19th June 2012 Competition Five

Adjudication of Competition Five
A Charles Dickens Story. by Peter Mieville

Our literary skills were put to the test with a story based on Dickens style and social conscience. We were given many options: the start or portion of a novel, a short story, modern time or period issues, the guidelines asked for anything that might be inspired by Dickens writing.

Peter Mieville (an expert on Dickens) assessed each entry giving a comprehensive critique on the strengths and weaknesses of each piece with both helpful suggestions and praise where due. He said that all the entries were worthy of a place but he had to choose the winners using a basic criteria as all entries deserved commendation.

1st "Heaven’s Gateway" by Doreen Rosser.

Catholic convent schooling after the war.

2nd "A Tale of Two Faiths" by Victoria Bartlett

Dilemma of a Nazi war criminal who had tried to save some Jews

3rd "Abby Kendle" by Sally Newton

The honesty of a modern day young, homeless individual

Highly commended

"At Rest at the Swan Anchor" by James Beresford

"The Death Hunter" by Andrew Heron

A vote of thanks was given by John Halligan.

Peter writes under the name of 'Dominic Mieville'

Some of his titles include;

1. The Mysterious Burnchester Hall

2. The Burnchester Dome and the Sacred Cell

3. Tyro’s Journey

These are the first three titles in a quintet. You can find these if you google ‘Dominic Mieville’ and you can look for his books on amazon. There are more non-fiction titles under the name 'Peter Vaux'.



Manuscript Evening 29th May 2012

Due to Jubilee celebrations our manuscript evening was brought forward to the 29th May. Nine people read their work, a variety of short stories and poems which were discussed and enjoyed by the other members.

NOTICES

•  Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 19th June, the adjudication (by Peter Mieville) of competition 5 Charles Dickens story.  

• The Summer Social will be held on Saturday 23rd June from 4 till 8 at

St. Annes Church

115 Coleman Road

Norwich

NR4 7HF

• Tuesday 3rd July at 7:30 Annual General Meeting at The Assembly House.

Please join us to ensure fresh ideas for celebrating the coming 70th year of the Norwich Writer's Circle.

“The Incomparable Mr Dick”

3rd April 2012

Peter Mieville's talk reflected on life and works of Charles Dickens. He noted that the author had many local connections to this region and was partly inspired to write “David Copperfield” after a visit to Norwich. Reviewing his early career culminating in his fame with the publication of “The Pickwick Papers” his prolific writing was in part motivated by his desire to support a large number of relatives. Peter gave moving readings, illustrating Dickens level of perception, consciousness and humour and a lively discussion rounded off a very enjoyable evening.

Information supplied by Adrian Dearnley

Results of Competition 3

Tuesday 20th March 2012
The winners of Competition 3 for the Colin Sutton Cup for Humour, A Tall Tale judged by storyteller Andrew Brammer

1st “A Portrait of the Forger as a Young Man” by Sally Newton
2nd “Mrs Patterson’s Flowers” by Victoria Bartlett
3rd “Barney’s Continental Adventure” by Doreen Rosser

Laughter was the main ingredient of the evening with a twist in the tale, a misleading statement and a bumbling hero. The winners were chosen from 14 entries all of whom found life farcical and entertaining.


Forthcoming event
Our next meeting on 3rd April has a more classical bent with Peter Mieville reflecting on life and works of Charles Dickens with a talk titled “The Incomparable Mr Dick.”

Spelling Mistake

Due to technical difficulties with our website we are unable to make corrections on the on-line programme where Peter Mieville’s surname has been misspelled with an e (Mievelle). We apologise for the mistake and hope that we will be able to address this error in the near future. Meanwhile we look forward to Peter’s talk on Charles Dickens on 3^rd April and his adjudication of Competition 5: “Charles Dickens Story” on 19th June.