tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10904038074915772752024-03-13T03:46:51.883-07:00The War TourThe War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-24107581445194811952014-11-16T01:46:00.000-08:002014-11-16T01:46:02.507-08:00Out with the Old, In the with the new<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi, I've started a new website/blog over on word press, which I'll be updating with news on writing and politics. Hope you can join me over on <a href="http://zoelambert.org/">http://zoelambert.org</a>. xx</div>
The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-18394087080099728252014-02-10T06:31:00.002-08:002014-02-10T06:31:57.073-08:00My Next Book <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is a crime against blogging, but it's been a year since my last entry. I started a full time job at Lancaster exactly a year ago... and a few other things went to pot. Like this blog. But other things have gone much better.<br />
<br />
After publishing The War Tour, I've been working on a novel, well kind of novel. The War Tour, was, for obvious reasons, rather far from my own experience (though as I have discussed elsewhere, things are more complex than that). But my second book stems much more directly from the experience of illness and disability and the role as carer. In many ways, these issues have shaped my life. And I want issues that have stemmed from this to be at the centre of my next book.<br />
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How I go about that has changed over the past year; the way this kind of material is fictionalised, the form, the approach, has gradually morphed with each word I wrote. Things are now coming together. The structure of this book is more cohesive than my first collection. But there is still something fragmentary about it. I'm still attracted to different stories bumping up against each other, but those connections this time are much more novelistic.<br />
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The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-41707342042192673382012-12-14T15:40:00.001-08:002012-12-15T04:33:56.672-08:00Notes to Self Prior to a Year of Events<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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a) the two-glass wine hypothesis will prove to be correct.<br />
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b) events are very tiring, especially one hour lunchtime readings where you have to keep talking for exactly ONE HOUR. This is a long period of time. Don't expect any sympathy for this.<br />
<br />
c) it's OK if only your parents turn up. Seriously. And remember this doesn't reflect on you; it reflects ON SOCIETY AROUND YOU. Think this as you go over your two-glass wine limit. At lunchtime.<br />
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d) you never know what event organisers will do, such as decide to include a random poet in your event, who cries at her own poems. If this happens, don't expect any questions from the audience and don't expect anyone to buy any books.<br />
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e) never try to leave a music festival at 7 am on the Sunday morning to go to another festival. You will want to cry. You will cry. You will miss seeing New Order.<br />
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f) there are actually mosquitoes in Wales, and they bite through tights.<br />
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g) a one person tent is meant for one person.<br />
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h) it's perfectly OK to BYO wine to events.<br />
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i) if you do too many readings, you will certainly get Event Fatigue. This is similar to Compassion Fatigue. You will certainly never want to open your book again. You may even be cruel to it.<br />
<br />
j) Swansea is very far but you can get there and back from Manchester in a day.<br />
<br />
h) Throckmortons' Festival has its own butler<br />
<br />
i) if you spend a weekend at Throckmortons where you don't even have to pour your own drinks, your nail polish won't chip at all<br />
<br />
i) Boris Johnson's dad is a really nice guy<br />
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j) you tube recordings of you reading are a bad idea. But there is nothing you can do to stop their proliferation.<br />
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k) don't attempt to drive yourself to events. At some point you will actually be driven by a chauffeur. Unfortunately, it won't ever be in a limousine.<br />
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l) if anyone takes a photo while you are reading, you are going to look like a goldfish:<br />
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(c Paul McVeigh)<br />
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The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-49959446530350007932012-09-11T14:43:00.001-07:002012-09-12T02:49:25.319-07:00The War Tour on Tour and exactly how much wine to drink before a reading<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j705F2hX3ys/UFBTONbpa0I/AAAAAAAAADY/1u7lze7p4i8/s1600/decanter+of+wine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j705F2hX3ys/UFBTONbpa0I/AAAAAAAAADY/1u7lze7p4i8/s320/decanter+of+wine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Reading out your work in front of people for the purpose of their entertainment is a daunting prospect for any writer. It is probably not advisable to resort to dancing, juggling or doing card tricks to deflect attention from your prose. What you should do is practice. A lot. And secondly, you should know exactly how much alcohol is needed for a smooth delivery.The right amount will get you talking and make you less self-conscious. Too much and you will be slurring into the microphone and including embarrassing jokes. <br />
So, after a lot of study and many years of practice, I have come to the conclusion that the right amount is exactly what the governement health people advise for daily consumption, which is a maximum for 2-3 units, which works out as 1-2 medium glasses. This also depends on the time of day. Two glasses of wine first thing in the morning might be a slippery slope, so it's best to use your judgement there. But a hip flask of whisky can liven up an instant coffee at a library reading. I am not advocating being drunk at readings. This only leads to regret. You know it. I know it. But sometimes we just never learn...<br />
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<b>NEWCASTLE - TUE 12 SEP</b> 7pm<br />
<b>Litmus at the Lit and Phil</b><br />
<b>Sara Maitland, Zoe Lambert</b> and <b>Christine Poulson</b><br />
"<i>The Lit & Phil plays host to an evening of science and semi-fiction..
Sara Maitland reads and discusses her story about the often overlooked
astronomer, Henrietta Swann Leavitt, a woman who despite being un known
at the her death changed the face of
astronomy with her discovery of the period-luminosity relation – a yard
stick for measuring distances in space. Zoe Lambert talks about Lise
Meitner – the first scientist to identify nuclear fission (one
caricatured by a US journalist as ‘the woman who left Germany with Bomb
in her purse.’ Whilst Christine Poulson discusses the moment when
American biologist Kary Mullis, driving home late one night, dreamt up a
way of revolutionising DNA research."</i><br />
<br />
<b>We will be staying in a hotel afterwards so I hope Sara and Christine like to party. </b><br />
<br />
Lit & Phil Library, 23 Westgate Road, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 1SE. <br />
<br />
<b> Festival Number 6 @ Portmeirion</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Geneva; font-size: 11pt;"><b>Notes From the Edge</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Geneva; font-size: 11pt;">The
Central Piazza </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Geneva; font-size: 11pt;">Friday
14th September </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Geneva; font-size: 11pt;">4.20pm-5.15pm </span><span style="font-family: Geneva; font-size: 11pt;"></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Geneva; font-size: 11pt;">"Four writers read from their work and discuss how and where it finds
common ground. Maria Roberts’ best-selling memoir <b>Single Mother on the Verge</b></span><span style="font-family: Geneva; font-size: 11pt;"> explores
the trials of living with an eco-warrior. Award-winning novelist
Emma Jane Unsworth’s fiction features characters often drawn to the darker side
of themselves. Shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize, Zoe Lambert’s short story
collection<b> The War Tour</b></span><span style="font-family: Geneva; font-size: 11pt;"><b> </b>gives voice to women in situations of conflict
all over the world, while journalist Alison Taylor’s </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: Geneva; font-size: 11pt;">edgy dating </span><span style="font-family: Geneva; font-size: 11pt;">memoir <b>The
Still Single Papers</b></span><span style="font-family: Geneva; font-size: 11pt;"> “makes Bridget Jones’ Diary read like a Saga holiday
brochure” (John Niven)."</span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Geneva; font-size: 11pt;">This is going to be a great event. I am worried I will be late because I'm still trying to put up my brother's high tech mountaineering tent. Or I might just be lost somewhere in Wales. But I hope I get there. The line up for the festival is AMAZING. </span></b></div>
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<b> </b><br />
<b>ALDERLEY EDGE - SUN 16 SEP</b><br />
<b>Zoe Lambert</b> at the <b>Alderley Edge Community Book Festival</b><br />
I'll be reading in a line-up that contains Jackie Kay, Melvin Burgess and Mike Garry.<br />
Organised by Oxfam. <br />
Reading Room, Festival Hall, Talbot Road, Alderley Edge, Cheshire SK9 7HR.<br />
More information <a href="http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get-involved/campaign-with-us/north-of-england-blog/2012/06/get-ready-for-real-magic-at-the-alderley-edge-community-book-festival?cid=rdt_alderleyedge">here</a>. <br />
2pm.<br />
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I<b> will be coming straight from Festival 6 so expect wellies, mud, and
messy hair. I hope I will be able to string a sentence together and not lost somewhere in Wales.</b><br />
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<b>CHORLTON - FRI 21 SEP</b><br />
<b>Kagyu Ling Cultural Programme</b> presents <b>The War Tour</b> by Zoe Lambert.<br />
<i>'The event starts at 7.30pm with a welcome cocktail. Free but donations are welcome on door.<br />
Kagyu Ling Buddhist Centre, 45 Manor Drive, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 7QG. <br />
More information from Jessica Frye on 0161 850 4450 or culture[at]kagyuling.org.uk.' </i><br />
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<b>Yes, it does say a free cocktail.</b><br />
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<b>SUN 23 SEP</b><br />
<b>Zoe Lambert</b> at <b>Throckmorton Literary Festival</b>.<br />
Throckmorton Literary Festival at Coughton Court, Warwickshire.<br />
More information about the festival <a href="http://www.shakespeare-country.co.uk/thedms_nearby.aspx?dms=13&nearby=1&feature=1025&GroupId=2&venue=2730156">here</a>.
9.45am. Georgina Harding, David Starkey and Rachel Seiffert are also reading over the weekend. <br />
<br />
<b>I am not sure where this festival is, but it sounds wonderful. It's in a very old hall, with a Jacobean staircase and I am staying over in it because my reading is in the morning. I hope there's a four poster bed. </b><br />
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<b>DIDSBURY ARTS FESTIVAL SAT 29 SEP</b><br />
<b>BORDER FICTION</b> with <b>Jane Rogers</b>, <b>Zoe Lambert</b> and <b>Michelle Green</b><br />
<i><br />
'Comma Press presents three exciting authors, whose short story
collections cross personal and political borders. Jane Rogers' new collection, <b>Hitting Trees with Sticks</b>, ranges from Uganda to Australia
to the West Indies, taking in love, death, and Alan Turing along the
way. Zoe Lambert's <b>The War Tour</b> paints a picture of the world’s
conflict zones, giving voice to the silenced casualties. Michelle
Green's forthcoming<b> Jebel Marra,</b> explores the complexities of the
on-going war in Darfur through the eyes of aid workers and the people
involved.
Didsbury Baptist Church, Beaver Road. Manchester, M20 6SX.</i>'<br />
6.30pm-9pm.<br />
Part of the <a href="http://www.didsburyartsfestival.org/2012/07/border-fiction-jane-rogers-zoe-lambert-michelle-green/">Didsbury Arts Festival</a>. <br />
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<b>I am calling us <i>The Comma Girls</i>.</b><br />
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<br />
<b>Friday 12th October: For Books Sake 2nd Birthday Bash! </b><br />
<b>The Star and Garter </b><br />
I'll be reading my zombie and caravanning story from Short Stack and dressed to the nines in red and white poker dots. <br />
Also reading will be Emma Jane Unsworth, Clare Robertson and Les Malheureux, and they all know exactly how much wine to drink. <br />
Details <a href="http://forbookssake.net/2012/09/07/for-books-sake-presents-the-2nd-birthday-bash/">here</a><br />
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<b>LANCASTER - SUN 21 OCT</b>
<b> Zoe Lambert and Jo Baker: The Right to Imagine</b><br />
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<i>These two North West writers explore elements of war within their story-telling. This event brings you two readings and a short discussion on the act of creating fiction around events that may not be so close to home.</i><br />
Lancaster LitFest<br />
The LICA Building<br />
Lancaster University <br />
Visit <a href="http://www.litfest.org/">LitFest.org</a><br />
4.30pm<br />
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<b>WED 24 OCT</b>
<b>Zoe Lambert</b> at <b>Chester Literature Festival</b><br />
Chester Town Hall, Northgate Street, Chester CH1 2HJ .<br />
1-2pm.<br />
More info <a href="http://www.chesterfestivals.co.uk/festival-buzz/chester-literature-festival">here.</a><br />
See how serious my photo looks next to Andrew Motion. Very serious indeed. <br />
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<b>LONDON - SAT 27 OCT</b>
<b>Zoe Lambert</b> with <b>Adam Marek</b>, <b>David Vann and Chris Paling</b><br />
<a href="http://www.commapress.co.uk/?section=books&page=TheStoneThrower"><img align="right" alt="The Stone Thrower" height="118" hspace="5" src="http://www.commapress.co.uk/images/books/TheStoneThrower.jpg" vspace="5" width="75" /></a>
The Story Salon 3, at the society club<br />
12 Ingestre Place, Soho London, W1F OJF<br />
6pm-8pm.<br />
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<b>I am really looking forward to this event. I bet the guys are scared about reading with me. </b><br />
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<b>BLACKPOOL - TUE 13 NOV</b><br />
<b>Zoe Lambert</b> <b>in Conversation with Eleanor Rees </b>at <b>Wordpool</b><br />
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I'll be reading with Liverpool poet, Eleanor Rees and discussing place and locality in our writing. We tend to talk about vintage dresses a lot, so this may come up too. <br />
more info to follow.<br />
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<b>Dylan Thomas Festival (note to self - check date)</b><br />
reading with Edge Hill Prize shortlisted writers, Rowena Macdonald and AJ Ashworth.<br />
<b>more details to follow. </b><br />
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<b>This is in Wales again. Perhaps I'll still be lost in Wales finding my way to Festival 6. This is not unlikely. </b><br />
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The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-81718621193861651762012-07-15T13:00:00.001-07:002012-07-15T23:54:52.985-07:00How not to talk on the radio<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
No one gives you media training if you're a writer, so I thought I'd share the mistakes I made on Women's Hour, BBC radio Manchester, ALL FM and EL FM. <br />
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1. Don't expect the actual interview to be anything like the discussion you had with the producer. It won't be. Producers want to find out as much as they can about your work; they will ask nice open questions so you will feel at ease. In an interview, the point is getting an angle so the questions won't be as nearly as nice, especially on radio 4. <br />
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2. If the interviewer starts widening her eyes at you, it means 'SHUT UP' so she can ask you another question. Don't under any circumstances pause and then ask 'excuse me?' which I did on Women's Hour.<br />
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3. Do copy politicians on the Today programme: go in with a sound bite, and get it in, no matter what they ask. Michelle Green, who was on Women's Hour with me, did that with a quotation, and it was probably the best part of the interview.<br />
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4. Make sure you mention the name of your publisher or where the book is available. I completely forgot to do this on BBC radio Manchester. <br />
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5. If you are shortlisted for a prize, remember to mention it too, which I forgot to do on EL FM. <br />
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6. In general, they will always always ask if the book is about you. If it isn't, they won't understand how it is possible to write anything not about yourself. You will have to think of a reason for not writing a book all about yourself and defend this terrible action. If your book is all about yourself, you are going to have to make a full confession about your life. Remember, interviewers aren't interested in the book; they want the human story. <br />
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7. Make sure you know exactly where your book came from. If in doubt, invent an amusing anecdote about when you had your first inspiration. This always goes down well. My long explanations of the origins of The War Tour were dull and probably brought on the 'eye widening' moment. <br />
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8. If you have a cold or cough, like I had on WH, don't worry; the adrenelin of being on the radio will make your cough magically disappear. Do sip a hot toddie in the studio. No one will know. <br />
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9. If you can bear it, listen to yourself afterwards. I have never done this. If I did I'd probably never get out of bed again. But it might have improved my interviews. <br />
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10. If you can organise it, do local or community stations first; the interview will be more relaxed and friendlier. My interviewers on ALL FM and ELFM were warm and supportive and lovely.In fact, community radio, I salute you!<br />
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11. Don't worry too much if your tights have a massive hole in them, like mine had for EL FM. It's the radio. <br />
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12. Make sure you ask reliable friends who are good at lying to listen in and tell you how amazing it was. Don't not tell anyone and then go home feeling sorry for yourself (yes I did this). <br />
<br /></div>The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-7165724712456527542012-07-04T10:51:00.000-07:002012-07-15T14:01:54.439-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Edge Hill Prize and Other Stories<br />
<br />
Well I'm very excited to be shortlisted for the 2012 Edge Hill Prize for the short story. The awards do is tomorrow at the Free Word Centre in London (if you follow Free Word on twitter they DM you a word!). I'm all ready to go. Booked my train. I have, till it rains, extremely smooth hair. I'm looking forward to meeting AJ Ashworth, Sarah Hall, Rowena Macdonald and Tessa Hadley and drinking lots of wine with them. There's more about the shortlist <a href="http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/news/2012/05/all-female-shortlist-for-edge-hill-short-story-prize-2012">here</a>. <br />
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'A startling good collection of stories by a confident writer. Reading it is like taking a masterclass in how to do it well.' Mslexia (<a href="http://www.mslexia.co.uk/index.php">buy issue 54 here)</a><br />
<br />
It isn't online but here are some reviews that are: <br />
<br />
'Lambert's collection presents a carefully balanced picture of the
world's combat zones... The writing is disarmingly plain and
to-the-point... a kind of narrative ambush... I'd recommend that you
read these.'<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/28/war-tour-zoe-lambert-review?newsfeed=true">The Guardian </a><br />
<br />
'Reading 'The War Tour' is like wandering through a labyrinth of the
unexpected, full of marvellous things... Lambert gazes into the abyss
and does not flinch.' - <a href="http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/house-of-the-dead/">3:AM Magazine</a>.<br />
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'Poignantly portraying the everyday loves, losses, strengths and
sacrifices of those living with war, The War Tour depicts trauma, horror
and confusion alongside defiance, duty and survival, all in quiet,
compelling language that resonates long beyond the final page.' - <a href="http://forbookssake.net/2012/03/26/the-war-tour-by-zoe-lambert/">For Books' Sake</a>. <br />
<br />
what makes this book special is the warmth and care that is shown to the
real people in the stories and her determination not to judge or take
sides. War is not something that happens a long way away or a long time
ago, it happens to the people you meet every day in Manchester and
Salford or any other City. <a href="http://www.lancashirewritinghub.co.uk/2012/04/the-war-tour-by-zoe-lambert/">Lancashire Writing Hub</a><br />
<br />
'it is the level of research, the desire to bring to light hidden,
forgotten or sidelined stories of war, and the willingness to showcase
her writerly concerns that form the basis of Lambert’s personal
hallmark. The effect can be polemic.' <a href="http://realtimeshortstories.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/review-the-war-tour-zoe-lambert-comma-press-2011/">Real Time Short Stories </a><br />
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'<i>The War Tour</i> begins and ends with a flourish... surprising and very well written.'<a href="http://keeperofthesnails.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/war-zone-by-zoe-lambert.html">Keeper of the Snails blog </a><br />
<br /></div>The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-73891689620807042022012-02-17T09:05:00.000-08:002012-02-17T10:03:43.282-08:00EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW!Despite a furious bidding war between The Daily Mail, The Sun and The Mirror, as well as several journalists camping outside her home, short story writer Zoe Lambert has given an exclusive interview to <a href="http://oldenoughnovel.blogspot.com/">Tom Vowler</a> at Short FICTION journal. One of the few remaining Sun journalists said: 'I'm gutted not to get the interview. I thought all short story writers were dead, like Chekhov, but it turns out some are alive. In the good old days I would have got the latest on her writing process by attaching a microphone to her cat, but now my hands are tied.' <br />
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Short FICTION have also managed to steal her short story 'The New Girl' from under the tabloids' noses. This previously unpublished story is to be exclusively featured in Issue 6. The same Sun journalist said: 'We were hoping the publication of Zoe Lambert's interview and short story as centre spread of the Sun would bring new readers to our beleaguered paper and reveal our literary and feminist side. We wanted to reassure our female readership that we value women for their brains, and not just their cup size. We were't even going to photograph the author in a low-cut top, but had ideas for a shoot of her in combats and leaning on a tank or truck while looking at her book in a thoughtful but sultry manner. Sadly for her career prospects, she declined.'<br />
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Visit the <a href="http://www.shortfictionjournal.co.uk/?page_id=9">Short FICTION website</a> for this exclusive interview. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xd-5g6zpuEA/Tz6DtaOHZ1I/AAAAAAAAADQ/lhOI0xTyM-w/s1600/SF5Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="153" width="100" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xd-5g6zpuEA/Tz6DtaOHZ1I/AAAAAAAAADQ/lhOI0xTyM-w/s320/SF5Cover.jpg" /></a></div><br />The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-59937008585312938902012-02-14T03:12:00.000-08:002012-02-15T08:02:38.350-08:00Short StackI don't have a kindle. Kind of beginning to feel a bit left out. Especially since Short Stack is available on <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Short-Stack-ebook/dp/B00768B51M/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1328611284&sr=1-1-spell">kindle</a> for 99p for today only!!! I'm very excited about the pulp fiction anthology from Pulp Press and <a href="http://forbookssake.net/2012/02/14/happy-valentines-get-short-stack-for-only-99p/">For Books' Sake</a>, featuring ten twisted tales of zombies, sex, sleaze and vengeance. My story is about a romantic getaway with zombies and caravans. Can't wait for my paper copy to arrive!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hLrY5XNjjqQ/Tzo5y3JNWeI/AAAAAAAAADE/Q7oFB1nG7X8/s1600/423483_357602824264295_114931301864783_1257942_986789549_n%2B%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="209" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hLrY5XNjjqQ/Tzo5y3JNWeI/AAAAAAAAADE/Q7oFB1nG7X8/s320/423483_357602824264295_114931301864783_1257942_986789549_n%2B%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Yes I do feel a bit behind the times. A lot of my students are much more technologically savvy than me. I go to them for advice on blogging. Thought it was a fair point that using a phone to make notes in public places is less obtrusive than a notebook. People think you are texting when really you are writing down what they are saying. Good tactic. My MA students are currently involved in some exciting projects. Craig Pay and David Schofield are launching <a href="http://cutawaymagazine.co.uk/">Cutaway Magazine.</a> They are still accepting submissions and I think it's going to be an exciting addition to the Manchester literary scene. Lucy Walton is the book editor for Female First and here is her interview with <a href="http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/books/Zoe+Lambert+War+Tour-227923.html">me</a>. <br />
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I've been lecturing on the MA creative writing for a few years now along side Jon Glover. Jon is a wonderful poet and editor of Stand Magazine. He is launching his new collection of poetry, Class is Elastic on <a href="http://www.bolton.ac.uk/News/News-Articles/2012/Feb2012-6.aspx">Thursday 16th</a> at the <a href="http://www.octagonbolton.co.uk/page/3074/Jon-Glover-and-Zoe-Lambert/358">Bolton Octagon</a> at 7.30pm. It is a real pleasure to read with him at the event. He is a dear friend and colleague. Will let you know how it went! <br />
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<br />The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-29136935431481200492012-02-13T04:52:00.000-08:002012-02-15T07:58:07.065-08:00Are they real? Characters and why I wrote The War TourI've been asked a few times about where I got my stories from. The most notable time was on Women's Hour. 'Did you ask asylum seekers if you could use their stories?'<br />
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In many ways these are valid questions, but on the other hand, they are curious questions to ask a writer of fiction. I've found people always want to know if what you are writing is autobiographical. Which part is real? Is that character based on a real person? This kind of response forgets that fiction is about making stuff up. This response assumes I went out and found people who had experienced conflict or who were asylum seekers and that I greedily wrote down their stories, like the literary equivalent of tapping people's phones. <br />
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Fiction is a sticky, gluey mess of things and facts and research and the imagined, and something someone said once and some more abstract ideas and some feelings and something you can't quite explain that you want to communicate and some words that come into your head...and a million other things. I just found this quotation on <a href="http://www.clairemassey.co.uk/">Claire Massey's lovely blog</a>. It is the playwright August Strindberg describing his characters as:<br />
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'conglomerations of past and present stages of civilization, bits from books and newspapers, scraps of humanity, rags and tatters of fine clothing, patched together as is the human soul'<br />
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How beautifully phrased. We work from 'scraps of humanity'. In The War Tour - though three stories are about the historical figures Lise Meitner, Rosa Luxemburg and John Hanning Speke - there is no real life equivalent of Japhet in 'When the Truck Came', or Devrim in '33 Bullets'. To have included living people's actual stories of trauma, war and exile would have been unethical and an act of appropriation. (For more on this there is an essay/metanarrative called 'Notes' at the back of my collection, which makes a brief exploration of Spivak and Said and Benita Parry on issues of appropriation, which I place in the context of 19th Century British exploration and colonialism). <br />
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But if it's not about me and doesn't include real life stories then why did I write it?<br />
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The book began with the publication of my short story cycle in Comma's Ellipsis 2 in 2006, which included the two stories 'These are only words about a woman on a bus' and 'The Breakfast She Had'. Both explored the effects of war on women and were the kernals of the rest of the book. Both stories contained the two things that made me write the book. First, the treatment of asylum seekers by this country and the Kafkesque and dehunamising asylum process. I was doing campaign work for asylum seekers in Manchester and I was angry. I felt more people needed to talk about what was happening. <br />
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The second kernal was apathy; we (us in the UK) - like the man on the bus in my 'These are only words' - don't want to know; we don't want to listen. At the same time we are fascinated by certain stories of horror. War zones become holiday destinations. We visit Auschwitz and are horrified by it. But we think this has nothing to do with us. Back in 2003 there was a moment of public outrage at Iraq and a moment when we thought it does concern us, but then public apathy seemed to settle in again (though Stop the War is still going strong).<br />
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While I was writing the book, I was continually beset by doubt. What do I know about war? What gives me the right to write these stories? Why the hell am I writing this book? But at the same time I was also compelled to write it. I couldn't not write it. And I don't think I'm alone in feeling those things. I think most writers doubt themselves but something in them keeps on going. <br />
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<br />The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-31390797504425975272012-02-05T08:20:00.000-08:002012-02-08T08:27:24.289-08:00How to Save a Library and Lise Meitner goes to MaghullFor National Libraries Day I read at Meadows Library in Maghull, Sefton. With the closures and threats of closures, Meadows seems to have taken a novel approach - unless more libraries are doing this? - they are based in a leisure complex. The building is open plan and on the left is a swimming pool and on the right is the library. You can see people swimming while looking at the books. It's not a quiet library. There's a TV screen playing a music channel and from somewhere I could hear the pump and beat of an aerobics class. But the library was a community and social space, and not cut off.The librarian said that the library and the leisure centre supported each other. But they had been hit by other cuts. There had been a drop in children coming to the library since free swimming had been stopped. <br />
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As a child I loved libraries. So did my mother. We were members of quite a few: Eccles Library, Hope Library, Height Library, occasionally Swinton library. Going to the library was a family day out. My mother was - is a big reader. But we don’t go much anymore because she is dependent on others taking her, and others, like me, aren't always reliable. So we tend to buy books in bulk from Waterstones.<br />
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This reading was a family day out as my folks chauffered me there. I'd checked the library was accessible (I get really angry about places not being accessible). What I liked about this event was that it wasn't in a secluded room at the back of the building, but in the middle of the library space on the first floor. The doors were closed so we weren't disturbed by people going to the gym, but we weren’t hidden away either.<br />
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I was worried about reading 'Crystal Night'. I wasn't sure whether the audience was expecting a story about the discovery of nuclear fission, and I didn't want to blind them with science, but they seemed to really enjoy it; there was a lively discussion, which continued after the event had finished. I told them that when I wrote the story I had had a moment of feeling I understood the experiments, but now I’d forgotten what the hell it all meant. The science and explanations in the story had been down to James Sumner's excellent input and Ra Page’s equally excellent editorial help. But what I had also been interested in was Lise Meitner's experiences fleeing Germany in 1938. Her story resonated with other stories I was writing in The War Tour about refugees and the effects of war. She was, of course, very fortunate to be whisked out of Berlin by Neils Bohr and Dirk Coster, but she was a woman who had overcome the barriers of gender to become one of the few renowned female scientists at the time, and then had her position at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry taken from her. What also fascinated me was how she was at once sidelined by history (alone in Stockholm and pushed outside of the discovery of fission) and also absolutely central to world events. <br />
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When I was writing the story I thought of giving a bigger picture of her life and perhaps including what happened afterards - Hiroshima and Nagosaki and Otto Hahn being awarded the Nobel. But I wanted to stay in that moment in history - the beginning of 1939 when WWII was yet to begin and she wasn't aware of the devastating possibilities of nuclear fission, and though I hope I didn't reduce the story to a clichéd eureka, for Lise Meitner there was a moment when these were 'beautiful results'(to quote one of her letters).The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-69316377170448085342011-12-21T03:08:00.000-08:002011-12-22T03:15:15.124-08:00Best Short Stories I have read this yearThe sun has finally risen on the shortest day of the year. A really bad metaphor has just popped into my head, along the lines of short stories being like short glimpses of light... anyway... It is also <a href="http://www.nationalshortstoryday.co.uk">National Short Story Day</a>. So to celebrate this here are some of the best short stories I have read or re-read this year.<br /><br />- 'How to talk to your mother (notes)' Lyrical and haunting depiction of a mother and daughter. I am a big fan of Lorrie Moore and re-read this after recommending it to a student.<br /><br />- 'Up the mountain coming down slowly' Dave Eggers' excellent contribution to McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales. Tourists going up Mount Kilimanjaro - how much will they sacrifice to get to the top?<br /><br />-'Everything is Moving, Everything is Joined' and 'Morphogenesis' in Litmus. It's a brilliant anthology and hard to choose which stories in it I like the best. I could list them all.<br /><br />'The House of Usher' by Edgar Allen Poe. I looked at some classic short stories with my MA group at Uni of Bolton. I love this story. The sumptuous language and how Poe cranks up the horror notch by notch. We also discussed the classics 'The Dead' so I took time to re-read Dubliners as a whole. I know it's a predictable classic, but its also unsurpassable. We compared this to Carver's 'Cathedral'. One of his more optimistic stories. Years ago it inspired me to write my Ellipsis 2 story, 'The Stop' (though the eventual story has very little in common).<br /><br />-I recently went to a reading of Comma's Lemistry, an anthology celebrating the work of Stanislav Lem. I found out the Philip K Dick suspected Lem wasn't a person at all, but a committee dishing out Soviet propaganda. Loved <a href="http://.www.forgettingthetime.blogspot.com/">Annie Clarkson's</a> 'Toby', a futuristic story of adoption.<br /><br />-When I'm not at Bolton, I'm dashing to Edge Hill University. My third year seminar and I all loved John Burnside's 'Slut's Hair' in The Best of British Short Stories. Another favourite was Claire Massey's 'Feather Girls'. I feel if I describe these stories I'll ruin them. So I won't.<br /><br />-I have just read <a href="http://www.oldenoughnovel.blogspot.com">Tom Vowler's</a> The Method and Other Stories. Loved the whole collection. Really liked his dark and disturbing stories about children's propensity for violence: 'Homecoming and 'The Little Man', as well as his satires of writers, 'The Method' and 'One Story'.The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-91092797867938006192011-12-06T01:34:00.000-08:002011-12-06T02:02:38.303-08:00A few little things I've done for my book<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VqeyoSOp0-4/Tt3n_ijuCYI/AAAAAAAAABc/grewAbbZYIo/s1600/the%2Bcastle.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 220px; height: 220px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VqeyoSOp0-4/Tt3n_ijuCYI/AAAAAAAAABc/grewAbbZYIo/s320/the%2Bcastle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682953383605832066" border="0" /></a><br />I felt a lot more relaxed talking to Heather Stott on BBC Radio Manchester a couple of weeks ago. We had a lovely chat in the brand new studios in Salford Quays. The interview is on my page <a href="http://www.commapress.co.uk/?section=books&page=TheWarTour">here.</a> Last week I was interviewed in The Big Issue North. This weekend, <a href="http://www.commapress.co.uk/?section=books&page=Litmus">Litmus:Stories from Modern Science</a> was chosen as quirky <a href="http://http//www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/04/books-christmas-presents-quirky-reviews?newsfeed=true">stocking filler</a> in the Observer.<br /><br />My launch part 2 is at <a href="http://thecastlehotel.info/">The Castle</a> on Oldham St at 7pm on Thursday 8th December. This will also be the Comma Press christmas party, so if you are in Manchester, please come down. I will be reading with <a href="http://www.michellegreen.co.uk/">Michelle Green</a> and afterwards we will be mostly drinking and taking the party back to the Comma Press offices at Madlab on Edge St.<br /><br />If you are in Macclesfield, I'll be reading with <a href="http://www.singlemotherontheverge.blogspot.com/">Maria Roberts</a> at Picchu on 9th December, where I will be very hungover. But there will be amazing food at the event to keep me going. You can bring your own wine and tickets can be bought from <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Picchu-food/121338874588345">here</a>.The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-26172284101631219892011-12-04T01:22:00.000-08:002011-12-06T02:11:11.957-08:00When Your Book Leaves Home<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-digr_6SrqEw/Tt3p35ql3HI/AAAAAAAAABo/3ECBZ6CSjYA/s1600/iStock_000007434507XSmall_WalkingAway.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-digr_6SrqEw/Tt3p35ql3HI/AAAAAAAAABo/3ECBZ6CSjYA/s320/iStock_000007434507XSmall_WalkingAway.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682955451392973938" border="0" /></a><br />When your book is published is it similar to when your child leaves home? You're left with mixed feelings. Not sure what to do with yourself. Off the book goes, out into the world in its brand new cover, without a backward glance. You are left to worry and fret about how your book will fare. Everybody says, you must be so excited, but mostly you're just scared. You think, did you bring the book up correctly? Is it strong enough to survive? You tell people what a great book it is. How proud you are. Sometimes you wish the book handn't left home. You want to care for it and edit it forever. Some parents kick their book out when they are too young; they abandon their book when it needs them most (to quote Claire Keegan). Others are that pushy kind of parent, who force their book to compete. As a book-parent, I have to say, I'm now feeling like a spare part, hoping my book will pop home so I can do its washing. I don't know what to do with myself. Perhaps evening classes? Try to enjoy my new-found freedom? But the only solution is to have another book, and hope this one calls me once in a while.The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-30489479143617926722011-11-03T08:38:00.000-07:002011-11-03T11:27:11.552-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_tkKfBBBeT8/TrLccUScKbI/AAAAAAAAABQ/VbikPBwY8ok/s1600/285586_10150328524321281_751106280_9796766_1429977_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 208px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_tkKfBBBeT8/TrLccUScKbI/AAAAAAAAABQ/VbikPBwY8ok/s320/285586_10150328524321281_751106280_9796766_1429977_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670837259853375922" border="0" /></a><br />The War Tour is finally, finally out and in book form. Just in time for the launch at the <a href="http://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/events/15th-october/war-stories-michelle-green-zoe-lambert">Manchester Literature Festival event on 15th October. </a>I read with Michelle Green, and I'm eagerly awaiting her forthcoming collection from Comma next year. I coughed through most of the event, or tried not to, with cough suppressant and vocal zone on the table. The disastrously timed cough magically disappeared for the nine minutes Michelle and I spent on Women's Hour the previous day. An absolutely terrifying experience at the studios on Oxford Road - the guests' waiting room was not unlike a dentists. It was the first time I'd had to say why I'd written a book about war. The big why, when I have not experienced a war personally (and why this question misses the point) will be discussed here very soon.<br /><br />I'm going to chat tomorrow (Friday 4th November) to Heather Stott on BBC Radio Manchester. I almost wish I still had the cough. It's good to have something to focus your nerves on. <span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);" class=" down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link"><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Link" class="gl_link" border="0" /></span></span>The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-56939953998390682152011-04-27T10:30:00.001-07:002011-04-27T10:44:17.051-07:00on not writing your blogI'm not sure how other writers keep up a blog while trying to finish a book. It takes all my energy to just write the book, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">never mind</span> write about writing it.But then I'm not sure how a lot of people manage to do a lot of things. Like opening beer bottles with a lighter. Or going through doors. Have problems with doors. Opening them, and then there's door etiquette. Who lets who go through. Always tricky. Anyway, back to writing about not writing. I'm in the final edits...well almost final edits, and I have an ace cover, which you could use to get through passport control. What you want in a book is usefulness, I say.<br /><br />It was an absolute pleasure to read at the 'Between War and Wishful Thinking' event with Larissa <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Boehning</span> at the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Bluecoats</span> a couple of weeks ago. You can read about it <a href="http://soclas.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/report-bilingual-reading-at-the-bluecoat-by-soclas-writer-in-residence-larissa-boehning/">here</a>, and some of the stuff we said <a href="http://thebluecoatbluebird.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/flying-between-war-and-wishful-thinking/">here</a>.The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-23570655084594998342010-12-03T06:45:00.000-08:002010-12-05T03:33:06.504-08:00All Things Short StoryUtterly delighted to hear the David Constantine has won the BBC National Short Story Prize, with his story 'Tea at The Midland'. A truly great writer, who has published two collections of stories with Comma Press. You can buy Under The Dam and The Shieling, as well as the anthology of the National Short Story Prize shortlist <a href="http://www.commapress.co.uk/">here</a>.<br /><br />There's lots of great things with short stories at the moments. We are building up to the shortest day in the year and National Short Story Day on 21st December, which is a UK wide celebration of the short story form. It includes the participation of a number of independent presses with live and online events on the 21st. See more about the day <a href="http://www.nationalshortstoryday.co.uk./">here</a>. Reading in <a href="http://http//dev.nationalshortstoryday.co.uk/events/mancheste">Manchester</a> is Sarah Holman, Michelle Green and Dave Gaffney. Can't wait!The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-25197595219645669982010-11-30T01:46:00.000-08:002010-11-30T03:22:35.072-08:00Hidden Gem and The Resurgence in Independent PublishingIt seems to be a vibrant time for independent publishing in the North West, and the UK in general. I'm not sure whether it's because of or despite the recession and the cuts to the Arts. IN any case we don't seem to be suffering from the winter blues where the prospects of publishing are concerned. In fact there seems to be a feeling of Spring and renewal; a resurgence in independent publishing.<br /><br />This feeling was certainly felt at the launch of Manchester's newest independent artisan publisher, The Hidden Gem, which Claire Massey and I were honoured to read at last Thursday in support of Emma Jane Unsworth. Her novel <span style="font-style: italic;">Hungry, The Stars and Everything</span> is to be published by The Hidden Gem in June.<br /><br />It was a wonderful event; there was a celebratory atmosphere and the audience was left wanting more of <span style="font-style: italic;">Hungry</span>. Read more about Emma Unsworth at her blog <a href="http://emmajaneunsworth.wordpress.com/">here</a>. And check out <a href="http://www.hiddengempress.com/">The Hidden Gem</a> here for more details about the press and a few pics of the launch.The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-23049885034197816062010-11-16T01:31:00.001-08:002010-11-16T01:45:27.398-08:00The Land Between Us<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uOAXLOqn7_E/TOJPn6DUELI/AAAAAAAAAA8/gBxQozlIFZc/s1600/Wylie.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 222px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uOAXLOqn7_E/TOJPn6DUELI/AAAAAAAAAA8/gBxQozlIFZc/s320/Wylie.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540078038635778226" border="0" /></a>
<br />There is an amazing exhibition at the moment at The Whitworth Art Gallery called The Land Between Us. It takes a radical look at landscape art by placing traditional or older artwork next to contemporary pieces. With the exhibition is a booklet containing responses to the artwork. I was asked to respond to one of Donovan Wylie's photographs of the British Watchtowers in South Armagh, which was hung next to a watercolour by Turner of Conway Castle. Two striking images of British imperealism from two different centuries. Before I wrote the piece I went to The Whitworth and the curator Mary Griffiths took my down into the vault where they store the artwork. The Wylie photo had not yet arrived, so I had a private viewing of Turner's watercolour. This was very exciting. I would have liked to have written something about the Turner painting, but I was drawn to the more contemporary setting of Wylie's work.
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<br />My response, called 'My Sangar' was written from the viewpoint of a woman under surveillance. It begins: 'It was a while ago now, when it was anchored on the hilltop; that green-plated scaffold. I tell you, it hurts my eyes.'
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<br />For more on the exhibition go to: http://thelandbetweenus.wordpress.com/
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<br /><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p> </o:p><o:p></o:p></span></p> The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-51847346951627213892010-11-16T01:02:00.000-08:002010-11-16T01:31:07.246-08:00Nearly There...and in the meantime some events<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uOAXLOqn7_E/TOJKbh-AckI/AAAAAAAAAAk/vWK_besfH0k/s1600/Wordsoupshortstorynight2010.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uOAXLOqn7_E/TOJKbh-AckI/AAAAAAAAAAk/vWK_besfH0k/s320/Wordsoupshortstorynight2010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540072328454500930" border="0" /></a><br />Three months since my last post? Please award me the laziest blogger award. I'm working on the last few stories and Comma Press are being very patient with me. More about the stories later, but in between frowning at my little netbook (how I write on it I don't know) and stressing about the letters on my netbook's screen, I've been involved in a few literary events and things. Tomorrow I'm reading at wordsoup in Preston. I unfortunately couldn't read there last December, when it was run by Jenn Ashworth because I slipped on the ice (I fall over a lot) and twisted my ankle. So hopefully I will make it there tomorrow without any mishaps.<br /><br />I read my story 'Beautiful Results', which will appear in The War Tour and in Comma's new anthology Bio-Fiction at the Manchester Literature Festival alongside Stella Duffy. That was last month I think, so it's a bit late to blog about it. Anyway, it was a great event at the Godlee Observatory. Unfortunately, there were too many people to fit into the observatory, so we had to reconvene in a seminar room down the corridor. Stella Duffy's story was amazing, but I read out the part with all the equations in it. The following week Annie Clarkson and Emma Unsworth read their stories about Pavlov's dogs and the periodic table. Both powerful and vivid depictions of these scientific moments in history.The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-20242310565671745552010-08-04T10:18:00.000-07:002010-08-04T10:30:50.807-07:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uOAXLOqn7_E/TFmh_1jXkxI/AAAAAAAAAAU/0FDA8hkizqg/s1600/176055587_039250dced.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501606537889026834" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uOAXLOqn7_E/TFmh_1jXkxI/AAAAAAAAAAU/0FDA8hkizqg/s320/176055587_039250dced.jpg" /></a><br /><div>I spent years not having finished my PhD, and now it seems this 'not quite finished' status has transferred to my book. When I do finish it I imagine I will have to find something else to not quite finish for as long as possible. I don't like endings. Though I love short stories and some say short stories are all about endings. For me they are the hardest part to write (after titles). In the remaining 'not ended yet' stories, I am, as my editor suggested, attempting to write about the victors of war and not the bystanders or victims. I'll say more about this when the end of these stories is in sight.<br /><br />I'm also writing a story about Lise Meitner and the discovery of nuclear fission. This afternoon, as I sit in Electric, I keep staring at my photocopy of the periodic table and thinking in a banal way, 'wow, isn't it amazing how all the elements fit together'. An interesting table in Meitner's story is the table in the Deutsches Museum, which housed the apparatus that Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassman and Lise Meitner used to do their irradiations and chemical separations (it was a composite as the various experiments were done in different rooms). It is now my desktop image (all the photographs on this blog have served their time on my desktop). This table is now infamous because for many years it was labelled 'Work table of Otto Hahn', and became emblematic of how Meitner was 'written out' of the history of the discovery (he alone was awarded the Nobel prize for it). Ruth Sime and other historians of science have done a lot to write her back into the history. Meitner appears on the periodic table as Meitnerium (Mt). So after talking to a historian of science and helping to edit my brother's CV (he is a scientist working on quantum mechanics) I'm feeling extremely scientific (I'm sure it will pass). </div>The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-55775991683751167862010-07-14T03:50:00.000-07:002010-07-14T04:26:04.563-07:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uOAXLOqn7_E/TD2W_rOEtOI/AAAAAAAAAAM/kmRI0kX26uY/s1600/3585263417_d8560166c1_o.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 210px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493713141139551458" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uOAXLOqn7_E/TD2W_rOEtOI/AAAAAAAAAAM/kmRI0kX26uY/s320/3585263417_d8560166c1_o.jpg" /></a><br /><div>Sometimes when researching for stories, you find gems. While doing background reading for my story about Rosa Luxemburg, I'd read that during the Sparticist Uprising, the workers took over the publishing district of Berlin. Then I found this photograph. They are using newspapers and paper as barricades. </div><div></div><div>Photos are the inspiration for a new vignette I'm writing, which is commissioned as a response to an exhibition at the Whitworth. One of Turner's paintings of Conway Castle and one of Donovan Wylie's photographs of the British Watchtowers that were erected in South Armagh. I shall upload them very soon...</div><div></div><div></div>The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1090403807491577275.post-54442269335415406022010-05-25T03:46:00.000-07:002010-05-25T04:09:32.555-07:00I have offically jumped out of the middle ages and landed in the world of blogging. It seems to be a very nice world, and has opened up endless opportunities for procrastination and public bad spelling. <br /><br />Principally, I am going to write about the final stages of editing my collection of short stories <em>The War Tour</em>, to be published soonish with Comma Press. I imagine my blog will be extremely dull and read like an academic critical commentary. This is because I have spent many years in academia and I don't know how to do anything else.<br /><br />Anyway, after some insightful and encouraging feedback from a workshop this weekend with five wonderful writers, I'm trying to develop my story about Rosa Luxemburg. Up to now, the story is very much about her as a public figure and revolutionary. It focuses on the last few months of her life (the structure is influenced by Alice Munro's story 'Too Much Happiness'), but hasn't quite brought out her inner life. And indeed, what am I trying to say about Rosa Luxumburg? What is the crux of the story?<br /><br />Hmmmmmm.....The War Tourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14484845697148448149noreply@blogger.com5