What I Remember - An Anthology in Aid of Everyday Victim Blaming

I've just discovered that I have a short story in the new anthology, What I Remember. It's in aid of a great cause  - to raise money for Everyday Victim Blaming, who 'relentlessly challenge the institutional disbelief around domestic & sexual violence and abuse'.

It's available from Amazon

Cinnamon Press Short Story Competition 2015

I'm delighted that my short story, 'Pink Knickers', was one of the runners-up in this year's Cinnamon Press Short Story Competition.

The judge, Jeremy Worman, said this about my story:

‘Pink Knickers’ by Mandy Huggins is a cheeky, touching narrative about a moment of teenage romance that has unforeseen consequences and delivers in the ending what is promised at the start.

All ten of the winners and runners-up will have their stories published in an anthology, 'The Day I Met Vini Reilly', in Spring 2016.

The Bradt/Independent on Sunday Travel Writing Competition Finalists

I'm thrilled to have reached the final twenty in this year's competition with my commended piece about Japan. Well done to all he great writers who made the list!

26/08/2015 08:34

Written by Hugh Collins

The Bradt/Independent on Sunday travel-writing competition finalists

We have our six finalists. The 20 most highly rated entries on the theme Serendipity were re-read (several times), evaluated, pondered over and discussed during our meeting in London yesterday. The four judges during this final stage were Hilary Bradt and Adrian Phillips (respectively founder and MD of Bradt Guides), Jon Lorie of Travellers’ Tales and Sophie Lam, Head of Travel at the Independent on Sunday. Two other judges from Bradt had helped to compile the long-list. 

It seems to me that each year the standard of writing gets better. The theme this year inspired some particularly good stories that were a joy to read, but we were also looking for excellent writing, the ability to shape a story in the required number of words, and general – for want of a better word – oomph.

With so many excellent entries, it was enormously difficult to select the shortlist of six writers from whom the best overall and the best unpublished writers are chosen. Entries which in some previous competitions could well have been among the finalists found themselves overtaken.

The names of the six finalists are listed below. In addition, those whose entries just failed to make the shortlist are listed as Highly Commended, followed by Commended entries that were liked by several of the judges and the Special Mentions which caught the attention of at least one of the judges.

The winners will be revealed at an awards ceremony at Stanfords Bookshop on Monday 7^th September, and we will post the results – as well as all the six finalist entries – on our website the following day. You can also read the overall winner’s entry in print in The Independent on Sunday on Sunday 13^th September.

The Prizes

• First Prize: As well as publication of the winning entry in The Independent on Sunday, the main prize is an eight-day fly-drive holiday for two to Iceland, donated by Discover the World, and a commission to write a travel feature about the trip in the newspaper. 
• Best Unpublished Writer: An unpublished writer will win a five-night rail holiday for two through the Swiss Alps to the Cinque Terre in Liguria, the opportunity to write a short account of the trip for The Independent’s website, and a place on a travel writing weekend run by Travellers’ Tales (the UK’s leading training agency for travel writing).
• Best Young Writer: There was no award given in this category this year.  

The Finalists (In alphabetical order)

Matt Dawson

Liam Hodkinson

Joanna Mason

Deborah Parrott

Sally Stott

Susanna Thornton

Highly Commended

Matthew Adams

Moira Ashley

Sarah Bianchi

Michael Crome

Sandi Dunn

Stephen Fabes

Catherine O'Sullivan

Rory Osborne

Commended

Sarah Ackroyd

Matthew Adams

Jean Ashbury

Susan Gathercole

Mandy Huggins

Special mention

Paul Davies

Julia Hammond Johnson

Kelly Holman

Sara Moon

Penny Monro

Sarah Pope

Dom Tulett

- See more at: http://www.bradtguides.com/articles/cat/news-competitions/post/travel-writing-2015-finalists/#sthash.80qGKyCU.dpuf

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