Something old, something new...

 No. Not wedding talk…. rather that  I  tried a new place to meet an old  friend recently – and what  a success. Thank you -Bridport.
 My lovely friend – who is not old in years by the way (I’ve known  her since I started my career in journalism)  – was staying further along the south  coast so I couldn’t resist suggesting the home of the Bridport  Prize   (short story, flash fiction and poetry). 

 What a lovely market town and we  happened upon a delightful place for lunch too – the café within the Bull hotel.  (Very nice crab linguine and buzzing with happy customers. )
 I popped into the  arts centre, of course, and found myself smiling – thinking of all the short  stories winging their way through cyberspace every year from all around  the  world.

 The Bridport prize, for those  unfamiliar, was the award which launched the career of Kate Atkinson. She won it
in 1990 and that short story went on to become the first chapter of her novel  “Behind the Scenes at the Museum”. Fay Weldon is now the patron of the Bridport  and judges over the years include Rose Tremain, Tracey Chevalier and more  recently a favourite of mine  - the  Cornish-based author Patrick Gale.

 Regular readers of this blog will  know that I am very passionate about short stories – considering them a
wonderful place for growth and experimentation on the writer’s journey.  So I am delighted to have been asked to
run a short story workshop as part of a summer arts festival at my local arts  centre and library The Watermark in Ivybridge, Devon in July. 
 
We are still sorting out the details but it  should be towards the end of July and the aim is to make it  both fun and affordably priced so do  message  me if you are local and are interested. 
You can keep an eye on this blog or the facebook page for the Watermark  in Ivybridge. https://www.facebook.com/Watermark.Ivybridge?ref=ts&fref=ts

 I’ll post more details here just as  soon as they are finalised.

 Meantime - happy  writing! And don’t forget it’s World  Book night tonight. Hope you’re enjoying something  wonderful.

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