For many years now the Yeovil Community Arts Association (YCAA) (a registered charity No: 299372), has provided an opportunity for writers from around the world to enter our writing competition. The aims of the Yeovil Literary Prize are threefold:
• to promote Creative Writing,
• to provide a genuine opportunity for aspiring writers, everywhere
• to support the YCAA in its future role by raising funds
This is the eleventh year of the Yeovil Literary Prize and it is now fully realising its aims. The UK and international response to the Prize has been outstanding with wide-ranging quality writing being entered for judging. It is very clear that there is a huge community of talented writers who thrive on the opportunity to develop their craft. We are proud to offer an award to novelists who are not well-represented among literary prizes elsewhere. Several past winners and Highly Commended authors have now been published. We know this competition is watched keenly by agents and publishers for thriving talent.
There are two ways to enter the competition; by using the postal system, or online using PayPal; its ease of use has encouraged a significant increase in entries. We look forward to even more this year as our writing contest opened on 1st January 2014.
All profits from this volunteer-run competition are ploughed back into the community to sponsor local talent in their study of the arts, and to host cultural events with renowned speakers. We have reached out to all the arts including poetry, screenplay writing, music, painting, writing, photography and garden design, as well as the influence of specialist books, film and new authors. We also host an annual YCAA Man Booker Debate in partnership with the Yeovil Waterstones store.
We participated in the first Yeovil Literary Festival in September 2013. This highly enjoyable weekend was opened by the YCAA Literary Dinner on Thursday 19 September 2013. Our speaker was Santa Montefiore, and we’re delighted that Santa has agreed to be our short story judge for the 2015 Prize.
The second Yeovil Literary Festival will run from 6th until 9th November 2014. The YCAA has forged a strong bond with The Octagon Theatre, Hendford, Yeovil, BA21 1UX, where we host our by-monthly café style events in the Johnson Studio. Full details of the YCAA activities are available on our website at www.yeovilarts.co.uk.
There is an additional award given by the YCAA each year to the Western Gazette Best Local Writer of £100, and the winner in 2013 was Elizabeth McLaren for her poignant short story Lola the Carolla.
The Yeovil Literary Prize is operated and managed by a dedicated team of volunteers and all details of how to enter can be found on www.yeovilprize.co.uk. The writing competition runs from 1st January and closes on 31st May each year.
Send postal entries to: YCAA, The Octagon Theatre, YEOVIL, BA20 1UX
Liz Pike is Secretary of the Yeovil Community Arts Association. She is also a member of the Yeovil Cre8ive Writers and Yeovil Art Group. The YCAA administers the annual, international writing competition The Yeovil Literary Prize. Liz is passionate about the written word, having had success writing short stories, and enjoys two reading groups, one of which is the YCAA Lunchtime Book Group.
Thursday, 27 February 2014
Thursday, 20 February 2014
Review: The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extense
But when he meets curmudgeonly widower Mr. Peterson, he finds an unlikely friend. Someone who teaches him that that you only get one shot at life. That you have to make it count.
So when, aged seventeen, Alex is stopped at customs with 113 grams of marijuana, an urn full of ashes on the front seat, and an entire nation in uproar, he's fairly sure he's done the right thing ...
Introducing a bright young voice destined to charm the world, The Universe Versus Alex Woods is a celebration of curious incidents, astronomy and astrology, the works of Kurt Vonnegut and the unexpected connections that form our world.
***
This is a quirky and engaging story of an unlikely friendship that forms between a young boy and an elderly man.
The story is told through the eyes of Alex Woods, a teenage boy who doesn’t see the world in quite the same way as most people do. This is attributed to him being hit on the head by a meteorite as a child, but it is this difference that gives his narrative such a distinctive voice. He’s an engaging character who pulls you with him into his world. In fact all the characters in this book are interesting, drawn with sensitivity and depth.
But this is no heart-warming fable. The story soon takes a darker turn and Alex finds himself faced with a very real moral dilemma. A highly topical and controversial issue is raised. But the softness of touch and Alex’s own unique view of the world tackles a difficult subject with sensitivity.
The aspect of this book that appealed to me most, however, is that fact that it is very much a homage to Kurt Vonnegut, a writer who had a huge influence on me as a teenager, and Vonnegut’s influence on this author is very apparent. Perhaps this is, in part, why I enjoyed it so much.
And of course the setting, Glastonbury and the surrounding area, adds a touch of local interest to this book.
So, all in all, a thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying read. If you haven’t read it yet you really should. This is an author to watch and I wait with interest to see what comes next from him.
Kate Kelly is a marine scientist by day but by night she writes children’s books. Her debut novel Red Rock, a Cli-Fi thriller for teens, is published by Curious Fox. She lives in Dorset with her husband, two daughters and assorted pets and blogs at http://scribblingseaserpent.blogspot.co.uk/
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
Words for the Wounded
The Words for the Wounded Writing Prize is now accepting entries.
Words for the Wounded is a charity which raises money via a writing prize and through donations for the rehabilitation of injured service men and women and ALL the money raised goes to the recovery of wounded service personnel.
Bestselling author Margaret Graham is one of the founders of the charity and tells us:
“This year we are donating to the Creative Arts Centre at Tedworth House Recovery Centre. We raise funds separately for the prize money and to that end, in the spring I'm doing a tandem skydive to raise funds for next year. My agent despairs of the lengths to which I will go to be strapped to a handsome young man.”
Margaret is the author of thirteen novels, as well as books of the craft of writing. She founded the hugely successful Yeovil Literary Prize, and is Patron of Yeovil Community Arts Association (YCAA). http://www.margaret-graham.com/
You can find out more about Words for the wounded, their work and how you can enter the prize over at their website and blog.
http://www.wordsforthewounded.co.uk/
http://wordsforthewounded.blogspot.co.uk/
Words for the Wounded is a charity which raises money via a writing prize and through donations for the rehabilitation of injured service men and women and ALL the money raised goes to the recovery of wounded service personnel.
Bestselling author Margaret Graham is one of the founders of the charity and tells us:
“This year we are donating to the Creative Arts Centre at Tedworth House Recovery Centre. We raise funds separately for the prize money and to that end, in the spring I'm doing a tandem skydive to raise funds for next year. My agent despairs of the lengths to which I will go to be strapped to a handsome young man.”
Margaret is the author of thirteen novels, as well as books of the craft of writing. She founded the hugely successful Yeovil Literary Prize, and is Patron of Yeovil Community Arts Association (YCAA). http://www.margaret-graham.com/
You can find out more about Words for the wounded, their work and how you can enter the prize over at their website and blog.
http://www.wordsforthewounded.co.uk/
http://wordsforthewounded.blogspot.co.uk/
Thursday, 6 February 2014
The YCAA Lunchtime Book Group
The Yeovil Community Arts Association is dedicated to bringing all forms of art and culture to a wide audience in the south Somerset area. Among their many ways of bringing people together, they have recently launched the YCAA Lunchtime Book Group.
This was in response to comments made by many people who, for whatever reason, find it difficult to join a book group that meets in the evenings. Parents of school age children, or people who live on their own, or simply do not like going out after dark, especially in the winter months. Transport can be problem, and the convenience of buses and the bus pass was always mentioned.
So this very friendly and not too ‘highbrow’ group of diverse people of all ages, meet to discuss a couple of books each month. One may appeal more than the other, so only one may be read, but it is always interesting listening to the discussion. You may end up reading the one that didn’t, at first, appeal to you.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 11th February at the Theatre Café of the Octagon, in Yeovil. We meet from 12 noon until 2pm. The is a FREE event, where you can buy a drink from the Octagon to have with your own lunch. Sandwiches and salads are easy to eat as you listen and talk about books.
The choice for February is:- Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Marriage, by Alice Munro, who in 2013 won the Nobel Prize for Literature. This is a marvellous collection of short stories, all set in the author’s home country of Canada.
The second book is widely available in paperback, and is called Two Caravans by Maria Lewycka. This is a funny and compelling novel touching on a currently topical subject, and is very thought-provoking.
Both these books are really good ‘reads’. Come along and enjoy the company of like-minded people in a super setting in the Theatre Café of The Octagon, Yeovil.
Liz Pike is Secretary of the Yeovil Community Arts Association. She is also a member of the Yeovil Cre8ive Writers and Yeovil Art Group.The YCAA administers the annual, international writing competition The Yeovil Literary Prize. Liz is passionate about the written word, having had success writing short stories, and enjoys two reading groups, one of which is the YCAA Lunchtime Book Group.
This was in response to comments made by many people who, for whatever reason, find it difficult to join a book group that meets in the evenings. Parents of school age children, or people who live on their own, or simply do not like going out after dark, especially in the winter months. Transport can be problem, and the convenience of buses and the bus pass was always mentioned.
So this very friendly and not too ‘highbrow’ group of diverse people of all ages, meet to discuss a couple of books each month. One may appeal more than the other, so only one may be read, but it is always interesting listening to the discussion. You may end up reading the one that didn’t, at first, appeal to you.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 11th February at the Theatre Café of the Octagon, in Yeovil. We meet from 12 noon until 2pm. The is a FREE event, where you can buy a drink from the Octagon to have with your own lunch. Sandwiches and salads are easy to eat as you listen and talk about books.
The choice for February is:- Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Marriage, by Alice Munro, who in 2013 won the Nobel Prize for Literature. This is a marvellous collection of short stories, all set in the author’s home country of Canada.
The second book is widely available in paperback, and is called Two Caravans by Maria Lewycka. This is a funny and compelling novel touching on a currently topical subject, and is very thought-provoking.
Both these books are really good ‘reads’. Come along and enjoy the company of like-minded people in a super setting in the Theatre Café of The Octagon, Yeovil.
Liz Pike is Secretary of the Yeovil Community Arts Association. She is also a member of the Yeovil Cre8ive Writers and Yeovil Art Group.The YCAA administers the annual, international writing competition The Yeovil Literary Prize. Liz is passionate about the written word, having had success writing short stories, and enjoys two reading groups, one of which is the YCAA Lunchtime Book Group.
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