Adam Lowe - Yorkshire's Olympic Poet

Anapessimistic: On Plagiarism: An Open Letter to Christian Ward

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:40:00 +0000

Anapessimistic: On Plagiarism: An Open Letter to Christian Ward:

Dear Christian:

The first time I experienced being plagiarized was a few years ago. I was calling my paren...

"Time Wasted" — in support of GUD's Issue 7 Kickstarter

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 21:44:00 +0000

adrianaugierblog: WHY COME BACK: The Irrelevance of Geography

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:04:00 +0000

adrianaugierblog: WHY COME BACK: The Irrelevance of Geography:

After half a life of caring for everyone but herself, an exhausted wife may well contemplate running away from home. A mid-life businessman – mortgage paid, kids finished school, some money saved – might think of relocating to a future rich with guiltless possibilities. But for hundreds of young St. Lucians studying abroad, where to live is a question of an entirely different colour.

How to Make Money on the Side

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 19:19:00 +0000

Creative? Short of cash? Of course you are! Read this and learn how to make some dough on the side.

How to Run a Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 19:16:00 +0000

Workshops are a great way for writers to share their skills and explore their craft. They're also a great way to make additional income as an artist, if you lead them. IdeasTap gives the lowdown on how to run a successful workshop here.

How to Apply for Funding at ACE

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 19:15:00 +0000

Curious about funding? Well IdeasTap interviews Deborah Williams at the Arts Council here. This is essential reading.

Young Writers' Month: Young Writers Speak Out

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 20:10:00 +0000

To round off the Young Writers' Month here at the blog, I'm drawing on the comments of young writers and practitioners in the UK to offer up their own thoughts on the state of the literature sector and its role in engaging young people.

At NALD's website last year, and before that in Writing in Education, Steve Dearden spoke up for young people involved in literature activities:

I was wondering how to get into a piece about supporting young writers and activists when an email arrived from one of the emerging writer-promoters I am most excited about. If I was responsible for investing in the future I would be trying to give him money now. His email asked for advice on how to respond to the reasons Arts Council England gave him for turning down his first Grants for the Arts application.

[ . . . ]

How do we support young writers, and especially young activists, without trying to intern them in the camp of the way we do things? Much of the professional development available assumes they are looking for jobs in existing cultural organisations, or to place product within the existing infrastructure, rather than trying to make things happen for themselves within their own networks and 'extra-structures'. The provocations make a clear argument for more direct support for the work young writers, promoters and publishers, allowing them to get on with 'experiencing it' and making their own appropriate connections.

Read the article here.

Following this, Steve commissioned several young writers and literature activists (including me) to write statements outlining what support we want, what we need, and how best to connect the arts establishment with young people. The article 'Supporting the Next Generation' is here.

Young Writers' Month: Writing for Literary Journals

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 17:29:00 +0000

For new writers, the multitude of literary journals out there, just waiting for your submission, can become overwhelming. What exactly are they looking for? David Whelan shares advice from the editors of Fleeting Magazine, The White Review and The Fiction Desk… (Read more)

For more details of where to send your fiction, poetry and art, why not check out Duotrope's Digest? Duotrope lists magazines, publishers and prizes, and is easily searchable by genre, payscale or print/online.

The Next Big Thing

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 01:25:00 +0000

Mark West, a fellow member of the Terror Scribes collective, describes 'The Next Big Thing' thus:

THE NEXT BIG THING is a chain of book and author recommendations. The way it works is this, one author tags up to five others, who then each tag five others until the Elder Gods are satisfied that we are all hard at work telling their stories and you're all hard at work reading them.

I was tagged in this by David Price, so now I have to follow through . . .

1: What is the working title of your next book?

I'm working on a couple of things at the moment. I'm working on the last draft of my novel, Troglodyte Rose. A novella of the same title, from which the novel is loosely adapted, was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award in 2010. I'm also working on a new book of poems, a collaborative play written with the other members of performance-writing collective House of Makeda, and a sequel to Troglodyte Rose called Scrapheap Mary. A self-contained excerpt has had over 60,000 reads at Wattpad, where I'm a featured writer.

2:Where did the idea for the book come from?

As mentioned above, it started publishing life as a novella. But before that, it started life as a graphic novel-prose fusion, with equal parts sequential art and standard prose. Alas, funding issues meant we couldn't develop it in that format, but I have recently been offered the possibility of moving forward with a comic serial adapted from the original text. That's very exciting.

3: What genre does your book fall under?

The book is probably what you'd call 'weird' fiction. It has elements of fantasy, but has technology that suggests it's also science fiction. Then there are elements of horror, too. It also stays true to the experimentation of some writers within the weird subgenre, in places, and borrows liberally from pulp too. So I think 'weird' is the only way I can describe it accurately.

4: What actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie adaptation of your book.

The original art of Rose always made me think of Angelina Jolie. But actually, she's not got the range, and she's too old now. I'm really drawn to the idea of Azealia Banks playing Rose now. Visually she looks very different to the character as illustrated by Kurt Huggins & Zelda Devon, but personality-wise, she's right there. I also think Naomie Harris would play the character well.

5: What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

Rose and her hermaphrodite lover Flid, in a city underground, want to escape to the sunlight--until they find a drug that might just be the answer to their dreams.

6: Will your book be self-published or handled by an agency.5: What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

I'm coy about announcing books before they're finished and everything is set in stone. But I have an agent in the wonderful Chris Kelso, and the book will be coming out from a recognised publisher of speculative fiction. I'm keeping the rest of the details under my hat until it's finished, it's been turned in, and a release date has been set.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

The novella was written in about three months. But I've been tinkering with this version ever since. Granted, I've been swept up in so much other stuff (Need to Pay the Bills Syndrome) that I've not spent much time on the manuscript. But it's been a good two years since I started on this version.

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The Tank Girl comics, the Alien movies, Veniss Underground by Jeff VanderMeer, Vurt by Jeff Noon, Krokodil Tears by Kim Newman, Scar Night by Alan Campbell. There's probably a bit of Nancy A. Collins' Sonja Blue in there too, and rather a lot of gnostic influence. But I don't always find it helpful to say which other books a manuscript is like. You just end up listing nebulous influences. Much better to let a text stand on its own.

9: What inspired you to write this book?

The image of Plato's cave, with the shadows flickering on the wall. But more than that. The strong heroines I've been reading about since I was a kid. A desire to be political, and outlandish, and queer. A need to narrate alternative consciousnesses as viable realities, even in a world where consensus is king.

10: What else about the book might pique the readers interest?

This is a heartfelt manuscript, but one with a strong narrative thread throughout that moves with pace. I explore desperation, love, friendship, and the desire for something better. Structurally, I break a few rules. The book draws upon video games and cybersex. There's an episodic structure, mostly, with an overarching narrative that glues it together. Much of the narrative takes the form of 'trips', or adventures, within the overall tale. But it's a short book, and it's full of action as much as it's full of wonder and fantasy. Textually, I hope it's a layered, textured read. I'm also a poet, and I think that comes across in the language.

Now that's done with, I think I'll tag Chris Kelso, Marten Weber, Deb Hoag, Tom Bradley and Rhys Hughes.

Young Writers' Month: Essays from Poets on the Line

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:17:00 +0000

Carrying on from my Young Writers' Month, I thought some of you might be interested in checking out the Academy of American Poets' essays archive. There are some great gems here for budding poets and established poets in search of a renewed sense of direction.

Young Writers' Month: Taking the Leap

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 17:22:00 +0000

Changing job can seem scary, time-consuming and the financial equivalent of throwing an egg at a wall. But, as a young creative, moving career can be easier and far more fulfilling than you imagine. Take tips from just a few young creatives who have already taken the plunge…

Read more here.

Young Writers' Month: Essays on Poetry and the Poetry Life

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:28:00 +0000

Poetry Ireland has a useful set of links, collecting together articles about the poet's life, here. This archive should prove useful to you, as they have to me. Any excuse to get writing again, innit?

Young Writers' Month: Michael Morpurgo

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 17:01:00 +0000

Michael Morpurgo was born October 5^th 1943 and was the third Children’s Laureate. He has had great success with 30 years’ worth of books under his belt, including Private Peaceful, Kensuke’s Kingdom and perhaps the most famous, War Horse. He continues to write for all ages, and encourages people of all ages to write. He is spearheading the Wicked Young Writers’ Award this year.

You can find out about his role in the Wicked Young Writers' Award and his advice to young writers here.

Young Writers' Month: Wearing Many Hats

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 17:21:00 +0000

Having one creative career is stressful enough; how about managing several at once? Lara Akinnawo speaks to Laura Dockrill, Arnold Oceng, and Kate Fox about succeeding in different disciplines...

Read more here.

Young Writers' Month: Creative Co-Mentoring

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 16:58:00 +0000

Using techniques such as flow writing, drawing and working with images, Victoria Field and Angela Stoner set up a creative co-mentoring relationship to support their practice as writers and writing tutors. They found it to be a liberating, empowering and illuminating process and in this fascinating article, they talk frankly about the experience and the impact it's had on their careers. They also offer detailed guidance so you can embark on your own creative co-mentoring journey. There are tips on how to set up a creative co-mentoring relationship, how to structure the process and a list of books offering ideas for exercises and activities that you can use.

NAWE's Creative Co-Mentoring for Writers briefing can be read in full here.

Young Writers' Month: Slow Down or Catch Up?

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 17:19:00 +0000

The New York Times recently published an article on how writers are having to speed up to feed the ravenous book market. But good work takes time and this week, Kirsty Logan wonders whether we should be slowing down instead…

Read more here.

Young Writers' Month: Enabling Fund

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:56:00 +0000

Young Writers and Facilitators Enabling Fund

Getting funding when you're starting out can be hard. Arts Council funding applications can be laborious and often are only worth it for larger sums of money. If you want £10,000, then ACE's G4A programme is great. But if you want £50 to cover travel expenses to a gig or to set up an open mic night, then it's not so time-efficient.

To fill that gap Arts Council drew from its managed funds programme to create the Enabling Fund, aimed at young writers and practitioners aged 25 or under. NAWE's Young Writers Hub manages applications of up to £1,000. The application process is relatively simple and pretty quick. Time-sensitive applications tend to be seen even quicker if you contact Wes Brown first (see contact details below).

Direct from NAWE's Young Writers Hub:

Young Writers’ Enabling Fund

Thank you for your interest in the Enabling Fund an Arts Council funding scheme for literature activities that engage people in the United Kingdom.

Engage people means being stimulated or inspired by, and getting actively involved with literature.
This could include working creatively with words or creating projects that enables others to work creatively with words. We can help you apply if you are disabled, deaf or have learning difficulties. Please email Wes Brown with your requirements.

Four steps to apply for the Enabling Fund

Read these guidelines carefully
Write a proposal outlining what, why and how you want to do what you’re applying to do (no more than 1000 words)
Include your contacts details
Email your applications to w.brown@nawe.co.uk

We will assess each application on a case by case basis and individual offer feedback. We ask that you provide clear aims and objectives. The strength of your application will be based on three strands:

Credibility
How credible is your application? Do you have any supporting evidence like awards or publications? Do you have relevant skills? How can you achieve excellence?

Impact
Are there ways to increase the longevity of your activity? E.g. If you were to put on a number of open mic nights, why not record and podcast them? How will your grant help you make the next step in your career?

Accessibility
What ways have you though to bring your activity to an audience? E.g. If you are applying for a solo activity, why not blog about it? What might you do to involve more people in your project? How might you work with the NAWE Young Writers’ Hub?

Grants to individuals

Grants for the arts for individuals are available to:

writers;
promoters;
presenters;
curators;
producers;

Applicants must be aged 25 or under at the time of submission.

Grants to organisations

Grants for the arts for organisations are available to:

literature organisations;
public organisations;
partnerships;
non-incorporated groups

Applicants must be aged 25 or under at the time of submission.

Who cannot apply

The following individuals or organisations cannot apply to the Enabling Fund. If you fall into one of these categories, your application will not be eligible to be assessed.

Organisations that can share out profits to members or shareholders, unless the activity you are applying for is a self-contained arts project and has a clear benefit to the public.
Students, for activities related to their course of study or their tuition fees. (By ‘student’ we mean a person following a course of study in a school, a college or a university.)
Organisations that receive funding from the Arts Council and do not have written agreement to apply.
Individual educational establishments where the activity does not provide benefits to the wider community or artists.
Individuals or organisations based (living) outside of the European Union.
Activities that will not primarily be based in the United Kingdom. Activities based in the United Kingdom with a national or international outreach are welcomed.

Thank you and good luck
The Young Writers’ Hub will offer you the opportunity to be mentored during the course of your project. If you would like any further advice or an informal discussion, Wes Brown can be contacted on w.brown@nawe.co.uk

Young Writers' Month: Writing Environments

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 17:17:00 +0000

Writers don’t half have some funny habits. Truman Capote famously couldn’t think unless lying down while Vladimir Nabokov wrote entire novels on index cards. Whatever your literary habits, creating the perfect writing environment is important, so Hope Whitmore asks a literary journalist, a playwright, a novelist and a screenwriter for their tips…

Read more here.

Young Writers' Month: Win a Free Reading by TLC

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 16:50:00 +0000

Critical Reading Service

Direct from Writing East Midlands:

We work in partnership with The Literary Consultancy (TLC) to provide writers with detailed, written reports of their work from experienced editors.

TLC’s Readers are editors and writers with in-depth knowledge of the publishing industry and are experts across a wide range of genres. Many are working novelists, teach Creative Writing on University courses, or have extensive experience of script reading. Writers can be confident that their work will be allocated to a reader who will best meet their needs.

To be eligible for this service you can write fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, screenplays or theatre plays, however you must be on a low income. This could mean you are a full-time student or over 60 or on income support, or in receipt of Job Seekers’ Allowance or disability benefits. But if none of the above applies to you, we will also consider other financial factors – just tell us what they are.

We reserve the right to return work which would be unlikely at this stage to benefit from the Critical Reading Service. We will only put forward writers in the East Midlands.

Please note applicants can only apply once a year.

TO APPLY

• Complete the application form available here and enclose a short sample of the work.
• Send two copies of the completed form, two copies of your proof of financial circumstances and your sample of work to Writing East Midlands at the address:

Aimee Wilkinson
Writing East Midlands
49 Stoney Street
The Lace Market
Nottingham
NG1 1LX

• Your sample of work should be no more than 300 lines of poetry or 3,000 words for short stories or a 1-2 page synopsis and up to 30 pages for a script, or a 1-2 page synopsis and up to 50 double-spaced pages for general fiction.
• For poetry – clients must include a total word count for each poem at the bottom of each poem, and include total word count of all the poems added together on the cover letter. Poems should be formatted in their intended publication format.
• For short stories – please include the total word count of each short story separately if necessary on the cover letter.
• For all fiction and non-fiction extracts – please include a 1-2 page synopsis or basic outline of your ideas and a description of your intended audience/ market. Please also indicate what genre you are writing in.
• All extracts should be consecutive and numbered. Ideally starting from page one, and not comprised of several extracts.
• Texts must be printed out in 12 point standard font, double spaced, on one side of A4, preferably in loose sheets, with each page numbered.
• Please do not put your name on the manuscript.
• Always keep a copy of what you send. Writing East Midlands does not accept responsibility for documents lost in the post.
• The service is available throughout the year. Applicants may use the service once during any twelve month period.

Please note:

• TLC can refuse any material which is deemed unlikely to benefit from the critical reading service or if a reader finds that a submission has been previously published or if we cannot find a suitable editor for your work. If your work is not accepted, it will be returned within 30 days if there is an SAE provided.
• We accept only single authored work.
• We accept only writing in English.
• The applicant should not be part of a creative writing programme or longer writing course.
• Applicants must be over 16 and live in the East Midlands.

THE COST

The service is free.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?

For acknowledgement of receipt please enclose a stamped S.A.E. The report will be sent to you within 12 weeks from the deadline announced.

For any enquiries about the Critical Read Service, please email: aimee@writingeastmidlands.co.uk

Young Writers' Month: Marketing and Writers

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 17:13:00 +0000

Without audiences, we’d just be speaking to empty rooms. For what may seem like a niche performing art form, there is a surprisingly large audience for spoken word. At The Word House, the night I host in east London, we regularly sell out to crowds of over 100 people – we’ve had to move to a bigger venue to accommodate this as we were turning people away! At Apples and Snakes we recently had the final of Shake the Dust . . . We sold out the 900+ seater Queen Elizabeth Hall twice over, so there is definitely an audience for spoken word.

What excites me more, though, is the potential audience – when people come to a quality poetry night for the first time they tend to say something like “I didn’t know poetry could be like this!”. My aim as both a poet and a marketer of poetry is to keep increasing that audience to enable more people to witness poetry as a relevant, contemporary and important art form.

Read more about audiences, marketing and poetry here.

Young Writers' Month: NAWE Young Writers Hub

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 16:45:00 +0000

NAWE, as part of its aim to reach more young writers and practitioners, set up the Young Writers Hub back in 2010. You can check out the Hub, and get a profile on their listings pages, here.

Membership of NAWE is recommended, as it includes free public liability insurance (vital for workshops and many live events) and they will help you get a CRB check if you need to work in schools. As many writers make money from live events and workshops, this is essential. But at another level, NAWE also provides information about jobs, competitions and opportunities for writers of all ages.

Young Writers' Month: Accessibility and Communication

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 17:05:00 +0000

There is an entire Plain English Campaign that aims to ensure everyone has “access to clear and concise information”, and I’m a big supporter. It makes me angry to think that because of poor communication and lazy jargon, people might not understand what benefits they’re entitled to, or why their bank is charging them.

Writing to communicate important details in an accessible way is a skill . . .

Read more here.

Young Writers' Month: Advice from the Poetry Library

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:31:00 +0000

The Southbank Centre's Poetry Library gives some key tips on writing for young poets. You can check out the full article here.

Young Writers' Month: How to Deal with Downtime

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 17:00:00 +0000

For a freelancer, quiet periods can be tricky. One minute you’ve hardly a moment to yourself, the next you’re in full Withnail mode, reciting Hamlet to the pigeons in the park. Learning to handle downtime is a challenge all freelancers will face at some point so Nione Meakin asks arts professionals for their tips on making the best of it…

Read more here.

Comics: Reaching the Parts Other Literature Can’t

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Lowe) — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:56:00 +0000

Check out this great event from Free Word in London: Comics: Reaching the Parts Other Literature Can’t.

Tickets are just £6.