“Eddie ran. He could hear the footsteps behind him, running and splashing, sometimes falling back and sometimes just a few feet away. Twice his foot slipped on some bit of wet nastiness spilling out from the ruptured plastic trashbags strewn all over the narrow, obstacle course-like alley. Both times he managed to keep his balance, but lost a few valuable yards of lead. In the mingled dim light from the streetlamp near the entrance on Wallace and the flashing neon sign advertising “Southside Liquor” in bold, red letters, Eddie could see the back wall of the alley just a dozen or so yards ahead; the end of the line…”
So begins the story that is…what? Just another, slick, noir-style crime drama with a gimmick? Or is it one of the more exciting and innovative concepts to make use of this elusively indefinable Web 2.0 thingy that everyone is banging on about? With a bit of luck and some generous word of mouth, ArtsWom hope that the descriptively-named Collaborative Writing Experiment will prove to be the latter - spreading and inspiring a wave of similar projects.
The premise is simple (though, perhaps, the difficulty lies in the execution); using Writeboard, creative writers from across the world will be able to work together to create a uniquely imaginative novel. Contributions are submitted as comments that are then added to the main text by the editor.
Jettboy, the brains behind the experiment, invited members of the Wetcanvas forums to take part earlier this month and a small community of writers has already begun working on the story – ArtsWom has already joined in, being impressed by the editor’s easy-going charm and the fact that he is, basically, inviting others to have fun. Whilst such collaborative projects run the risk of being torn apart by over-serious contributors alienating the casual participant, we feel assured that Jettboy is hoping for writers with lively imaginations rather than the most anal punctuation.
At the moment, you must know the username and password to access the page and take part. This is being spread by Jettboy and his fellow writers in – what we imagine to be – a “Pssst! The password is ‘swordfish” kind of way. If you fancy having a look, leave a comment and we will send you the details or, better still, join Wetcanvas and speak directly to Jettboy.
We will be following the progress of the Collaborative Writing Experiment and, of course, contributing when we have the time. We will also be writing an article about the concept of collaborative writing and the possibilities it offers to us creative types. Don’t miss it.
Speaking of signed copies of books…We have yet to review John Baker’s generously gifted copy of his novel, The Chinese Girl. Rest assured, however, that this is in the pipeline - as is a review of Debi Alper’sNirvana Bites (who would have thought writing for an arts blog would have been so demanding!).
Until these reviews have been published, fellow literature fans, you can continue to get your lit-fix by visiting Bookarazzi. As mentioned on John Baker’s blog, Bookarazzi is a new website bringing together a number of published authors who have a strong presence on the web. The site features a blog, news, events, member bios and a wealth of other resources for writers, readers and, really, anyone with eyes.
All the best to Jessica Duchen – writer of the eponymous, classical music blog – who was in Richmond, Surrey today signing copies of her novel, Alicia’s Gift, to celebrate the release of the book in paperback. Alicia’s Gift is a tale following the life of a child prodigy, whose genius is in her piano playing, and charts the impact of her talent on those around her. The novel is available on Amazon, where it has received some positively glowing reader reviews - follow the link to find out more.
While most of us Harry Potter fans can not are simply nervously awaiting the release of the seventh and final instalment of the hugely-popular series, the most die-hard of Potter-lovers out there are already thinking further ahead by launching a petition for J.K. Rowling to continue the enthralling adventures of the ‘boy who lived’ past the forthcoming The Deathly Hallows
Blog, Random Thoughts – Do They Have Meaning?, takes the opposing view from the “millions, perhaps billions” of fans the Waterstone’s-sponsored campaign, www.saveharrypotter.co.uk, are trying to attract. Random Thoughts finds the prospect of closure appealing explaining why in a post titled, Potter Fans to Rowling: Save Harry.
ArtsWom share this view and look forward to getting our grubby mitts on our reserved copy come the 21st July. Undoubtedly, by the time we reach the conclusion, we’ll be tearing our hair out wanting more – which is all part of the fun. If you absolutely, positively can not bear to spend the rest of your lives without the latest from Hogwart’s, we’re sure the stories will continue over at the Harry Potter Fan Fiction website, which boasts over 41,000 user-generated tales for your amusement.
This is just a quick note to the fans of ballet and literature, as it concerns you both…Sky Arts has had to make a schedule change. The short Ballet Rocks: Dance With A Difference, which was due to air on 30th June at 11:50 has been replaced with Sky Arts At Althorp.
Sky Arts At Althorp goes behind the scenes of the 2007 Althorp Literary Festival to get the insider view. This year the festival has a list of hosts that includes Tracy Chevalier, Sarah Bradford and Ronnie Corbett.
The Hay Festival was a huge success and it would be such a shame for anyone to miss out, so for those who were unable to attend I have information that will give you instant access to all of the weeks Hay-lights!
Our sponsors Sky Arts, as part of their fit-to-burst, Hay-on-Sky micro-site have added yet more content. Now available for free download is a compilation of some of the most entertaining, intriguing and interesting speakers from the festival. The hour long video, is hosted by Mariella Frostrup and puctuated with from-the-field interludes by Rory McGrath. The hosts chat to Maureen Lipman, the Hairy Bikers and Ian Rankin along with many other festival attendees. And if that wasn’t enough there is also a couple of shots of some rain sodden, yet very happy looking literature fans.
The Best of Hay-on-Sky is also available free as a podcast and instructions on how to get can be found here. There is also room for you to leave a comment if you should feel the compulsion.
The spirit of the Hay Festival continues to permeate throughout the small, yet culturally explosive (in a good way, of course), portion of the Internet we call home. Crime fiction blog, It’s a Crime (or a mystery), carries on from where they left off with part two of their riveting big Hay round-up, this time with the added flavour of the author’s own pictures from the event. There is also a more detailed focus on the discussion with actor, Neil Pearson, on book collecting – which is genuinely far more interesting than it sounds!
Readers of It’s a Crime still have the Ruth Rendell event from Hay to look forward to and the author will be attending the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival in five weeks’ time. Crime fiction continues to be one of the most popular of genres in the UK, and It’s a Crime is an excellent resource for fair-weather and diehard fans alike.
The original draft of this post has, unfortunately, been lost in the unfathomable - and treacherous - depths of our ‘My Documents’ folder. Unfathomable due to the rather hit and miss file-naming method, treacherous as some unpublished articles best remain so and unfortunate as a classically awful pun headline must remain (blissfully?) hidden from public amusement. Long-term readers should know that it is ArtsWom policy for even the most tenuous of puns to be given the chance to shine but, after 24 hours of consideration, this is one double entendre that will not be dredged back up from the heap.
This post concerns the enviable Hay Festival round-up article from the UK crime fiction blog, It’s a Crime! (or a mystery). The author, Crimeficreader, begins by lamenting the fact that she was unable to attend as much as she would have liked, but still manages to present an excellent and extensive report of the festival - and promises more over the coming weeks. The article starts with a summary of opinions from other attending bloggers (including our guests Debi Alper and John Baker) as well as coverage from traditional media. The bulk of the report, however, presents Crimeficreader’s own highlights from the event - including a write-up of the Peter Falk interview…after spending the last few weeks breaking in our Columbo DVD boxed set, we still can’t get enough of the guy!
In related news, a signed copy of The Chinese Girl by John Baker graced our postbox this morning. We’d like to offer a big thank you to John for this, we look forward to reading it and will post a review of the novel soon after.
John Baker’s latest post, What’s Left at Hay, reports on the fiery debate that took place earlier today at the renowned Hay Festival. Stephen Marshall and Nick Cohen, two liberal authors, attracted a large crowd discussing the Left’s recent failure to confront the policies of the Right and, most significantly, the soft-line being taken by British liberal intellectuals who – so believes Cohen – have become apologists for Islamic fundamentalism. Jump over to John’s blog to read more…
Continue to watch daily Hay coverage on Sky Arts’Hay-on-Skyround-up, every night at 8pm.
ArtsWom would like to offer a special thank you to Debi Alper for her extensive report on her stay at the Hay festival. The highly descriptive post (that took a gruelling five hours to write) paints a vivid picture of what we’re missing out on whilst raising interesting questions about the direction the festival is heading. Debi’s guest, Fictionbitch, notices a similar change and you can read her thoughts in her post titled, Town of books or town of Telly? Cultures clashing in the Welsh Valley.
Meanwhile, John Baker’s more narrative coverage continues to entertain on his blog with his latest entry, Rain all the way at Hay, updating us on the ongoing (and increasingly more intimate) relationship with his impromptu room-mates, the marchioness and marquis of Wilsey.
Sky Arts’ daily Hay on Sky round-up event continues for the duration of the festival and can be seen on Sky channel 267 (268 for HD) at 8pm.
John Baker begins his Hay coverage with a beautifully descriptive piece about his arrival at the hotel. Despite having to bunk up with a pair of young aristocrats, John seems to be in high spirits and looking forward to seeing what the rest of the weekend has to offer in terms of surprises.
Aiming to help you get the most out of the Hay Festival - even if you’re following from the peace and quiet of your own home for whatever reason – we’re here to drop a nod in the direction of some great online resources to facilitate your literary inquisitiveness.
Firstly, we would be remiss by neglecting to mention our roving bloggers-on-the-scene, authors Debi Alper and John Baker. They have kindly agreed to be our eyes, ears and noses at the literary festival and will be reporting on the events in their blogs.
If you want to know what you’re missing – head along to the Hay Festival’s online programme which provides a complete listing of all events over the duration of what Bill Clinton famously dubbed the ‘Woodstock of the mind”.
Activity on The Guardian’sHay Festival messageboard is picking up and this is an excellent venue to read about what’s going on and maybe even get your hands on some spare tickets for the events.
Skycast has a number of videos of the Hay Festival for your perusal. Likewise, the ArtsWom YouTube channel is regularly being updated with new content exclusive to Sky Arts.
Of course, Sky Arts’ Hay on Sky, an hour-long round-up of the day’s events, kicks off tonight starting at 8pm. Click this link to Sky Arts’ official website to find out the details.
As the Chosen One of this - slightly damp - nation’s only dedicated arts channel, ArtsWom receive special privilege to get our ink-stained fingers on the latest news and updates from Sky Arts HQ. Therefore we are able to present to you the exclusive promo for their Sky Arts coverage of this year’s Hay Festival that begins on the 25th May.
The short 40-second clip draws amusing comparisons between the legendary literary festival and the more common imagery associated with festivals such as Glastonbury and Reading. Keep your eyes open and see how many of the Hay clues you can pick up…oh, and you’ve got to love the Penguin tattoo!
Last night, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize saw Angolan journalist and author Jose Eduardo Agualusa awarded £100,000 (to be split between him and his translator) for his novel, The Book of the Chameleons. The book, set in contemporary Angola, was praised by the The Independent literary editor, Boyd Tonkin, for, “its witty originality and profound humanity…” Tonkin, who also judged the awards, said the novel was, “blessed by a captivating translation from the Portuguese by Daniel Hahn”.
Catheryn, book publisher and author of the blog RiskingIt, was present at the awards ceremony and was moved to write a thoughtful and beautifully written article lamenting the shortcomings of the prize.
“Once upon an arts blog cheery, while I pondered my vocabulary,
Browsing many a quaint and curious forum of cultural lore—
While I nodded, nearly sleeping, suddenly there came a beeping,
As of some impersonal greeting, greeting over Google Talk,
“Tis some Twitterer,” I muttered, “Meeting over Google Talk—
Only this and nothing more.”
Ah, (quite vaguely) I remember it was in online in December,
As an aspiring signed-up member I thought it best to fill the form,
Eagerly I cursed the lateness; vainly I sought the time I wasted
When my blog was not updated – updated for the ArtsWom horde –
For the strange irreverent rabble whom ArtsWom seems to draw –
Comment us here for evermore.”
It’s safe to say that the celebrations (much like the awful puns) never end at ArtsWom HQ. However, we were motivated to step things up a gear in honour of William Shakespeare’s birthday. Yes, the world’s greatest wordsmith (if he were alive today) would undoubtedly be getting wasted down The British Lion before cruising along to ABV’s to binge-drink the night away as a perennially British way to celebrate his 443rd birthday. Unfortunately, today also marks the anniversary of his death and so, as a small token of our appreciation of his work, we present a quick round-up of some of the best bard-based blogs from today.
April is the Cruelest Month offers some rational thought in regards to USA Today’s article announcing the alarming reduction in the teaching of Shakespeare across major institutions in both the UK and the States. Coffee, Coffee and More Coffee reveals the latest Bollywood version of a classic Shakespeare play and Diamond Geezer brings us some insight into the famed wordsmith’s background and how they have fared over time.
So, let’s forget for one second that this may not even be Shakespeare’s birthday and come meet us down the club at 10. Ruffled collar is optional.
If you can detect a faint whiff of garlic in the air, it’s because the French Film Festival UK has invaded our shores with the typically-French intention of mocking our dainty, English sensibilities and seducing our spouses. That’s just the price we p
