writer | editor | artist
At 2:30 pm today, a huge part of my life is ending. And all day (all week, all month) I’ve been struck by every fucking cliché that people use to comfort or sustain themselves through such moments. They just sneak up on me, wash through me. They’re as insistent and melodramatic and pointless as a cyclone….
I was born by the side of the road in a year nobody remembers. Meaning not that nobody remembers that year, but that nobody who was there when I was born recorded the fact of my birth, or recalls it, or is still alive. Except for my sister. I don’t recall meeting my sister, but…
Kay was one of those they’d Banished. Like prisoners in the old days, or the mad or the homeless, the Banished were as good as dead. In the eyes of the law, anyhow. They had no right to roof or food or love, no right to speak (in public or in private places), no right to…
Today’s guest post brought to you by the beautiful, and talented, Rebecca Jessen. As some of you know, Bec is very dear to me, so I won’t rave on about her talents as a writer, at the risk of appearing prejudiced. BUT, she’s an impressively alert, attentive and tender writer. After you’ve read this small…
There was nothing, and nobody, left to save. It hurt to look at the emptiness, but it was no good turning away, or closing our eyes; because the absence was also inside us. So we walked away. What else was there to do? We packed our suitcases and put on our coats. Laced our best boots onto our feet…
Commonwealth Writers has re-focused its prizes to concentrate on the Short Story. It will no longer offer the Commonwealth Book Prize. Commonwealth Writers develops the craft of individual writers and builds communities of emerging voices which can influence the decision-making processes affecting their lives. The Short Story Prize aims to identify talented writers who will go on…
Entries are now officially open for the 2013 Big Issue fiction edition – now an annual highlight of the publishing year. The Big Issue‘s fiction edition has become one of biggest selling short story collections in Australia. All submissions are judged ‘blind’, with no names attached. This year we are inviting all writers – of whatever age,…
Entries are now open for the Aesthetica Creative Writing Competition Entry Fee: £10 +VAT for two entries Prizes: £500 plus publication and a selection of complementary books Length of entries: 2000 words for short fiction, 40 lines for poetry Deadline for entries: 31 August 2013
The 2013 Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize is now open. Entry fee: $10.00 for ABR subscribers; $20.00 for other entrants Prizes: First $5000, supplementary $2000 and $1000, plus publication in ABR Length: 2000 to 5000 words Deadline for Entries: 31 May 2013 More information is available on the ABR website at: https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/prizes/elizabeth-jolley-story-prize
An extract from my work in progress has been published in the latest issue of Kurungabaa, alongside some great fiction, poetry and non-fiction. There’s an essay by Chris Morgan called ‘Surfing with Camus’, poetry by e e cummings, John Egan and Gail Willems, and some great writing on surf, sea and sand by Karen de…