Follow us!

If you’d like to follow our blog and aren’t sure how, click here.

Watch North and South Stream-free on Channel 4

Tags

Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South, Victorian industrial society

If our recent post about this tremendous novel has whetted your appetite, you can watch the four-part adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s passionate story set against the divide in the changing world of Victorian industrial society stream-free on Channel 4.

Just the thing for a hot Saturday night’s viewing.

Writing Competitions to Enter in August

Tags

Aesthetica Magazine Creative Writing Award, Edinburgh Award for Flash Fiction, Val Wood Prize

Sadly, our garden is beginning to look a bit sorry for itself now. We never use a hose pipe, but the water butt is almost empty and with no rain in sight it is time, perhaps, to concentrate on writing rather than on our drooping plants.

Here are a few competitions to enter in August.

Clevedon Litfest Flash Fiction Award for original unpublished stories up to 500 words. Prizes: £300, £100, £50. Entry fee: £6. Deadline 22 August. Details: Clevedonlitfest.org.uk/flash-fiction-award-2026

The Edinburgh Award for Flash Fiction wants stories on any genre up to 250 words. Prizes: £2,000, £500, £250. Entry fee: £10. Closing date: 31 August. Details: scottishartstrust.org/flash

Aesthetica Magazine Creative Writing Award for poetry and short fiction up to 2,000 words. Prizes: £2,500 plus publication in Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual and an Arvon Writing Course. Entry fee: £18 Poetry. £24 short fiction. Closing date: 31 August. Details: http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/creative-writing-award

Val Wood Prize. An international short story competition, for up to 1,500 words, in partnership with Hull Library, celebrating fiction inspired by the titles of of Val Wood’s books. The theme is “Titles”. Prizes: £100 plus a signed Val Wood book. Deadline: 31 August. Entry: FREE. Details: http://www.valeriewood.co.uk

…and always remember to check details before entering any competition.

Good luck!

Time to revisit ‘North and South’?

Tags

Mrs Gaskell

Andy Burnham’s creation of a ‘No.10 North’ has been controversial, largely among Scots like me to whom Manchester is the tropical south. What about the 600 miles of the UK north of Manchester? Or indeed the 350 miles of UK south-west to Penzance? Really it should be called ‘No.10 Central’. The ‘North’ designation just reinforces the fact that everything is viewed from London. Missed a trick there, Andy.

However, what the outreach project does mean is that a lot of southerners will find themselves upping sticks and moving to the land of Big Football, dark satanic mills converted to bright apartments, and Vimto. It will be a culture shock, I’m sure, just as it was for Margaret Hale in Mrs. Gaskell’s ‘North and South’.

As Tanya argued here in her discussion of the novels of Mrs. Gaskell, ‘North and South’ is less about the social disparities and more about individuals from different backgrounds learning how to understand each other and work together. A timeless moral, I feel.

Time to revisit?

Writing Competitions to Enter in July

Tags

HG Wells Short Story Competition, Laurie Lee Writing Prize, Norwich Writer' Circle Olga Sinclair Open Short Story Competition, Sean O'Faolain Short Story Competition, The Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition

Here are a few competitions to tempt you during July.

HG Wells Short Story Competition for stories between 1,500 words and 5,000 words on the theme of ‘The Cheat’. Prizes: £1,500 and the entry fee is £10. Deadline 7 July. Details: hgwellscompetition.com

The Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition for stories up to 1,200 words on an open theme. Prizes: £350. Entry fee: £5. Closing date: 12 July. Details: wrekinwriterswordpress.com

Laurie Lee Writing Prize for 125 lines of poetry, or 2,500 words of prose, on the theme of conservation. Entry: FREE. Deadline: 15 July. Details: stroudbookfestival.org.uk

Norwich Writers’ Circle Olga Sinclair Open Short Story Competition for stories up to 2,000 words on the theme of “Walls”. Perhaps the picture of Kent’s Ightham Mote above might motivate you. Prizes: £200, £150, £100. Entry fee: £5. Deadline: 31 July. Details: norwichwriters.wordpress.com

Sean O’Faolain Short Story Competition for stories up to 3,000 words. Prizes: Euros 2,000, 500 and 400. Entry fee: Euros 19. Deadline: 31 July. Details: http://www.munsterlit.ie

Best of luck – but do please check all competition details before entry.

Prayers from the Ark and The Beasts’ Choir

Tags

Carmen Bernos de Gasztold, Jean Primrose, Rumer Godden

As we get older, memories of the distant past seem to have a habit of clicking into clear focus, while what we did yesterday can be an elusive blur…

It’s more than half a century since my mother gave me the book Prayers from the Ark published by Macmillan in 1963 and read aloud The Prayer of the Elephant first of all, elephants being a favourite animal. An unclouded memory of joy in childhood – and a book that still gives it in the present.

Prayers from the Ark is a collection of prayer-poems written by the French poet Carmen Bernos de Gasztold (1919-1995), and translated into English by the novelist Rumer Godden (1907-1998). The prayers are beautifully illustrated by Jean Primrose (1907-2009), with a line in the original French underneath each drawing.

There’s nothing twee about these prayers. Carmen Bernos de Gasztold’s early life was one of hardship, poverty and illness, before she was given a home and encouragement by the nuns at the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Louis du Temple at Limon-par-Igny in France. As Rumer Godden wrote in the foreword: ‘Carmen de Gasztold has seen too much of the seamy side of life to be a sentimental animal lover…In her world a dog is to guard the house, a horse to work its strength out for its master, a pig to be eaten … it is the truthfulness of the prayers, especially as it reflects on us, unthinking humans, that causes pain.’

But how do you translate poetry? Rumer Godden wrote that translating these prayers, so economical with words and containing so much subtle play on double meaning and evocative sound, was an almost impossible task.  How, in The Prayer of the Old Horse, ‘replace that word encense in Ma pauvre tête encense toute la solitude de mon Coeur! which gives, in two syllables, the double picture of the old horse’s swinging head and a censer swinging to ‘offer up’ in the Catholic sense all that he has left, his loneliness?’

It’s the close of The Prayer of the Old Horse that may make us tearful. ‘…Stiff on my thickened legs I stand here before You: Your unprofitable servant. Oh! Of Your goodness, give me a gentle death.’ Some of the other prayers make us smile. The Prayer of the Little Ducks asks God for plenty of luscious things to eat!

The Prayer of the Cat captures a cool independence: ‘It is not, exactly, that I have something to ask of You! No – I ask nothing of anyone – but, if You have by some chance, in some celestial barn, a little white mouse, or a saucer of milk, I know someone who would relish them.’ The Prayer of the Goldfish ends with a longing for transformation: ‘Let me no longer be a little goldfish in its prison of glass, but a living spark in the gentleness of Your reeds.’

The Prayer of the Tortoise is one that I’ve come to enjoy more with age: ‘A little patience, O God, I am coming. One must take nature as she is! I do not mean to criticise this house on my back – it has its points – but you must admit, Lord, it is heavy to carry! Still, let us hope that this double enclosure, my shell and my heart, will never be quite shut to You.’

In every prayer there is a sense of intimacy with God. Fears, questions, complaints, requests, hopes, pleas, are all there, along with an acceptance of things, expressed in uncomplicated conversation between the created and the creator. They say it all – and something to us.

The Beasts’ Choir is a further collection of prayers, also translated by Rumer Godden and illustrated by Jean Primrose, published by Macmillan in 1967. The front cover flap describes how ‘Again the poet speaks for the voiceless ones: birds, beasts, fishes, even the humblest – and most impudent – insects, letting each animal make its own “statement of being” in honour of its Creator. Lion and bear, peacock, toad and centipede, all join their voices in a choir of praise, testifying to the infinite variety of the natural world and the endless compassion of God’s understanding.’

In her foreword, Rumer Godden writes that ‘each animal, bird, fish, reptile, or insect voice makes, as it were, a statement of its situation, its circumstances – what, perhaps, we humans would call its problem. Some of the voices are assertive… most of the poems are a direct communication between the beast, large or small, and its Creator, and the link is as powerful with the flea as with the whale – though the flea being a flea, is less respectful… again and again Carmen de Gasztold shows that in a few lines she can catch the essence of a creature and without sentimentality – indeed, she discovers that some have most dislikeable traits; but why should we take it for granted that beasts are born with “nice” characters? Kindness, the virtue in humanity extolled nowadays more than any other, is completely lacking in animals; yet their faults – if these can be called faults – are redeemed by innocence, a quality human grown-ups have almost always lost.’

Some lines from The Snail: ‘You must admit, Lord, You have made my life hard. So many enemies!’ From The Bear: ‘To have my name among the stars, then to think I may end up as a bedside rug!’ From The Peacock: ‘I must say I derive some satisfaction from my good looks…Your world is badly made, if I may say so: the nightingale’s voice in me would be properly attired – and soothe my soul.’ From The Mole: ‘A hidden life, Lord, but not a poor one – my velvet coat shows that. In shadowy gloom one can walk without presumption and be perfectly safe – but the sun can turn one’s head…’

Two beautiful books saying something of infinite meaning to our world – well worth searching for in second hand bookshops and elsewhere.

Writing Competitions to Enter in June

Tags

Competitions, Fiction, Short stories, Writing

Better late than never! Here are – sadly only a few – competition suggestions for June. (I thought this had been posted nearly a week ago, but somehow I must have pressed the wrong buttons…more apologies needed)

A writing for children competition. The Octo 2026 Competition for stories on the theme of ‘Hidden Worlds’ suitable for children aged 12 and under. This competition is run by independent children’s publisher Octo Books and is inviting entries from authors aged 7-17 or adult storytellers. Entries may be up to 800 words and must be original and unpublished. Winners will be published online and receive prize bundles. Entries close on 8 June. Details: https://octo-books.square.site/writing-competition-2026

The Moth Short Story Prize 2026 from Ireland’s literary magazine for original unpublished stories up top 3,000 words.The first prize is 3,000 Euros, the second 1,000 Euros, and the third a week at the Moth Retreat. The winning story will be published in the Irish Times as part of its summer fiction season and the second and third winners will be published in the Irish Times online. The entry fee is 17 Euros per story and the closing date the 15th June. Details: https://themothmagazine.com/moth-short-story-prize

Take Flight – commemorating 50 years since the first commercial supersonic flight, they want flight-themed stories between 1,500-1,700 words. The theme of flight must be central to the story. Prizes: £200, £50. Entry fee: £8.50/£7 to subscribers. Closing date: 15 June. Details: http://www.writers-online.co.uk

Grand Prize 2026. Win £1,000 for short fiction in any style and on any theme, up to 2,000 words. Prizes: £1,000. Entry fee: £18.50/£16 for subscribers. Closing date 30 June. Details: http://www.writers-on-line.co.uk

A Midsummer Tale Narrative Writing Contest for 1,000-5,000 words. Prizes: Amazon gift card and publication. Entry fee: FREE. Closing date 21 June. Details: tclj.toasted-chees-com

Cranked Anvil Short Story Competition for stories up to 1,500 words. Prizes: £300, £150, £100. Entry fee: £6, or £11 for two stories. Deadline: 30 June. Details: http://www.crankedanvil.co.uk

Do please remember to check before entry. Good luck…!

A challenging reading list (again)

Tags

Books, Fiction, Reading

As we head towards reading-on-holiday time, we thought it might be fun to reprise a 2016 post from Ed (mildly updated). It would be interesting to know if we can find a book that matches all the criteria. Or most of them? There’s a challenge!

From Ed:

A challenging reading list. It’s aimed at school students, but would do us all good if it widened our reading horizons. I found it attached to a tweet from King’s School in Worcester (@KSWLibrary), setting out what pupils (and staff!) are to read by February 2017 if they are to win a gold, silver or bronze award (if they want to podium, in fact). The tweet is dated 22 July if you want to hunt it down. The initiative is part of the BBC Year of Reading.

To win an award you should read:

1. A book shortlisted for a major award in 2025/26
2. A biography or autobiography
3. A book from a genre you have not yet tried
4. A book you’ve been meaning to read
5. A book recommended by a teacher
6. A book chosen for you by a friend
7. A book published before you were born
8. A book in a foreign language or translated from a foreign language
9. A literary classic
10. A book by a Midlands author
11. A book set in a foreign country
12. A book that will challenge you

I wonder if you’re allowed to double up. For example, I’ve just read David Lodge’s comic novel The British Museum is Falling Down. Would that allow me to tick off both A Midlands Author and A Friend’s Recommendation (if my sister is allowed to be a friend)? Before that I’d read Rambling On by Bohumil Hrabal (see https://ninevoices.wordpress.com/2016/08/05/rambling-on/) which would let me tick the Translated box and also the Set in a Foreign Country box.   I imagine that, if we’re honest, many of us have Literary Classics in our Books I’ve Been Meaning to Read category. So, if I do get round to Daniel Deronda or Silas Marner, I could tick two more boxes. No, three, because they were Published Before I Was Born.

This is getting too complicated. And I suspect the judges at the school would frown on all this sleight of hand. So it’s back to Death on the Cherwell.

Well done the school (and the BBC) – let’s hope it works.

What are your Meaning to Read books?

Writing Competitions to Enter in May

Tags

Books, Creative Writing, Fiction, Writing

Everybody knows that life gets on top of you sometimes – and putting pen to paper or fingers on keyboard can be difficult. So I hope you will forgive the omission of competitions to enter in April. However, opportunities like the Bridport on offer in May will surely compensate.

Win Your Way to Swanwick. Enter writing on the theme of ‘Journey’ to win a fully inclusive place at Swanwick Writers’ Summer School. There are categories for Short Story (up to 1,000 words), Poetry (up to 40 lines) and Writing for Children (up to 1,000 words). Second-placed runners up will receive a £100 School Gift Voucher and third-placed runners up will receive a copy of the Writers’ & Artists’ ‘Yearbook. Closing date: 1 May. Entry fee: £8.50/£7 for subscribers. Details: http://www.writers-online.co.uk

London Independent Story Prize for short stories of up to 4,000 words and flash fiction up to 300 words. Deadline 25 May. Check website for prizes and entry fees. Details: londonindependentstoryprize.co.uk

Blue Pencil First Novel Award for the first chapter of an unpublished novel up to 5,000 words. Prizes: £1,000 and feedback. Entry fee: £25. Closing date: 31 May. Details: bluepencilagency.com

Bridport Flash Fiction Prize for fiction up to 250 words. Prizes: £1,000, £500, £250. Entry fee: £12. Closing date: 31 May. Details: bridportprize.org.uk

Bridport Short Story Prize for 5,000 words max. of unpublished fiction. Prizes: £5,000, £1,000, £500 and 10 x £100. Entry fee: £15. Details: bridportprize.org.uk

Bridport Prize – Peggy Chapman-Andrews First Novel Award. For novel manuscripts aimed at adult readers by unpublished British novelists. Enter between 5,000 and 8,000 words from the beginning of the manuscript plus a 3–word synopsis. Prizes: £1,500, plus mentoring from the Literary Consultancy and advice from A M Heath, £750, 3x£150. Entry fee: £26. Closing date: 31 May. Details: bridportprize.org.uk

Bath Novel Award 2026. Win £5,000 first prize in this contest for unpublished novel manuscripts aimed at adult and young adult readers by unagented writers who are unpublished, self-published or independently published. One longlistee will be awarded a place worth £1,980 on the online Cornerstones Edit Your Novel the Professional Way. Send the first 5,000 words and a one-page synopsis. Entry fee is £33 per novel. Closing date 31 May. Details: https://bathnovelaward.co.uk/the-bath-novel-award-international-writing-prize/

Frome Festival Short Story Prize for stories between 1,000 and 2,200 words. Prizes: 1st ££400; 2nd £200; 3rd £100. Entry fee: £8. closing date: 31 May. Details: fromeshortstorycompetition.co.uk

Best of luck. Don’t allow any furry friends to distract you…but do remember to double-check entry details.

…in case you think Gizzie doesn’t approve of books being written…

Writing Competitions to Enter in March

An ancient picture taken on a Ninevoices writing break.

Writers are nothing if not resilient, and determined members of Ninevoices have succeeded in having their work published, shortlisted and longlisted for a number of competitions. So why not have a go at one of the following. Somebody has to win – why shouldn’t it be you!

The Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize 2026 for writers from the UK and Ireland. For original short diction between 1,000-3,500 words, from writers who have not been previously published. Entry is £10 per story. Prizes: £1,000, £500 and £250. Deadline 5pm on Monday 2 March. Details: https://bricklanebookshop.org.

The Edinburgh Young Adult Novel Award for novels and graphic novels for young readers 12+ written by unagented writers. Submit up to 5,000 words of a novel or 6-8 pages of a graphic novel plus a 300-word synopsis. First prize £1,500, second prize £500, third prize £250, plus two £100 commendations. Entry fee £19 per work. Deadline 10 March. Unfinished partial manuscripts accepted. Details: https://www.scottishartstrust.org

BBC National Short Story Award for stories up to 8,000 words for published writers. Entry is free. Prizes: First Prize £1,500, plus £600 for four shortlisted stories. Deadline 16 March. Details: bbc.co.uk

The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival Short Story Competition for Adults on the theme ‘After Midnight’ for up to 1,500 words including the title. Entry is £10 per story. Prizes: £200 and £100. Deadline 20 March. Details: http://www.foweyfestival.com

Lancashire Authors Association Flash Fiction Competition for a story of exactly 100 words. Entry fee £2. Winning Entry: £100. Closing date 31 March. Details: http://www.lancashireauthorsassociation.co.uk

The Henshaw Press Short Story Competition for stories of 2,000 words. £6 per entry. 1st prize £200, 2nd prize £100, 3rd prize £50. Profits each year go to providing books for a chosen school. Closing date 31 March. Details http://www.henshawpress.co.uk

Best of luck! But do remember to check all details before entering.

Writing Competitions to Enter in January and February

Tags

Creative Writing, Fiction, flash-fiction, Writing

Jane Austen’s bureau, seen and admired on a visit to Chawton back in 2015.

At the beginning of a new year, here are some suggested writing competitions to inspire you.

Discoveries 2026. The writer development programme from The Women’s Prize Trust is inviting entries from aspiring women novelists. Prizes will be given for novel manuscripts by unpublished unagented writers in any adult genre. Submit the first 10,000 words and a synopsis between 500 and 1,000 words. Novel manuscripts do not have to be completed. The winner will be offered representation by Curtis Brown and £5,000. Shortlisted writers will be offered a mentoring session with a Curtis Brown agent, a free place on a six week Curtis Brown Creative online course and a studio session focussed on writing and recording for audio with Audible. One writer will be named ‘The Discoveries Scholar’ and win a free scholarship to attend a three-month Curtis Brown Creative Writing Your Novel course worth £2,000. Longlisted authors will receive a bespoke two-week online Discoveries Writing Development Course and an annual Audible subscription. Entry is free. Closing date 12 January. Details: https://womensprize.com/writers/discoveries/

Fiction Factory First Chapter & Synopsis Competition 2026. Win £500 and an appraisal from a literary agent in this competition for writers who have completed the first draft of a novel. The winning entry will also be read by Joanna Swainson of Hardman & Swainson Agency. All shortlisted entries will receive a free appraisal. Send a maximum of the first 5,000 words of the first chapter plus a one-page synopsis. If the first chapter is longer, send it in full, but clerly mark the 5,000 word point. Entry if £18. Closing date 31 January. Details: https://fiction-factory.biz/first-chapter-synopsis-competition/

Bristol Short Story Prize for stories up to 4,000 words. Prizes: £1,500, £500 and £250. Entry fee £14. Closing date 31 January. Details: bristolprize.co.uk

New Writers Flash Fiction Competition for up to 300 words. Prizes: £1,100, £300, £200. Entry fee: £10 to £27. Closing date 31 January. Details: newwriters.org.uk

Bath Flash Fiction Award wants up to 300 words, with prizes of £1,000, £300, £100 and two highly commended stories given £30 each. All 50 longlisted stories will be offered publication in an anthology. Deadline 1 February. Details: http://www.bathflashfictionaward.com

W&A Short Story Competition 2026. Win an Arvon Residential Writing Week in the free-entry competitions for stories on the theme of ‘play’. To enter, submit original, unpublished short stories up to 2,000 words on the theme shown on the website. The winner will receive a free Arvon Residential Writing Week. Entry is free, but all entrants must register on the W&A site. Closing date is 13 February. Details: https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/competitions/writers-artists-short-story-competition-2026

Farnham Flash Fiction Competition for up to 500 words. Prizes: £100, £25. Entry £5. Closing date 15 February. Details: farnhamfringefestival.org

The Edinburgh Short Story Award 2026, run by Scottish Arts Trust, is for original, unpublished short fiction under 2,000 words. The prizes are £3,000, £500 and £250. There are also prizes for the Isobel Lodge Award for the best story by and unpublished writer resident in Scotland (£750), the Write Flash Mango Award for stories that are fun, amusing, or bizarre (£300) and the First Write Award for the best story by an unpublished writer (£300). The entry fee is £11 per story. Closing date: 28 February. Details: storyaward.org.

CWA Emerging Author Dagger 2026 is for unpublished and unagented crime writers looking for agent representation and a publishing contract. The winner receives £500. They must never have had a publishing contract for a novel of any kind and must not have self-published their entry or any piece of writing of more than 20,000 words. To enter, submit the first 3,000 words of the crime novel manuscript and a synopsis of up to 1,500 words. Entry is £42. Closing date 28 February. Details: https://thecwa.co.uk/awards-and-competitions/the-daggers/the-entry-process

Exeter Writers Short Story Award for up to 3,000 words, not including the title. Prizes £700, £350, £250. Deadline 28 February. Details: exeterwriters.org.uk/p/competition-2.html

Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition for mystery stories up to 3,500 words. Prizes: £500. Entry fee £25. Deadline 27 February. Details: thecwa.co.uk

Fish Flash Fiction Contest for stories up to 300 words. Prizes 1,000 euros, 300 euros. Entry fee 16 euros. Closing date 28 February. Details: ww.fishpublishing.com

As ever, please double-check entry details in case we have made an error.