The short story is well and truly alive..

Some random moments from/for the week..

There’s a quote on the BBC Short Story site that reads;

“The short story form is better suited to the demands of modern life than the novel.”

– Simon Prosser Publishing Director Hamish Hamilton. I’ve been thinking about this and the Mini Shots series, from the guys at Vignette Press, and how the short story is taking different forms and platforms. I’m excited about this years National Young Writers Fest, it’s going to be as for the first time, they converge all four festivals, running workshops that overlap into each other, and offering a space for writers to look at doing some cross platform work they might not have considered. It fascinates me to think we may be projecting short fiction onto alley way walls or podcasting local readings, and all just because we’re passionate about it. I’d love to see all the adds on trams replaced with works by young writers and artists, another ten cents on the ticket price and we could pay them as well… Aaah Utopia. (is there even trams in Utopia?)

The BBC National short story award. The largest award for a single short story in the world. £15,000 for the winning story, £3,000 for the runner-up and £500 for the three other shortlisted stories. Details aren’t posted yet but as a citizen of the UK as well as Australia, I’m keeping my eye on that page.

So the Womens Weekly short story prize deadline is coming up, and I have a piece nearly ready, but i’m not sure whether it’s the sort of thing they would like or not, (the only stipulation being that the protagonist has to be female) and I haven’t been able to find any past winning entries online. Ten grand is not a sum to be laughed at, especially for a struggling Uni student.

On Saturday I spent the day in Darebin parklands, watching the local Mayan community take part in the 8000 drum festival. They had managed to get a dance troup from Arnhem Land to perform for us, and I felt honoured to be a part of the 60 or so people sitting in the shade watching. What really fascinated me was that these stories, shown through dance, must have been around for centuries. I really felt like I was privvy to something bigger than the picture we paint for ourselves in our suburban lives. Something steeped in the history of their culture. One dance,– about a man going down to the river to catch a fish — was especially exhuberant, the dancers flicking their ankles at a rapid speed and jumping and lunging with their spears. When the dance had finished, one of the Mayan elders in the front row piped up and said, “He got that bloody fish mate, it never even had a chance..”

The Shelf Life launch is this Wednesday March 25, from 7.30pm @ Dante’s, in the upstairs gallery & lounge bar 150-156 Gertrude st (Cnr Napier St) Fitzroy. I’m looking forward to that, but not so much the booze that accompanies it as even as it’s Monday morning I’m still feeling the effects of Saturday nights whiskey intake.

I have been reading alot of short stories this week, both for Uni and for fun. And spent quite alot of time on Remix My Lit, faffing around with the idea of messing with someone elses work. Tres cool..

Also, I’m sure everyone knows about this already, but for some more American markets, because my list is pretty tiny, have a look at Duotrope. It will blow your mind.

Anyway, will post some more submission stuff, and have some more links to add but will do it tomorrow as I have coffee to drink and readings to catch up on.

Soph Xx