reply within 24 hours so that the question can be lodged as soon as possible. This is by no means the *only* action interested parties can take, but it’s a start, and I hope you might add your weight to it with this (and further suggestions are welcomed)
thanks
Susie

*******************
Proposed question:
We were surprised and disappointed to learn of the decision to reduce the short story output on Radio 4 to once a week from next spring. Radio 4 has been a great champion of the short story for many years. It is one of very few places in the UK where both new and established writers can have their short stories broadcast to a large audience, and where radio listeners can enjoy readings of the short story form. This move comes at a time when interest in the short story is growing, but paid opportunities for short story writers are still scarce. Could Gwyneth Williams please explain:
1) what has led her to make this decision?
2) whether the short stories on Radio 4 extra will be new commissions or repeats of existing recordings?
3) how this decision fits with the BBC’s sponsorship of the National Short Story Award (and indeed if this will continue?)

If you are moved to do so, please take action, following the instructions outlined above. Signatories so far include:

Clare Wigfall

Sara Maitland

Philip Pullman

Nicholas Royle

Vivian French

James Robertson

Michael Holroyd

Jane Rusbridge

Dr Charles Smith

Sarah Hall

Sarah Hilary

Vanessa Gebbie

Jill Dawson

Lucinda Byatt

Maggie Gee

Sarah Sheridan (Soc of A, Scotland)

Tania Hershman (Ed, The Short Review)

Helena Nelson (publisher, Happenstance)

Morag Joss

Lola Perrin

Jules Horne

Suzanne Bellenger

Richard Beard (Nat Academy of Writing)

Ali Bacon

Nicky Parker, (Publisher, Amnesty)

Dan Powell 

Ian Cundell

Kathleen Langley

John Courtney-Grimwood

Wendy Ann Greenhalgh

Alison Wells

James Wall

K E Bergdoll

Linda Cracknell

Jonathan Pinnock (also see his FB links)

Sarah Salway

Alison MacLeod

Louis Winters

Emily Dubberly

Karen Whiteson

Griff Griffiths

Sara Schofield

Ian Macpherson

Stella Burchill

(and counting...)

Please join us!

ADDENDUM: There is now an online petition here - please sign!

Flash! It's all over... almost

I can't tell you what an amazing feeling it was hearing 16 of my tiny stories being brought to life over three fabulous days on Radio 4. I feel so unbelievably lucky  - what did i do to deserve this? (Rhetorical question, no need to answer!). I feel like I will bask in this glow for quite a while.

And even though I got up at 5.45am this morning to go to London and be a guest on the Radio 4 Off the page program, talking about science (was I coherent? We'll find out when it's broadcast next Thursday!), my utter exhaustion couldn't diminish the delight.

If you'd still like to listen, all three programs are now available on iPlayer, here is the link. I have had some wonderful responses from people I know and from those I don't know - and am not related to in any way - so thank you all for your support, especially my Twitter pals! It has just increased my joy!

And to pass on that joy I am giving away three signed copies of The White Road and Other Stories...I did a giveaway of the first copy on Tuesday, was too tired yesterday, so today I am giving away two more. Here's your fiendishly difficult question:

Which writer is rumoured to have said something like "If I had more time, I would have written a shorter story (or perhaps letter)? [Hint: Google will help.]

Post your answer in the comments and I will pick two winners from today and one from Tuesday and let you all know tomorrow - or perhaps Monday.

Got a very busy four days... I really need a holiday! I am reading as part of the Oxfam 24-hour read-a-thon on Monday at the Oxfam shop on Marylebone High Street in London from 1pm-1.20pm, if you're in the area...I'm squeezed between some Big Names, apparently - I imagine I might be the only author to read 6 short short stories in 20 minutes!

Flash! Day Two...

I had such a busy day today, was organising an "Artistic Science & Scientific Art" seminar at the University - which went very very well - and so I couldn't listen live to the second day of my flash stories on Radio 4. Probably just as well, I didn't get much done in the two frantic hours before the broadcast yesterday! So I just listened to them now, and it was just wonderful, in a different way from yesterday, 4 stories instead of 6, and perhaps the most odd of all my flashes. I got the loveliest email today from a teacher who asked if she could use that most odd of the flashes in her Theatre Studies class with Sixth Form students - what better response could I ask for? I am dying to know what her class thinks of it!

Anyhow, am too tired now to do the free book giveaway, will give away 2 copies tomorrow, after the third and final program, which I am rushing back from London to hear live. What a week! Days 1 and 2 can be heard online here.

Flash! has lift off! Win a free book...

I just listened to the first Afternoon Reading program with my flash stories and I am feeling quite emotional. The readers, Nicola & Tom, and Jeremy, the producer, at Sweet Talk, did the most wonderful job, I thought. Thanks all of you for the lovely messages through Twitter and other channels! Can't wait for tomorrow's program. If you missed today's, check here shortly, you should be able to hear it again for the next 7 days.

Now for that book give away! To win a signed copy of The White Road and Other Stories, the easy question is: Which stories from today's broadcast are taken from the book? (Hint: the list of stories is on the BBC, and the book's Table of Contents is here.) Leave a comment below and I'll pick a winner at the end of the week. Happy Flash!

Wheee...Flash comes to Radio 4!!

I have waited a long time to be able to say this... and we're here! Next week, BBC Radio 4 will be broadcasting a whole week of my flash stories on the Afternoon Reading!

Because the stories are so short, there will be 5 or 6 per day in the 15-minute slot which has uptil now only ever broadcast a single story. So: 16 stories in total, on Tuesday June 29th, Wednesday June 30th and Thursday July 1st, first broadcast at 3.30pm UK time and then available online as Listen Again programmes for 7 days afterwards.

The week is aptly titled "Flash!" and more info is here including the list of stories each day - 5 of which are from The White Road and Other Stories, and the rest are newer flashes.

In honour of this exciting event, I am going to be giving away one signed copy of my book on each day of the broadcast, and all you will have to do is answer a very simple question. So stay tuned, pop back on Tuesday, and find out how you can win!

In the meantime, I went to hear my stories being recorded by the ever-wonderful Sweet Talk Productions in London a few weeks ago, here are pictures of the amazing Nicola Walker (soon to be seen on our screens again as "Ruth" in Spooks) and Tom Goodman-Hill doing their thing in the studio!

Suprisingly delightful - my story rebroadcast on Radio 4 tonight

Thanks to Miriam, I discovered yesterday that my short story, Drinking Vodka in the Afternoon, which was first broadcast on Radio 4 in 2007 as part of a week of Afternoon Readings commemorating the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, was being rebroadcast tonight! It was wonderful hearing it again, and now the story is available on BBC iPlayer for the next 7 days, in case you want to have a listen.

Hearing it again was like being back with old friends. I was deeply attached to my main character, Mary Margaret, the first character in any of my stories that stayed with me after this one was finished and compelled me to write more. I have... the other pieces haven't found homes yet, maybe it's all supposed to go together, I don't know. And, before you ask: No, not a novel. No!

Thanks to Teresa for the Kreativ Blogger award, I have had one before but each time it is a great boost, that some of what I am waffling on about might be of interest to someone else.

And: following several comments about lack of readability of my new blog design, cool as it was, I have managed to tweak the template so that it is clearer - I hope! Dad, can you read this??

National Short Story Award 2008

I have just been listening to the first four of the five shortlisted stories in the BBC National Short Story Award, which are being broadcast this week on Afternoon Reading on Radio 4. I have to say how much I enjoyed Clare Wigfall's The Numbers, which left me feeling deeply moved, and Jane Gardam's The People on Privilege Hill, which had me giggling. However, I have no idea if this was because of the stories or because of the actors who read them so excellently (Tracy Wiles and Goeffrey Palmer respectively). Hearing a story read to you is such a blissful experience, but - and I know this too from hearing audio versions of my own stories - it doesn't necessarily bear that much resemblance to the written story, or, I should say, the experience of hearing may be very different from the experience of reading it. While I do applaud the creation of this award (formerly a "prize", not sure what the difference means) I do wonder whether it will actually encourage more reading of short stories. The slot in which these five are broadcast, BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Reading, is already established and has its following, so how does this award bring short stories to a wider reading public? Through the publicity the award receives?

What if the short stories were also available to read online? Would this not bring more people, perhaps? Just a suggestion. Winner announced Monday 14th July. Good luck to all!

Very nice news

Lovely news that I can now share with you all - I am one of three winners of the Biscuit Flash Fiction competition! When I entered I was desperately hoping I might get somewhere because the prize is a week's writing retreat in a small town in Belgium, plus 200 pounds spending money. A cash prize is always very welcome, don't get me wrong, but it's very unlikely that were they to have just given cash I would have decided to spend it on a week's writing retreat. Now I simply must go to Belgium, and I can't wait! (I think I have a year in which to go.)

Another lovely aspect to this is that I sent a very new story in which I tried a different writing technique/style from anything I had done before. It could be called "minimalist" I suppose - I was inspired by read Roy Kesey's amazing collection, All Over, for review for The Short Review. His writing is very minimalist, dispensing with names, places, making the reader do quite a lot of work. I loved reading them and I thought, well, why don't I make my reader (if there ever is one) work a little? Why don't I try not providing so much background for a change? Seems like someone liked it, at least.

Other nice news just in today: two more of my flash stories have been selected by Rethink Daily, for their short story podcast, Sharp Things. The stories will be recorded by actors and broadcast in July. It's always a wonderful experience for me to hear my stories brought to life, I am really looking forward to it. Two very different short short stories - one involving a creme egg and one a rabbi in Sainsbury's car park. That should whet your appetite!