Book launch: A Somersault of Doves, by Valerie Bridge

We're extremely proud to announce that one of our Storyslingers is launching a book next Thursday, 12th December 2013, at Shaftesbury Arts Centre.

A Somersault of Doves by Valerie Bridge is an anthology of poems reflecting the last 100 years of migration particular to one family of Latvian, Russian, Austro-Hungarian origin. It's also a record of flight and resettlement during a time of incessant Uprisings, and two World Wars, shared in essence by many.

This book launch is accompanied by art by local artist David Marl, whose illustrations appear in A Somersault of Doves. 

The launch is from 3.00pm to 8.00pm, with Russian Mules, Russian Snacks, Russian Music and readings. Everyone is welcome to browse.

As soon as the book has an Amazon page we will add it to our Published Fiction list so you can buy it online.

And massive congratulations to Valerie!

New Collaborative Geofiction website

Johannes Bouchain of Urban Geofiction and his colleague Thilo Stapff have set up a new geofiction community like no other. This is a collaborative geofiction experiment that welcomes cartographers to add to the map.


 
Using the tools of the Openstreetmap project - http://www.openstreetmap.org -, Opengeofiction offers, for everyone who would like to participate, the possibility to contribute to mapping a fictional planet. Interested? Then
1. Create your account http://opengeofiction.net/user/new (you'll get an e-mail when your account has been activated, it may take a little while)
2. Choose a free (green) area from the overview map http://opengeofiction.net/about#overview-map (please send an e-mail to info@opengeofiction.net and mention the area you've chosen)
3. Start mapping by using the tools available (http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Editors). If you don't have any experience yet, please tell the Opengeofiction team atinfo@opengeofiction.net and they'll try to help you as much as possible.

Find more information about the project and about other ways to participate here:
http://opengeofiction.net/about

Examples for what it can look like:
http://opengeofiction.net/?lat=45.22&lon=-21.28&zoom=8&layers=M (Roantra)
http://opengeofiction.net/?lat=47.809&lon=-8.902&zoom=9&layers=M (south of Kalm/north of Sathria, "under construction")

You already have a fictional country and/or city that you would like to place on the Opengeofiction planet? That's wonderful! The free (green) areas at the overview maphttp://opengeofiction.net/about#overview-map can still be changed a little bit, so that your imaginary country hopefully will find its place in one of the continents. Maybe you find an area that already has almost the same form as your fictional country (and is also located in the right latitude, so that the climate is like you imagine it for your country).

Fictional Worlds Map Making Competition UPDATE

Storyslingers second fictional map making competition is underway. With only one month left before the deadline, it’s time to get drafting! 

An exciting opportunity has arisen for the winners: depending on the quality of the submissions, the Slade Centre gallery in Dorset is keen to put on a short show, giving winning entrants the opportunity to exhibit their maps in one of North Dorset’s leading galleries. Winning entrants will be given the opportunity to publicly read their work in front of a live audience (this is totally optional!)*

The best maps will also be displayed at Shaftesbury Arts Centre in June and here on the blog. A public reading opportunity may arise in Shaftesbury as well (TBC).

Competition details:

Every story is set somewhere and it’s the writer’s job to immerse their reader fully into that fictional world. How are we to write convincing worlds if we do not know our way around them?

We challenge writers and/or artists to draw a map of their fictional world.

Please email your map as a jpeg to zomzara@googlemail.com with Map Making Competition as the subject.  Previously we stipulated 72dpi: but if you have a nice detailed map, send it larger, send it so that you're satisfied we can see all the detail. I think my inbox will cope! If your map appears elsewhere online in a large resolution you can always link us to the site.
 If you’re interested in the public reading opportunity, please let us know so we have an idea of how many people are potentially interested.

Entry is FREE. This competition is open to all, young or old, artistically brilliant or dysfunctional. If you’re under the age of 16, let us know and we’ll enter you into the kids’ category too.

Have your maps sent to us by the 21^st of May. (If you send a day or two late, we’ll probably still accept it, though no guarantees). 

Facebook event.

* please note that this opportunity is dependent on the artistic quality of the submissions, so it may not happen. As writers, we’re more interested in the imaginative quality, so there might end up being a clash of interest between us and the Slade Centre. Maps will be exhibited at Shaftesbury Arts Centre for sure. 

Some awesome maps I found on the internet:

by David Hyman http://davidcharlaphyman.com/

Oh, Milly Molly Mandy - how you inspired the child version of myself. This was the map that started my fascination with fictional maps. 

http://www.maproomblog.com/categories/imaginary_places.php
http://urbangeofiction.stadtkreation.com/

Map Making Competition II

FOR AN UPDATE GO HERE: http://storyslingers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/fictional-worlds-map-making-competition.html

Last year we ran a map making competition. We tied it in with the Shaftesbury Arts Festival and so there wasn't a lot of advance notice. Lots of people contacted us to say what a cool idea it was but they didn't have enough time to do their map before the deadline. 

Well good news, chaps! We're running a second competition, this time with a nice long gap before the deadline (May 21st).  

So here's the details: 

Every story is set somewhere and it’s the writer’s job to immerse their reader fully into that fictional world. How are we to write convincing worlds if we do not know our way around them? 

We challenge any budding writer*/ artist out there to draw a map of their fictional world. It doesn’t have to encompass the entire world, it can be a small part of it; a city/ borough/ street, an island, a country or county, a building-plan etc. 

Please email your map to us at zomzara@googlemail.com with Map Making Competition as the subject. Make sure the file isn’t massive, send it as a jpeg 72dpi. Keep a print-version at hand because we’d like to pin some of the best maps up at Shaftesbury Arts Centre (we’ll contact you about this). The winner will be featured on our blog and within Shaftesbury Arts Centre.

We will be publishing the winning map online, so if your world is top-secret then maybe keep it under wraps for now and submit it next time. 

The world/ location must be your own. We don’t want to see lots of renditions of Hogwarts.

The closing date is May 21st, so get your colouring pencils out and start drafting! 

Further info:

We don’t take ourselves too seriously, so we don’t expect you to either. We’re not concerned about intricacies of scale or worried over the physics of your world. If it looks cool, we’ll be happy. Inspire us, excite us. 

*Wait, you’re not even a writer? But you like to dream up worlds and make maps? – okay, that’s cool, go for it and submit. Maybe one of us writers will like your world and want to team up with you and write a story set in your world. Our writers are always on the lookout for things that will spark the next story, so we’d love to find a new world to write about. 

Mind-Mapping for Fiction Writers

Today I'd like to talk about mind maps—what they are, how to use them, and where to get them—as a way of brainstorming, solving problems, keeping track of your events and timelines, and generating new ideas.

Sometimes stories are straightforward: you begin with your basic idea or outline, and then you sit down and write it from start to finish. But not all stories are that easy-going. Quite often you find they grow and become complex, unruly things, and before you know it you're buried under a mountain of notes and plans, maps and research—and that's before you've even tried to structure your plot or study your characters in depth.

This is where mind maps could come in handy.

I'm fairly new to mind maps, but so far I've found them helpful for keeping my novel timeline in order. They're also an excellent "quick-reference" if you're looking for a specific detail and you don't have time to wade through page after page of notes.

What is a mind map? From Wikipedia - A diagram used to visually outline information.

How do I use a mind map? You start with a central theme or idea, usually placed at the centre of your map/page. This could be anything from a single word prompt to a phrase or topic, problem, character or concept. From there, you create sub-nodes and attach anything associated with the central theme. These sub-nodes grow outwards, generating more and more sub-themes and ideas, very much like a spider diagram. The best way to understand how a mind map works is to see one in action. Take a look at this hand-drawn mind map and this computer generated map (both images from Wikipedia).

How to make a mind map: You can create easy, free mind maps using paper and coloured pens or pencils (see example map above). But if hand-drawing isn't your preference, there are also a number of programs available for the computer—some free and some paid.

Free Mind – Free Mind is a Java-based software that is free to download and use. They have a helpful website that provides instructions on installing and running the program. Works on PC and Mac.

Simple Mind – A simple, easy to use program. This is also a Mac app, but I'm linking to the desktop version as you can use it on a PC as well. You can only download a trial for free; you'll need to buy the full version if you want to keep using it after 30 days.

Bubble.us – I've not tried this one, but it looks like it could be useful. You create your mind map directly in your browser. You can print it out, or download it to your computer when you're done.

Mindomo – This is a paid program. The website states: Human thought is characterized by expansion in multiple directions.  As a mind map software, Mindomo is a perfect match to work the way your brain does reflecting your thoughts.

MindMeister – This mind-mapping tool allows you to share your mind maps with others and collaborate easily. There is a free trial, though it should be noted that you have to pay a monthly subscription for the full program.

There's also a list of (rather pricey) paid mind map programs for Mac here, and a list of freeware programs for Mac here.

And there's a list of free mind map programs for PC here.

Fiction, Poetry & Music night at Beggar's Banquet

Storyslingers and music cafe Beggar's Banquet teamed up last Thursday to put on a night of stories, poetry and groovy tunes. The gathering wasn't widely pimped, though we ended up with around 17 people in attendance, most of whom were writers, artists or musicians (and those in between who do a bit of everything!).

The venue was cosy and mellow-lit, creating a warm and friendly atmosphere. It was gently buzzing as people started turning up—a lot of readers had only met briefly before, so it was nice to reconnect. We also got to meet a few spouses; now they finally know what we get up to when we're all together. We hope they enjoyed themselves, too!

The universe must have been in balance that night, as we were able to set the playlist as writer-poet-writer-poet. Nine wonderful writers shared their work in the end, reading a varied and vibrant selection. As always with these events, we were excited by and extremely proud of the talent in our local area.

Tish Oakwood reading her superb collection of poems

Sue Ashby also sharing a selection of beautiful rural-themed poems

Me reading my short speculative piece "Ring-Ring" 

(which I posted to my personal blog the other day).

To close the event, our generous host Meru performed a nifty acoustic song about not having anything to sing about. His soft, gravelly tones went down a storm, and we hope he'll sing for us again at future gatherings.

Our line-up:

Peter Jump - who read two short stories.

Tish Oakwood - who read a collection of poems.

James Broomfield - who read a short story.

Elaine Cadogan - who read a collection of poems.

Jennifer Bell - who read a short story.

Sue Ashby - who also read a collection of poems.

Jennifer K. Oliver - who read two short stories.

Juliet Austen - who read a selection of her poems.

John Maynard - who read a short story.

Meru - who sang and played acoustic guitar.

We'd like to thank everyone for coming, especially those who brought material to read. We hope you'll join us again next time! :)

Poetry from Jesmond Arbour, world-class drunkard

Never let it be said that our Storyslingers writing prompts don't inspire moments of creative madness. This is a result of last Tuesday's meeting. The prompt was 'Scarecrow.'

The Scarecrow

by Jesmond Arbour

Bloody thing-

Stop looking at me!

I've only stopped for a second pee.

The third I shall save for Auntie Doris'

And maybe some more for the car park at Morrisons.

What's that man doing mummy? - a shrill voice cries

PISS OF YER LITTLE SHITE, OR I'LL SMITE YOUR EYES

Oh god, how simple life would be

As a Scarecrow - like this one in front of me.

So in I climb, into the clothes that were, once tied with string around the frame now bare.

The hat with straw sits atop my bonce while the allotment owner shouts:

What the jolly fuck do you think you're doing, sir?

You can also watch the author himself reading this poem:

Link to the video on YouTube in case the embedding breaks.

Mr Arbour (the author) wanted to add "Where did you get that?  I didn't write that.  You must be mad sir, this is the work of a deranged drunkard!"

Many thanks to Cobedy for providing the laughs! For more hilarious sketches, check out Cobedy's video channel here.

Dada Poetry

Last session we looked at Dadaism, an avant-garde movement that was formed in 1916 by Hugo Ball, Richard Huelsenbeck, Tristan Tzara, Hans Arp and Marcel Janco at the Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich. Its formation was largely concerned with the political circumstances of the time, as a reaction against the war, against the “nationalistic frenzy in Paris” (Huelsenbeck 1920), and as a way to keep a grip of individuality.

“The word Dada was accidentally discovered by Hugo Ball and myself in a German-French dictionary... Dada is French for a wooden horse.” (Huelsenbeck 1920).

It was a movement that concerned itself with anti-art and anti-aesthetic, it sought to remove conscious control from the artist, to strip art of meaning and take it to its base purity.

“Let us try, though it is difficult, to remain absolutely pure. We shall then perceive everything that binds us. And as for the unpleasant language which suffices the garrulous... let us reduce it, let us transform it into a charming, true language. In this state of purity... language renounces its imperative function and aspires toward an autonomous existence, producing a confused, illogical pleasure, an indefinable sensation of release from gravitation. ‘I dream of new harmonies’, Gide wrote at the time, ‘of an art of words, more subtle and more frank, without rhetoric, which does not seek to prove anything’. ” (Raymond, 1933)

Tristan Tzara’s method of making a poem was to “take a newspaper, take scissors, choose an article, cut it out, then cut out each word, put them in a bag, shake.” Then take out the scraps one at a time and copy the words out as they come.     

We did it a little differently at Storyslingers; rather than use a newspaper as our source, we selected two extracts from classic texts, one from Frankenstein and the other The Master and Margarita, (so both with supernatural elements). Many members struggled to let go of their authorial control and couldn’t resist ordering the selection of scraps in a way that had some logical semblance. I think this in itself is very interesting, especially when considering contemporary discussions about creativity and education. I’m thinking in particular of Ken Robinson’s lectures on creativity in education. Take a look at this video: 

And then consider Henri Focillon’s ideas In Praise of Hands, which appeared in The Life in Forms of Art (NY. 1948).

Focillon spoke about Apelles experiencing ataraxia while he was trying to paint a horse. (Ataraxia relates to Dadaism, I think). Apelles wished to represent a bit of frothy saliva and was so unsuccessful that, in a rage, he gave up and threw the sponge with which he was using to clean his brushes at the horse, thus producing the effect of the horse's foam. (Sextus Empiricus). This story “makes us reflect upon the resources of pure chance. Here we are at the antipodes of automatism and mechanism, and no less distant from the cunning ways of reason. In the action of a machine, in which everything is repeated and predetermined, accident is an abrupt negation. [The artist] ...takes advantage of his own errors and of his faulty strokes to perform tricks with them.”

“In the hand of Hokusai, accident is an unknown form of life, the meeting of obscure forces and clairvoyant design. Sometimes one might say that he has provoked accident with an impatient finger in order to see what it would do... Hokusai belongs to a country where, far from concealing the cracks in a broken pot by deceptive restoration, artisans underline this elegant tracery with a network of gold. Thus does the artist gratefully receive what chance has given him and places it respectfully in evidence.”

So according to Ken Robinson, in modern education we are taught to fear mistakes, to fear being wrong, which is indeed reflected in the Storyslingers’ reluctance to give up their control and leave their creations to chance.

We also talked about Dadaism in relation to Barthes’ comments on ‘death of the author’, which I would like to go into greater depth about. This post is getting on for an essay now, so I will save these thoughts for a future post. Until then, enjoy these dada poems that we wrote:

By Robbie Cumming

Appeared at the possessed, appeared at the...

The deep, I swear; carried his Moscow and weary existence.

Dear revenge, the "on you", at the hour of the grief, Editor Had was wearing a "and on you!" 

To execute solemnity, adjuration, excited, while Mikhail - short.  His neatly night, and... and... black, wandering Berlioz.

For short, Alexandrovich = devotion.  To pursue friends as I shot, I as forever.

I call assured spirits and 'green' gave way, who, and on which, me.  

My.

By Simon Kite

Poem 1.

and

and

drag

literary journal

literary associations,

on

white trousers

I will

By the sacred earth

Will

Furies

Also

Murderer

Begin

And kissed

Aid

Of earth,

Literary

Moscow

Murdered

To

He or

In his hand.

Poem 2.

Cursed and hellish monster

Had

Back on his head,

Wrinkled

Back

Tread the green

Wander near

And

Lived; their

And by thee

Quivering lips

In

Cocked

Which

Of the

Almost assured

At the house of the

This misery

Grass

Summer suit

White

Who.

By Jennifer K Oliver

Patriarch's Ponds. Associations, dressed in a Berlioz, an awe horn-rimmed glasses my utterance / And and with who called Massolit / broad-shouldered drag drink deep and by thee, O torments me. Hair, eternal my.

By J. Bell

Approximately of a fat dear revenge the demon who which devotion, Alexandrovich I swear; shaven the destroy awe will herbage back me had me, that to spirits of my now.

The following are semi-dada poems, in that the writers of these poems arranged the words they randomly selected in a conscious, logical (ish) way.

By Becky Bye

Drink deep
From my eyes
And with that
Vanish.

By Jennifer K Oliver

Poem 1.

The lips should utterance

One of you pseudonym of Homeless.

And his conduct and vengeance

Poem 2.

I must excited quickly

dark-haired, plump, bald

Destroy him by perish

The spirits their murderer

The poet feel, poet agony;

This shall feel the dead over

--

The Dada Painters and Poets, An Anthology. Second ed. Edited by Motherwell, Robert. 1951, USA.