Report from the London Short Story Festival

6a00d83451b01369e201b8d1245a87970c-piIt’s a strange thing, but as a publisher and an author, I find I have to very strict about when I wear my work hat and when I wear my writer’s hat, and it’s very rare that I feel comfortable letting those two things overlap. This weekend’s London Short Story Festival was one of those occasions.

Running from Friday 18 to Sunday 21 June, this was only the Festival’s second year running. Despite this, it boasted a jam-packed programme of events and all its Masterclass workshops sold out well before it started. Events featured authors from around the world, from established masters like Ben Okri, Helen Simpson and Toby Litt to new guns like Kirsty Logan and SJ Naude. The Festival is sponsored by Spread the Word, who are keen to represent the diversity of the short story form, and this showed in the programming.

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Selection for the Kilburn Literary Festival Flash Fiction Competition

Ladies and gentlemen, I am thrilled to announce that I have been selected as a finalist for the inaugural Kilburn Literary Festival Flash Fiction Competition!

My entry, Until Then, Sister, has been selected as one of twelve finalists, each one coming to no more than five hundred words.  There will be an event on 30th October for anyone who wants to come and hear the stories, which will be read out by professional actors.  What’s more, the audience then gets to vote on the winner.  That’s right – gulp! – it is that most feared of all things: a public vote!

So come along, hear some stories, vote some votes, and have a gosh-darn literary evening.

For more information, visit the Kilburn Literary Festival website right here.