The Labour Party Bazaar 1926

April 22, 2024

Looking through my late mother’s papers I found a souvenir of the Peterborough Labour Party’s Bazaar of 1926: a reminder that my grandparents were keen supporters in the early days. I should hate to introduce any politics here, but it is an interesting document.

It consists of a series of rather flattering cartoons of prominent local party members, drawn by the prospective parliamentary candidate J.F.Horrabin. It is no surprise that they are rather good, because Horrabin was a professional newspaper cartoonist, responsible for the largely forgotten strips ‘Adventures of the Noah Family’ (later known as ‘Japhet and Happy’) and ‘Dot and Carrie’, a cartoon about two secretaries. He went on to win the next election and was MP for Peterborough for two years under the leadership of Ramsay MacDonald.

In 1926 the Peterborough party was only eight years old. Labour had overtaken the Liberals and was slowly growing into its future role as one of the two main parties. The Bazaar looks very respectable, which may reflect the party’s nervousness about seeming Communist or revolutionary. The General Strike had happened only months before, but without Labour’s official support, and there are no echoes of it here. (Interestingly, Ellen Wilkinson, who opened the Bazaar, had worked tirelessly in support of the strike.)

One little detail that slightly puzzles me is that in the list of stall-holders and helpers, a distinction is drawn, not just between Miss and Mrs, but also the ‘Mesdames’. I conjecture that ‘Madam’ meant you were a widow?

I must say I also wonder what Messrs Doodson and Perkins had on the ‘Men’s Stall’.

May 2024 Competitions

April 20, 2024

So here I am, back again with a list of competitions I might enter during May. I’ve included ones with a deadline of 30 April, since I didn’t do an April list. Here they are first.

  • F(r)iction wants up to 7,500 words: entry is $10 and first prize $1,000.
  • The Plaza Prizes include a category for short stories up to 5,000 words: £15 to enter and  a prize of £1,000
  • Desperate Literature again offer a prize which besides €2,000 includes a residency and consultation. Up to 2,000 words, €20 to enter.
  • Free Fall takes up to 3,000 words. Entry is CA$25 and top prize CA$500
  • The Ironclad Creative short story competition has the unusual theme of ‘7:12 am’. £7 to enter and the prize is £100.

Moving on into April…

  • The Cheshire novel prize is back – send the first 5,000 words plus a synopsis. It’s a full £29 to enter and the top prize is £1,000, deadline 1 May.
  • With the same deadline the Tom Howard/John H Reid competition offers $3,500. $22 entry and up to 6,000 words are accepted.
  • Letter Review will take up to 5,000 words, you win a share of $1000 and it’s free to enter. Deadline 1 May again.
  • Leapfrog is looking for longer works – minimum 22,000. It’s $35 to enter and your main prize is publication, though all finalists get $150. Enter by 5 May.
  • Another novel competition is the Goldfinch one- again your first 5,000 plus a synopsis are required. £10 to enter, prize £300, deadline 15 May.
  • Lush Triumphant from sub-Terrain looks for 3,000 words, entry $30, prize $1000. Again, the deadline is 15 May.
  • I don’t normally do very short pieces, but the postcard competition from Geist looked interesting. You have to send them a postcard and a 500-word piece which relates to the picture. It’s CA$25 to enter and the prize is $500: deadline 20 May.
  • Do not forget the mighty Bridport competition, with its prize of £5,000. Entry is £14 and the word limit is 5,000. Last year I was shortlisted – so close! The deadline for this one and all the rest is 31 May.
  • MTP want up to 3,000 words. An entry fee of £8 gives you a chance of winning £1,000, and a decent chance of featuring in their chunky annual anthology, which is always named after the winning story.
  • Finally the good old Frome Festival is back. 1,000 to 2,200 words, entry is £6 and the prize £400.

Good luck – if you get anywhere with these, do let me know!

Legion

April 17, 2024

We finally went to the British Museum’s highly-praised exhibition about life as a Roman soldier. It is illuminating, giving an insight into what was in many ways the heart and epitome of the Empire. Clearly on display here are some of the well-known features that made the Roman army so successful. It recruited anyone who met the height requirement without bothering about where they came from: it taught them basic Latin and sent them all over the place, turning them into loyal, well-off citizens who would settle and stabilise the provinces. There were only so many Greeks or Egyptians, but anyone could become Roman and enjoy the substantial opportunities that went with it.

The exhibition makes considerable use of soldier’s gravestones. One interesting thing about them is that they were often paid for by the dead soldier’s slaves, set free on his death. This reinforces the sense I picked up from the Pompeii exhibition, that Roman house slaves were often treated almost like family: better than the free servants at Downton Abbey.

The exhibition includes many unique and remarkable items, including the only surviving legionary’s shield and some extraordinary cavalry parade helmets which include masks, one of which was supposed to make the rider look like an Amazon. The suit fashioned from a crocodile’s body is probably more weird than representative, though you can see why the curator couldn’t resist it.

It’s a very child-friendly exhibition: so many large cartoons and features with Rattus the cartoon character you almost begin to wonder whether adults are welcome.

Parracombe Shortlist

April 16, 2024

I’ve been longlisted in the Parracombe competition! The announcement is a bit late, and I had put them down in my spreadsheet (oh yes, I have a spreadsheet) as a ‘no’, but there we are. The shortlist and winners should be announced in about a week.

Update: I’m on the shortlist! This means my story will be in the anthology.

Short Pause

February 26, 2024

I’m dealing with a combination of things at the moment that are taking up all my attention, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to focus on writing or other creative stuff for a few weeks. But I’ll be back!

February 2024 Competitions

January 22, 2024

Here once again is a selection of writing competitions I might enter with deadlines in February.

  • The Jim Baen Memorial prize is for positive, realistic  stories about space exploration in the near future. Up to 8,000 words are required, it’s free and the winner gets an award, publication, and 8 cents per word on publication. The deadline is 1 February
  • The Prototype Prize, for UK or Ireland entrants only, seeks a book-length work, especially one at the intersection of literary or artistic forms. It’s free to enter, the deadline is 1 February and you could win £3,000
  • The Porterhouse Review wants stories up to 8,000 words. They should be ‘emotionally affecting, haunting, bizarre, and in firm control of the machinations of storytelling’.$10 to enter, a prize of $750, and again the deadline is 1 February.
  • The Writers and Artists Yearbook want up to 2.000 words and it’s free to enter. You could win a place on an Arvon course and online publication. Stories must be on the theme ‘Risk’ Enter by 12 February
  • The Mary McCarthy prize from Sarabande Press wants 150-200 pages. The entry fee is $29, with the top prize being $2,000 plus publication. The deadline is 15 February.
  • Brink literary journal wants hybrid (or cross-genre) stories – but not avant garde experimental writing. It’s $22 to enter and the deadline is again15 February.
  • The Elmbridge Literary Competition has a theme of ‘Fame’ and a word limit of 1,500. £5 to enter (by 23 February), with a £250 prize.
  • Stringybark needs stories with a link to Australia (but it could be as little as a Vegemite sandwich). Up to 1,500 words: A$15 to enter and a prize of A$500. The deadline is 25 February.

All the rest have a deadline of 29 February.

  • Exeter Writers are back, looking for up to 3,000 words: a £7 entry fee might get you a £700 prize.
  • The Grace Paley competition from AWP looks for 150-300 pages, with an entry fee of $30. The top prize is $5,500, plus publication.
  • Bridge House want up to 5,000 words on the theme ‘Good News’: not really a competition as such but an invitation to submit; still, the selected work will be published and paid royalties.
  • Letter Review is looking for up to 5,000 words for a top prize of $600 ($20 entry fee).
  • NOWW (the Northern Ontario Writers’ Workshop) wants 2,000-3,500 words. It’s $CA10 to enter and top prize is $CA150.
  • The Edinburgh Short Story Award from the Scottish Arts Trust accepts up to 2,000 words: £10 entry and the prize is £3,000.

Good luck – if you get anywhere with these, do let me know!

January 2024 Competitions

December 21, 2023

Some writing competitions I might enter with deadlines in January. No pretence of being a comprehensive list..

  • If you’re quick you can still enter the Exeter Novel Prize – deadline 1 January. They require your first 10,000 words and a synopsis: £20 to enter, with a prize of £1,000.
  • Then there’s the Disquiet Literary Prize. 25 pages max, entry $15, prize $1,000, and for this one you’ve got until 5 January.
  • If 25 pages is too much, The Page Is Printed wants just one side of A4. £5 to enter, prize £100 and the deadline is 14 January.
  • The Georgia Review will accept up to 9,000 words, and for an entry fee of $30 offers a top prize of $1,500. The deadline is 15 January.
  • The Cai Emmons prize from Redhen needs a minimum of 150 pages. $25 entry for a big $5,000 prize: enter by 15th.
  • Driftwood look for up to 5,000 words, charging $30 to enter. The prize is $400, but you also get publication in the magazine wth an interview and 5 copies of the relevant issue.
  • The Bournemouth (Fresher) Writing Prize wants 3,000 words. It’s £7 to enter and you could win £500 plus feedback and a professional recording of your work. The deadline is 22 January.
  • The Masters Review is running its winter competition: up to 6,000 words, $20 entry and a prize of $3000. Enter by 28 January

The rest all have a deadline of 31 January.

  • Story Unlikely is back – free to enter and a prize of $750. Maximum wordcount is 4,500.
  • The Screw Turn competition from Ghost Story wants 250-1000 words: $15 entry and a prize of $1,000.
  • .The Parracombe prize returns 2024 words max. Entry is £5, the prize £150.
  • Finally, Askew’s Word on the Lake festival offers a prize of $200 (Canadian) for stories up to 2,000 words: entry is $15.

If you get somewhere with one of these, do let me know!