Learning to Drive - The Guardian

A short piece of mine about family members teaching each other to drive will appear in The Guardian Family section this Saturday.

My piece contrasts the stress I suffered as a young child when my father attempted to teach my mother to drive, with the overly laid-back approach of my ex-husband, who would fall asleep when he took me out on driving practice!

An Earthless Melting Pot

The Words with Jam anthology is now available from Amazon

I'm rather proud that it includes a tiny story of mine, Flight Path, which won the Shortest Story category in the 2014 Bigger Short Story Competition

Slim Volume - Wherever You Roam

Wherever You Roam, the second Slim Volume, is available on Amazon here

It contains some brilliant pieces penned by some fabulous writers - and it also contains two of my flash stories, set in Russia and India.

Cleckheaton Literature Festival

Our first literary festival was a fabulous success. Everyone worked so hard, and achieved a tremendous amount in a very short time. I'm so proud to have been a part of the team!

All our authors want to come back next year - which is a fabulous endorsement. They thought the festival was really well-run and that we were a lovely, friendly bunch!

The highlight for me was - of course - Andy Kershaw's one man show, The Adventures of Andy Kershaw. I'm so pleased he accepted my invitation to appear. We had a great audience, and Andy entertained us for nearly three hours without a break. He said I'd done him proud, and my friend brought a tear to my eye when she said that my mum and dad would have been proud of me too!

Bring on next year's festival!

Only Two Days to go to Cleckheaton's First Literature Festival!

Cleckheaton's first Literature Festival kicks off on Thursday!

Full schedule: Thursday 7th May

10-12 Screenwriting workshop with screenwriter Stephen Moore
10am Nordic Bronte Trail
1.30-2.30 War and the Writer with Jason Hewitt
4-6 Stepping into character creative writing workshop with Martyn Bedford
6-9.30 Poetry event featuring Talking Zebras and Cleckheaton Library poets
7.30-9.30 Meet the 'The Quick' Author Lauren Owen

Full schedule: Friday 8th May

10-12 Children's poetry workshop with John Irving Clarke

1-3 Fantasy/sci-fi workshop with Justina Robson
3.30-5.30 Peformance Poet Luke Wright
6.30-8pm Crime Panel with Helen Cadbury, Alison Taft and Leigh Russell

The line-up for Saturday includes three great FREE events in West End Park as well as Joanne Harris and Mark Wright, Dr Who author, amongst others in Cleckheaton Library and DJ and travel writer Andy Kershaw at Whitcliffe Mount High School.

Full schedule: Saturday 9 May

10-11am Children's event with Gillian Rogerson
11 & 3.30pm FREE events in West End Park - Spin a Silly Story with Chol Theatre and Story Trail with Johnny Woodhams
1-3pm FREE event in West End Park - Telling Tales with Julie Pryke
1-3pm Gospel of Loki with Joanne Harris
3.30-5.30pm Who-ology with Mark Wright
7.30pm-Late Adventures with Andy Kershaw at Whitcliffe Mount High School

Full schedule: Sunday 10th May

10-12 Life Writing Workshop with author Alison Lock
1-3 Sci-fi/Fantasy Creative Writing workshop with Ian C Douglas author of the Infinity Trap

3.30-5.30 Down to the Sea in Ships with writer, radio producer and journalist Horatio Clare

To find out about all our great family events, see our website:www.litfestcleck.co.uk

To purchase these and tickets for other CLF2015 events: www.cleckheatonliteraturefestival.ticketsource.co.uk

You can also book your tickets in advance at Cleckheaton Library, or buy tickets on the door.

Flash Flood Journal

Yesterday was National Flash Fiction Day, and my story, Flask, was selected as one of the many that are now up on the Flash Flood website - a celebration of the tiny story!

You can read it here

Slim Volume - Wherever You Roam - Book Launch - 21st May

I'm proud to have two of my flash fiction stories in this fabulous anthology!

BOOK LAUNCH NEWS

Kate Garrett

So the second of Pankhearst's Slim Volume poetry and flash fiction anthologies, Wherever You Roam, will be released on 15 May 2015.

Since the Slim Volume: No Love Lost party was such a success, we're holding another launch with Slim Volume writer readings and open mic poets at the Harland Cafe, right here in sunny Sheffield - on 21st May at 18.30.

Free entry, so come and celebrate with us, have a glass of wine, or some cake, or whatever (that stuff isn't free). All the Pankhearst books will be available to buy, and some freebie Pankhearst merch will be floating around, too. Invite your friends if you feel inclined, even better if they like indie lit and poetry (and cake/wine/tea/coffee/free stuff).

If you'd like an open mic slot, please post on the event wall, send Kate a Facebook message here, or email a.butterfly.pausing@gmail.com. The pieces in Wherever You Roam are based around a sense of place, but open mic is un-themed - so do what you like. See you there!

Map Harland Cafe 68 John Street, S2 4QU Sheffield

My Interview on Linda Parkinson-Hardman's Blog

MEETING MANDY HUGGINS – HYSTERIA 2015 POETRY JUDGE

5, April 2015

Mandy is a short story and travel writer. Words With Jam Shortest Story Winner 2014. New Travel Writer of the Year Award – British Travel Writers Guild 2014.

What is the one thing that no-one would usually know about you?

There is hardly anything that people don’t know about me – I’m a straightforward sort of girl…

What is the book that you wished you had written?

There are so many great books I would love to have written, such as The Siege by Helen Dunmore, The Housekeeper & the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, Stoner by John Williams, The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway, or the wonderful Jane Eyre. But the one that stands out for me is The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. I love all his books, but this is my favourite. It is so beautifully written. A story of a lost life, unsentimental and utterly heartbreaking. A masterpiece.

How did you choose a title for your book?

With my short stories, a pivotal phrase or sentence often suggests a title to me once the story is written. It usually comes quite easily – although the odd one has proved to be difficult. However, I chose the title for my novel before I started writing it. I was walking on the beach over the Christmas holidays, discussing the plot with my partner, and it just popped into my head. The Shadow Architect. I’ve had it printed onto a mug as a mock book cover – faux Penguin classic style!

Who would you like to play you in a film of your life?

Meryl Streep would be my first choice. So many of her films are in my top 50, and she’s always been one of my favourite actresses. Susan Sarandon is a pretty good second choice I think. Of course both of these ladies are a little older than my good self, so I’m assuming we’re allowing time travel here, so that Meryl can appear as her younger self when it comes to covering the earlier years of my life!

What did the best review you’ve ever had say about you and your work?

I’ve been incredibly lucky with reviews of my work – I’ve received so many positive and lovely comments. It’s always flattering to be compared to a writer you admire, so one of my favourites has to be from Fiona Cooper, the Global Short Story judge. She once said that a story of mine had ‘echoes of Steinbeck at his gritty best.’  However, as brilliant as that undeserved comparison may be, the nicest thing is to find out that you’ve touched someone with your writing. A few people have told me that my writing has made them cry, but I have also had comments about my wit and wry humour too – so I hope there’s a balance! People have often used the word ‘beautiful’ to describe my writing, which is incredibly flattering. Only this week, a fellow travel writer in my on-line group read a short piece of mine and left the comment, ‘I found it absolutely beautiful.’ I can’t think of a better review than that…

Finding Mandy Huggins

You can also meet Mandy on her blog at:  troutiemcfishtales.blogspot.co.uk and on Twitter by the name of @troutiemcfish

Five Million Stories

Five Million Stories is now available, the fifth volume of short stories from the One Million Stories Creative Writing Project. 

I'm rather pleased that it includes my short flash piece, Junk.

You can buy a copy here.

Cleckheaton Literature Festival Update!

Cleckheaton Literature Festival​ is now full steam ahead! Our funding was granted last night for the 18 event festival, so we're pretty chuffed.

As well as our brilliant headliner, Andy Kershaw​, who is presenting his one man show in the Great Hall at Whitcliffe Mount on the evening of Saturday 9th May, we are hosting a wide range of events for all the family over the four day event.

The Crime Panel is confirmed for Friday 8th May 2015, 6.30pm at Cleckheaton Library, featuring Northern Crime Award-winning author Helen Cadbury, Leeds-based author Alison Taft and Leigh Russell, author of the best-selling Geraldine Steel and Ian Peterson novels.

All the other events will be confirmed very soon, including talks, readings and workshops by such lovely and talented people as my friends Alison Lock​ and Ian Charles Douglas​.

If anyone is interested in reserving tickets for Andy, the Crime Panel or any other event  You can pre-book tickets here

Cleckheaton Literature Festival

Cleckheaton, birthplace of the Panther motorcycle, Mr Men, and home to the largest (allegedly) curry house in the world, is having a bit of a do this May, in the form of the first ever Cleckheaton Literature Festival. The festival is being organised by my writing group - Cleckheaton Writers Group - in conjunction with Friends of West End Park, between 7th-10th May.

Tickets are already available for our headline act, Andy Kershaw, who will be presenting his one man show at Whitcliffe Mount on Saturday 9th May at 6.30pm. Please send me a message if you want to reserve tickets (£8), or see our Facebook page for more information, and details of the other events.