Open Poetry Competition Launched

We have recently launched our Annual Open Poetry Competiton.

The competition - Norwich Writers' Circle's 39th - has the following prizes in the Open Category:

1st

£200.00

2nd

£100.00

3rd 

£50.00

In addition to the above, there are also prizes for Minimalist, Humorous and poems on the theme of The Family.

The competition closes on the 16th February 2010, and this year will be judged by local poet Hilary Mellon.

A prizegiving evening, featuring adjudications and readings, will then take place on the 20th April 2010 at The Assembly House. This evening also sees the launch of the Competition's Anthology, which will be able to be purchased from the night onwards.

For more information on the competition, please go here.

Paws For Poetry

They run like things gone mad,

Their long bodies bent in the middle.

Thick, fluffy fur of many colours

Flashes as they streak past.

Strong, clawed feet move in a blur

As they scamper over all surfaces.

Small, beady eyes seek out fun

Or the next meal.

A tangle of brizzly bodies,

Writhing like snakes

As they roll around.

They run up and down their tunnels

Noses quivering.

They squeak and squeal, bark and chatter.

They are never still but run all over the place.

Put your head around the door

And they come to you,

To stick their head in your pockets looking for treats.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The above poem about ferrets was written by Victoria Bartlett, and was featured in Norwich Writer’s Circle's recent Open Evening.

Since our mid-September meeting Victoria’s poem has been published in a fundraising book. The book, entitled Paws For Thought, has been published to raise awareness and money for the Wymondham based PACT Animal Sanctuary.

We hope you enjoyed the read.

Competition One Clarification

During our recent Open Evening, several visitors and Norwich Writers' Circle members asked for clarification of what is required for our Historical Novel Introduction Competition.

For this competition, which closes on 20th October, you will need to write the first 5 pages of an Historical Novel, using a maximum of 1,500 words.

The competition's adjudicator, Jean Fullerton, believes 'history' to cover time from 3,000BC to 1945. Jean has requested that the manuscripts are in a 12 point font, double spaced with wide margins, as standard. Finally, we have also been advised that we do not need to put the copyright symbol - © - on our entries.

For our In-House Competition Guidelines, please go here.

Open Evening

Norwich Writer's Circle's 2009/10 programme began tonight with an Open Evening, which saw several new members join our popular writing group.

The meeting itself gave an opportunity for the new NWC members to discuss their own writing interests, plus how they hope that joining the Circle will enhance their skills further.

One of the evening's highlights was the reading of several manuscripts, some of which were written by Circle members. These varied readings included poetry, a short story for children and the beginning of a historical novel.

Further historical novel excerpts were also read out to offer an idea of what is needed for NWC's first competition of the year. Amongst the first chapters read and discussed were books by Jean Fullerton and Simon Scarrow - both of whom are writers who will be visiting Norwich Writers' Circle in the coming months.

Simon Scarrow will be the visiting writer at our next meeting on 6th October. The famed historical novelist will be giving us the chance to hear his guide to writing in this bestselling genre.

We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting.