Launching We/She – the videos

Here they are in all their glory – videos of the readings from Thursday’s launch of We/She

Smoking Ban by Jennifer Rickard read by Carrie Cohen

A Crowing Hen by Arike Oke

Comeback Special by Katy Darby (this one is pieced together – the camera battery died…but our belts have braces so all’s well)

The Real McCoy by Cherry Potts read by Carrie Cohen

Destiny’s Children by Rosalind Stopps

Some Carpets to Remain by Carolyn Eden

Ugly Duchess by Fiona Salter

Cages by Joan L M Williams

The Dead Wives’ Club by Ilora Choudhury

One Beautiful Day by Elizabeth Stott

Photos from Launch of We/She

That was quite a party! Wonderful readings a HUGE audience and we set a new record for Blackwell’s ‘most books sold at an event’.

Here are a few photos, I didn’t take many on account of doing all the other things a publisher does at an event. If anyone has more they’d like to share let me know!

 

Year of the woman

Today is International Women’s Day, in the centenary year of partial suffrage for women.

So an important day for women, but, you know, women are women every day, and there’s still plenty of work to be done, on all sorts of fronts, so celebrate and then roll up your sleeves…

Our small contribution is to do what we do anyway, but do more of it. We are publishing a number of books over the next nine months and most (not all) will be by women.

April
Kate Foley Poetry Collection: A Gift of Rivers

Kate is reading from the collection at Gay’s the Word on 5th April and we are investigating a launch in Amsterdam.

May
Cathy Bryant Poetry Collection: Erratics.

Cathy and Kate are taking part in a seminar on diversity and inclusivity in the poetry world at London Book Fair on 10th April at 17:30 at the ‘Poet’s Corner’

June
The final installment of The Naming of Brook Storyteller: Wolftalker arrives from Ghillian Potts.


Also in June we have the official launch of Dusk which will also kick off thinking about 2018’s Solstice Shorts festival, Dawn!

July Five by Five: 5 short stories each by Katy Darby, Joan Taylor-Rowan, Cassandra Passarelli, Sarah James, Helen Morris

August
We are teaming up with Liars’ League for our official #womensvote100 anthology, We/She featuring stories about women by women. Final line up yet to be finalised but expect stories from:
Carolyn Eden, Katy Darby, Elizabeth Hopkinson, Elisabeth Simon, Elizabeth Stott, Fiona Salter, Ilora Choudhury, J. A. Hopper, Arike Oke, Jennifer Rickard, Jenny Ramsay, Lucy Ribchester, Peng Shepherd, Rosalind Stopps, Joanne L. M. Williams, Swati Khurana, Uschi Gatward.

September
Vindication: an anthology of up to 10 poems each from
Sarah James, Sarah Lawson, Jill Sharp, Elinor Brooks, Adrienne Silcock and Anne Macaulay

November
We are commemorating the end of WWI with poetry and short story anthology An Outbreak of Peace.

 

Dusk: Video – Lancaster One-Two-Three

Leo Atkin reads One-two-three by Rosalind Stopps  for DUSK at Lancaster

 

This story and all the other unpublished poems and stories are in the forthcoming anthology Dusk.

You can preorder the print version, and buy the ebook, now!

Dusk: Authors already published by Arachne Press

Inevitably, when you make a call out for submissions you get a fair few from people you’ve already worked with. Here are links to the author-page for authors we have already worked with.

Rosalind Stopps One Two Three, One Two Three, Lancaster, Rossendale

Pippa Gladhill

Pippa Gladhill In-Between Dog, Inverness, Warkleigh

David

David Mathews Flick’ring Shadows, Nottingham

Math Jones Yes, Twilight, Greenwich

Rob Walton

Rob Walton Words On Paper, Carlisle

Deliver Me at Urban Myth for Brockley Max

The last of the outings for Shortest Day, Longest Night, Rosalind Stopps reads Deliver Me  at WooA’s Urban Myths evening at Brockley Max

 

Arachne Press does Brockley Max

Brockley Max is coming – and we are getting involved.

2nd June 7pm at the Talbot Pub in Brockley SE4 1QG, Arachne authors Bartle Sawbridge, Rosalind Stopps  and Cherry Potts join other writers from WooA (Writers of Our Age), Neil Lawrence, Anna Somerset and Hilary Dunn for Urban Myths. (the link says 7-7.30 that means 7 for 7.30, we aim to be there at least 2 hours.

You can join in with 100 words of your own urban myth, and get stuck in with the epic writing relay, which is definitely best experienced slightly sozzled.

On Sunday 4th June at 3.30, we join Vocal Chords Choir (who have supported Solstice Shorts Festival a couple of times) at their Songs of Protest gig at St Hilda’s Church SE23 1NL when actors Silas Hawkins and Carrie Cohen will read some of the poems from Liberty Tales to complement the songs.

Vocal Chords Sing Songs of Protest 4th May

© Ben Mueller-Brown benhasphotos.wordpress.com

Our final drop-in session is at Art In The Park Story-telling tent on Hilly Fields, on Saturday 10th June at 2.30, when Arachne stalwart Katy Darby will be reading our forthcoming younger children’s book, The Old Woman From Friuli by Ghillian Potts which is in the shops 6th June – you can buy direct from us NOW post free.

The Story Sessions Winter tales videos

Videos of the readings from January’s Winter Tales Story Sessions.

Stories:

Poems:

Thank you to everyone who came along and read: Rosalind Stopps, Math Jones, Cath Blackfeather, Nancy Charley, Anne Macaulay, Michael Carey, Alison Lea, Annalie Wilson.

And to those who couldn’t make it and were read by Annalie: Megan E Freeman and Karina Lutz

if you want to take part in the NEXT Story Sessions, the theme is Retelling Tales (so… myth/ legend/ folklore/ famous stories with your own take) Headlining: Jennifer A McGowan.

We’ve got some great ones already, but we’d like more to choose from. Submit via Submittable, before the end of February for this one, or if you have something for May’s Fantasy theme you have a bit longer.

As usual, Annalie Wilson is available to read on behalf of people too geographically distant  to make it, and the very shy; and there is a SMALL budget for travel expenses if you want to come and read yourself. Plus of course, the audience luck dip that is Flash From the Floor. 100 words on theme prepared in advance or written in the interval!

Shortest Day Longest Night on Tour – Wivenhoe – Video

Video of the trip to Wivenhoe!

Extracts from Katy Darby reading her own Hunt & Pray and Rosalind StoppsDeliver Me, Cherry Potts reading from The Midwinter Wife, David Steward reading the whole of The Cutty Wren, and Lisa Kelly reading the whole of Daylight Saving Time.

You can catch the final planned tour date for Shortest Day, Longest Night Saturday 04/02/2017 2pm North Kensington Library
Poems: Bob Beagrie, Lisa Kelly, A J Akoto. Story: Katy Darby, Liam Hogan, Pauline Walker, Cherry Potts  FREE but TICKETED

We are still researching further dates, but this is all that are planned for the moment.

Buy the book: Shortest Day, Longest Night

Help us crowdfund for the rest of the tour and the next books

 

The Story Sessions- Coming Up: Winter Tales

gate-burton-frostWe have the line up for The Story Sessions for 18th January, Winter Tales

We are not entirely sure which authors/poets are reading their own work, but the material is chosen…
Headlining:
Rosalind Stopps Deliver Me
Math Jones Skadhi’s Laughter
Megan E Freeman On Winter Days in Northern Norway, read by Annalie Wilson
Karina Lutz New Kinds of Weather read by Annalie Wilson
Cath Blackfeather Winter Tale
Anne Macaulay It’s January Where We Are Now
Testbed:
Michael Carey Regeneration
Plus, music from Annalie, and, we hope, plenty of Flash from the Floor from the audience!
Join us at The Brockley Deli 14a Brockley Cross SE4 1BE at 7.30 on Wednesday 18th January for music, murder, myth, laughter, and all kinds of weather.