The New Zealand chapter of 26. From left: Sir Bob Harvey, Richard Parmatatau, Lindsey Dawson, Sue Heggie, Leah Royden, Jane Berney, Paul White
… for a live reading of some 26 work no less.
The Open Book in Ponsonby, Auckland holds regular readings by Auckland writers on Sunday afternoons and after the launch of our Page 26. Line 26 website, 26er Richard Parmatatau approached the bookshop to see if we could not just take a spot, but also respond to a challenge.
Anna Livesey from The Open Book chose a Page 26, Line 26 at random from one of her books and set us the task of writing 260-word short, short story. The brief was to use the exact line as the first line of a story after which the story could go anywhere our imaginations took us.
The line she chose was The right hand side of the drawing shows an arm. It’s from a non-fiction book that none of us knew anything about (cover left). “A tough one,” as Sir Bob Harvey said on the day.
Eleven writers responded, one from the South Island, two from Whanganui in the lower North Island and others are based in Auckland.
The stories that were read out on the afternoon of Sunday 13 October ranged incredibly widely in subject, from one about the lost arm of the Venus de Milo statue, to one about the arm of a body sticking out of sand on the beach to one about an ancient artefact that might show the first ever signature.
We’ll be publishing all the stories on the Page 26. Line 26 website if you fancy a squiz.
– Paul White
I started a podcast about copywriting and AI!
It’s called Brave New Word
https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/brave-new-word/id1769950673
https://open.spotify.com/show/1qYVk8dvfbzkkJOZ9dlbGX?si=SocK-2MmTSyibrZcVjpOkw
– Hayden Maskell
I was selected as a MacDowell Fellow! MacDowell is the first ever artist residency in the USA, established in 1907; and past MacDowell Fellowship Residents include: James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Michael Chabon, Willa Cather, Ta-Nehesi Coates, and Suzan Lori Parks! I’m incredibly honoured to be following in the footsteps of literary legends who I look upto! Full announcement here: https://www.macdowell.org/news/macdowell-awards-146-esteemed-fall-winter-fellowships-to-artists-working-across-disciplines
– Mugabi Byenkya
This year is the National Gallery’s 200th anniversary. As part of the celebrations it has created a film, NG Stories, about the history of the Gallery. They put out a call to ask members if they had any family connections with the NG. I sent in a short piece about my great uncle, Tom Whitehead, who was an artist trained at the Royal Academy School. In 1924 he created an etching of the NG and Trafalgar Square. Every time I see the NG, I also think of this etching and it is as if one image is laid over the other.
My story and Tom’s image have been incorporated into the film. Here’s a preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac5bCvqTnzo
Tom’s etching is towards the end. The full film can be seen in Gallery B until 12 January 2025.
– Hester Thomas
PS – Here’s what I wrote:
In the 1920s, my great uncle Tom created an etching of the National Gallery set against Trafalgar Square. A handful of vehicles navigate their way along quiet roads. It was one of a small series he made of key areas of London. I love the National Gallery and its collections. Whenever I visit I see two places superimposed one on the other: the Gallery of today and the Gallery of a hundred years ago. One in technicolour, the other in black and white. Both Galleries are precious and both connect the pair of us.
Lauren (and social media manager Sarah Elliott, far left) at Fantasycon.
The UK’s speculative fiction community gathered in Chester earlier this month for Fantasycon 2024, the annual conference of the British Fantasy Society. As a BFS committee member I was partly there in an official capacity – and live-tweeting the British Fantasy Awards on Saturday night made me feel like I was back in my newspaper days! – but I still managed to find time to moderate two panels, be on three others, and run a workshop on content marketing for creatives. It was also great to spend some time with 26’s social media officer, Sarah Elliott, who was herself on multiple panels across the weekend. If you’ve got any sort of interest in sci-fi, fantasy and horror, I highly recommend getting involved in this community – the friendliest and most welcoming bunch of ne’er-do-wells that ever was. (And BFS membership starts at just £20 for the year!)
– Lauren McMenemy
I’ve been included in Friends on the Shelf.
FOTS is a fairly new bi-annual London Literary Magazine.
They specialise in short real life stories. They like a mix of well known writers telling more persona tales and not so well known writers like myself.
They are always looking for new contributors, no fee, but you get a profile and an opportunity to read your story at the edition’s London launch.
The next edition is out on the 25th October and my story about a work trip to Japan at a tricky time is included. They are welcoming stories for the Spring 25 edition now.
Worth a look if you write stories with a personal touch.
– Paul Murphy
To a Mill Road Poetry Thursday (here)
I read ‘The bike rhimes,’ ‘The wall and the stable drive and the lane and the next village’ (from 26 Memory Maps!), ‘Music by Arvo Pärt,’ ‘Bus home from working Sunday,’ and ‘Four songs by Samuel Barber.’ All on my blog: www.blurtmetry.blogspot.com
– Aidan Baker
Enjoyed a brilliant tour by David Mullany about the Rugby Estate/Lamb’s Conduit Street on a drizzly Sunday as part of Bloomsbury Festival, as well as catching up, briefly, with 26ers at Wordstock.
Looking forward to inhabiting Frances Hildred Mitchell, a Queen Mary Auxilary Army Corps worker of WW1 for the unveiling of new names being added to the Keighley Roll of Honour on Nov 9th. I’ll be visiting as Frances to give an update on her Great War work, and to celebrate that she will be one of the few women in the country on a Roll of Honour, as well as a Commonwealth War Grave.
– Irene Lofthouse
Irene Lofthouse (left) by Cath Muldowney. Frances Hildred Mitchell (right) courtesy of Men Of Worth
Sue Heggie (centre) reads at 26 New Zealand’s bookshop takeover. Richard Parmatau, Leah Royden, and Jane Berney are enthralled.