I have once again updated my list of writing competitions…

As members at the British Museum, we are entitled to go and see the current exhibition of the Bayeux Tapestry free of charge, but we’ve decided not to.

One key reason is that following foot surgery, Katharine hasn’t got enough mobility. A second is that we have already seen the tapestry, in Bayeux ten years ago. I remember being impressed then by what a sophisticated document it is, with the marginal decorations often commenting on the main action.

But reports of long queues have also helped deter us. Some say the problems have been overstated, but as a fairly regular visitor I don’t think the Museum is very good at this sort of thing at the best of times. I would have thought timed entry should eliminate queues almost completely.

By way of compensation I’ve ordered a copy of the fold-out book that accompanies the exhibition, but apparently there are problems with that, too.

I was one of five finalists in the Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Chapbook contest, for my collection Folded World. They only publish the winner, but perhaps I’ll self-publish mine? I had a very nice email from the editor in which she singled out for praise the story Romans in Australia, arguably the least fantastic in the collection.