I went to Oxford’s new Story Museum last week for the launch of the 26 Characters exhibition. It’s the product of a great idea: photograph 26 children’s authors dressed as their favourite fictional characters; ask 26 other writers to create short poems inspired by the photos. I was part of the editorial team that pulled the …
Category Archives: Performance
Stories from the festival writing shed
Sometimes it’s worth making a plan, if only for the fun of ripping it up I spent a lot of time thinking about how I would spend my time as a “writer in residence” at the Lounge on the Farm music festival. I experimented beforehand with new technologies. I spent ages downloading apps and trying …
A performance with a touch of menace
This week’s reading at the Komedia went well. “You had the audience in the palm of your hand,” one of the organisers said. That was reassuring, as I couldn’t tell how the audience was responding. The stage lighting was blinding; once up there I couldn’t see anything. Look at the stripe of intense light across …
Back on stage at the Komedia
I’m reading again at the lovely Komedia theatre in Brighton on October 2, part of Story Studio‘s Feast and Fetish evening. My story comes under the “feast” half of the theme, in case you were wondering. I had a brilliant time reading at Komedia earlier in the year. Hope this one goes as well.
A bit of rejection can do you good
Here’s another piece of good news I want to mention. I’ve finally had a story accepted by Metazen, the international literary magazine based in Canada. I say finally because they’ve rejected two of my stories so far this year. This is a case of third time lucky. Having a story turned down is never pleasant, …
Competitive story reading success
Well, I have now taken part in my first ever competitive story reading event, part of the Electric Lantern Festival. The exciting news, for me, is that I came second. I’m rather happy about that. It was an odd experience. I arrived at the Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells, was allocated a number and told where …
Blimey, it’s my competitive story reading debut
My journey to find new ways of making a fool of myself enters scary territory this coming weekend. I will be taking part in my first competitive story-reading event. On Sunday, I’ll be on stage at the wonderful Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells, a participant in “Flash Factor”. The boards that I shall tread This …
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Finding a new audience for literature and stories
Normally, you’d get yourself in trouble if you broke an egg on a stranger’s trousers. But such behaviour is fine when one is performing live street literature. Then it’s just part of the act. I learned this interesting lesson on Saturday. I was on the promenade of Herne Bay, an English seaside town, “performing” – …
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Taking literature to the streets, man
It’s good to step outside of one’s comfort zone occasionally, and I will be a very great distance away from mine next week. I’m “performing” a short story at the Herne Bay Festival. That is not the scary bit. I have done a few readings before and enjoyed the experience. But in the past I …