So we started with the smallest animal and worked up, Rat with messages, Dogs creating mayhem, a Tiger in an eclipse, an Elephant imprisoned, and the death of an Icon.
Big thanks to our author-readers who all did a storming job, and to our audience for laughing and lovely feedback. Here are some snippets of video for those of you who missed it.
Liam Hogan: Rat
Esther Saxey: Come Back Early or Never Come
Anand Modha: Tyger
David McGrath: The Elephant in the Tower
Rob Shearman: A Joke in 4 Panels
Special Guest Robert Shearman (who wrote one of the top 50 Doctor Who episodes of all time), reads A Joke In Four Panels.
Liam Hogan reads Rat
Esther Saxey reads Come Back Early or Never Come
Anand Modha reads Tyger
David McGrath, reads The Elephant in the Tower
Wednesday, 17 September 2014 from 19:00 (for 19:30) to 21:30
Cafe of Good Hope
216 Hither Green Lane
SE13 6RT
Get your ticket on EventBrite or on the door. £3
Tales from the mouths of creatures, great and small – dogs, elephants, tigers, rats and more.
Who is really man’s best friend?
Opportunities to chat with the authors, buy books, and other delicacies we might bring along, And of course to join in with Flash from the Floor – come prepared or write in the interval – 100 words fiction or poetry on the subject of animals.
Food and drink available to buy, so no need to rush your dinner.
Hope to see you there.
So, Hallowe’en, or nearly, and we got together in The Ivy House to tell stories…
V.G. Lee told us a nasty story of revenge, The Passing Guest (from her collection As You Step Outside) and a ‘true story’ of exorcism.
David Mildon gave us a ghastly take on the lengths to which some people will go in order to forget – in his Weird Lies contribution, Worms’ Feast which puts joining the foreign legion in the shade.
Cherry Potts showed us who a young girl might have been had she grown up, in Eye of the Beholder.
and David McGrath told us about Fanditha men and murderous coconuts in Arresting Coconuts. (Language warning!)
Fabian Acker was our first Testbed volunteer, bringing a brand new piece for the audience to provide feedback as part of the editing process.
If you would like to take part in a Testbed at a future Story Session, get in touch.
We are hosting a free live literature event at London’s first co-operatively owned pub, The Ivy House. A beautiful traditional pub building almost next to Nunhead cemetery… Join VG Lee, David McGrath, David Mildon and Cherry Potts for an interactive evening of spooky live literature – think folk club with books. The audience is invited to contribute 100 word on-theme flash fiction (or poetry – but still 100 words) in the flash from the floor spot. Books sales in the interval – free ‘Books are my Bag’ bags to haul away all your Halloween book treats.
Possibility of a ‘work in progress’ spot for a brave author who would like to try out a fresh piece of writing on an audience. if you are interested in this slot, or in being an invited author at this or a future event, get in touch.
This is the first of two booked events at the Ivy House, if it goes well it could become a regular fixture. Come along and support the first community owned pub in London, and live literature!
Wednesday 30th October 7:30 for 8, hearses at 10.
The Ivy House
40 Stuart Road
Nunhead
SE15 3BE
For anyone coming to Towersey who wants to join us for snappy stories and sultry poems, or to try out our writing workshop, here are the details (you will also get an opportunity to buy copies of Arachne’s two new titles, Mosaic of Air by Cherry Potts and Weird Lies which includes a story by David McGrath, Hot off the Press!
Friday 23rd August 5pm: Lit in the Ceilidh:
Readings from David McGrath, Cherry Potts and Esther Poyer, plus Debs Newbold and Tom Banks, Compered by Paul ‘Shez’ Sherreard.
Friday 23rd August 6.30pm Spread the Word Workshop, the Hive
Join Paul, Esther, Cherry and David for a writing workshop looking at voice – narrator, character and dialogue.
Saturday 24th August 6pm Spread the Word Workshop,the Hive
Join Paul, Esther, Cherry and David for a writing workshop looking at voice – narrator, character and dialogue. (This is a repeat of the Friday workshop!)
Saturday 24th August 10:30 pm Spread the Word Night at the Hive
Two sets of readings from Cherry, Esther and David.
Sunday 25th August 10:15 am Words for Breakfast The Big Club
more different readings from Cherry Esther David and Tom
Sunday 25th August 3.30pm Lit Down the Village Hall
moredifferent readings from Cherry, Esther, David, Tom and Paul.
Monday 26th August Lit Open Mic 7pm The Hive
Your chance to share your own work, compered by Paul ‘Shez’ Sherreard.
Spent all day rehearsing for the Towersey. Hilarious time reading a very short poem in different voices about thirty times in the field behind the Albany. (If you’ve never been out the back at the Albany, there are free-range chickens, they aren’t a very appreciative audience though).
You can listen to Paul Sherread talking about us writers appearing at Towersey Festival over the August Bank Holiday on Oxford Radio,
A little bit of chat about Cherry Potts and David McGrath from Arachne, and also Esther Poyer. There’s lots more about the Towersey as well, but Paul is on at 2:11:35.
Arachne Authors, Cherry Potts and David McGrath are performing at the Towersey Festival (Near Thame, Oxfordshire) over the August Bank Holiday with Esther Poyer, Debs Newbold, Tom Banks and Paul Sherreard.
Friday: We are performing at Lit in the Ceilidh tent 17-17:45pm and running a workshop 18:30-20:00 in the Hive
Saturday: We will be running a workshop 18:00-19:30 and (our big night) we are on stage at the Hive 22:30-00:30
Sunday: Words for Breakfast in the Big Club 10:15-11:00, and Lit Down the Village Hall 15:30-16:30
Thanks to Spread the Word for making this possible.
We have until 14:28 on Saturday 22nd June to raise our funding via Kickstarter. This will give us the money we need to print, distribute, and market Weird Lies. It’s one of those all or nothing situations – if we don’t raise ALL the money, we don’t get any of it, so there’s no danger of us frittering it away on cake or whatever. At the moment we have a LOOOOONG way to go, and Kickstarter are worrying me by having the counter set to 3 days, when it is clearly 3 days and 22 hours…
Anyone who was at Liars’ League last week will be delighted that we’ve made room for the last-minute inclusion of David McGrath‘s The Elephant in the Tower. Fastest bit of typesetting I’ve ever done, and the fastest turnaround on a contract too – thanks David!
So if you would like to help us produce this book, please visit our Kickstarter page, and take a look at the quirky and delicious rewards (there are straightforward copy-of-the-book rewards too) we have on offer for the kind folk who help us out.
