Rabbit Hole Day

It's Lewis Carroll's Birthday:

It's Rabbit Hole Day

(Discovered over at Old Kitty 's blog!)

Instead of the normal life and work, write about a strange new world.

Woken at dawn by birds under the bed. OMG! They must've escaped from the wallpaper again. Blue tits are very pretty on upholstery but their droppings still stink. I ate an orange and a thread of yogurt for breakfast. Stuffed.

Was in the car before the babas woke. John stuck his head out the window and howled like a maniac as I drove off. (He should've opened it first.) Must be in one of his moods. I'll get him a bottle of wine, that'll do the trick. He's been a bit teary since he lost his figure..."you can't be fifty forever I say". Does he listen? Not at all, unless I dress up as Doctor Phil. (Must dry clean the toupee.)

The factory was dull as ditch water, we're packing country men today...for some reason they've become popular in eastern Europe. They're not great at sticking to the diet; we had to unpack two because they weighed over the limit. This means they'll be hanging around comparing tan lines for another few days. They're very excited, goddess love them, 3 and 9 were giggling all morning. Smearing gunge on their faces. The make-up runs and smudges during transportation but do they listen?

If I hear - "Do you think she'll like me?" one more time....

More Details at Fairyhedgehog here !

Soundings

Sonnet No. 64

The poetry anthology Soundings was the textbook for the Irish Leaving Cert from 1969 to 2000. Yes, that's 31 years! And it contains one female poet, Emily Dickinson. And for some reason it has been reprinted in its original form. (misogyny nostalgia?)

These pages come from my tattered 1989 copy.
The officially sanctioned "meaning" of the poems, word for word, image by image were jotted into every crevice of the page to be regurgitated upon examination.

In those days intelligence was measured by the exactitude with which you could parrot your teachers...imagine!

I'm sure they've found a better system by now...

Some samples of poetry dissection...not for the squeamish!

Loud Is The Vale

No Second Troy

Canal Bank Walk

Mirror In February

I plan on making birds out of these pages... a bit of art therapy for the spotty leaving cert student in me!

Croi Anu

I've been lazy all January and I'm proud of it. The trauma of an Irish white christmas needs careful recovery or one could do ones self a great injury! I'm tipping my toe back into the water with a poetry workshop next sat at Croi Anu (who have just has started a blog here!) The centre hosts a diverse range of classes from art, yoga, drama and poetry to creative mentoring and is run by Mary Pat Moloney. I've mentioned this before but its one of the best places I've ever attended workshops so its worth another mention!

Upcoming Writing Competitions

Some competitions for the coming months. Confession: I now believe in multiple submissions. Send them everywhere!

Strokestown
Poetry
Deadline 24th Jan

Mslexia
Stories: Max wordcount 2,200.
Deadline 24th Jan

Cuirt New Writing Prize
Poetry: 3 poems, each under 50 lines
Fiction: up to 2000 words
Non Fiction/Memoir: up to 2000 words
Deadline: 4th Feb

Bryan Mc Mahon
Short Stories of up to 3,000 words
Deadline 25th Feb

Fish
One Page
300 words or less
Deadline 20 March

Fish
Poetry
Under 200 words
Deadline 30 March

Molly Keane Writing Award
Short story competition.
Up to 2,000 words.
Deadline 24^th Mar

Bridport
SHORT STORIES: 1st prize = £ 5000 (approx. 8000 US$, 5900 € )
POEMS: 1st Prize = £ 5000 (approx. 8000 US$, 5900 €)
FLASH FICTION: 1st Prize =£ 1000 (approx. 1600 US$, 1180 €)
Deadline 30th June

Aesthetica
Up to 2 poems/ max 40 lines.
Stories - max word count 2000 words.
Deadline 31 Aug.

A few things I've learnt about submitting to competitions...

1. If you've just finished your story and it moves you to tears, laughter and/or awe - don't send it. You're not objective yet. Wait at least three to four days to correct errors that you were too misty eyed with genius to notice at first.
2. Before you email your work to the competition, email it to yourself. And edit it again. Then print it out again. And edit it again. Then send.
3. The process of submitting stories and poems is useful even if you don't win or get short listed - it brings your work up to a better standard. It improves your editing skills.
4. Only winners are contacted. You'll have to trawl the net to find out who won. Don't worry, you'll get used to it.
5. Don't just send your brilliant story to one competition and wait for half a year for the results. Send it to a few competitions of equal merit...whats the worst that can happen? If the story wins one you can email the others (if you're lucky enough to be shortlisted more than once)
6. Aways save the first unedited draft, it gives you the freedom to play around with subsequent drafts.
7. Don't spend too much money on competitions or you'll feel like a sucker and you'll be poor. Be selective. Give yourself a limit. Don't overlook a free entry!
8. If you've never heard of the competition, if you've never heard of the judge, if the entry fee is ten euro and the prize is a book token... restrain yourself!
9. We all have blindspots. If a story keeps coming back - get someone else to read it.
10. Switch off from competitions for long periods and just concentrate on your writing.
11. Don't forget why you started writing in the first place!