Literary Events
From literary giants to home-grown talents, featuring poets, novelists, broadcasters and musicians, ‘Words at Frome Festival’ has something for everyone in 2017. Headline speakers Germaine Greer, Ann Widdecombe and David Starkey are no strangers to controversy and their talks are sure to raise lively debate, while actor and writer James Hayes promises to entertain with stories from a life in theatre.
This year commemorates the bicentenary of Jane Austen’s death. Open-air theatre company Illyria brings ‘Pride and Prejudice’ to the ECOS amphitheatre, while David Owen Norris will explore the importance of music in Jane Austen’s world. In a lighter vein, Frome Writers’ Collective invite you to enter their flash fiction contest with a monologue written in the voice of a character from Austen’s novels.
Don’t miss the chance to chat to exhibitors at Frome’s second Small Publishers’ Fair, hear novelist Maria McCann on the darker side of Georgian London or discover the winning entry to the Short Story Competition. Look out too for various events combining music and words – everything from rural prose to the works of Spanish playwright Lorca and Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes!
Frome Festival Short Story Competition 2017
There may be several months to go until the 2017 Frome Festival, but preparation for the annual short story competition is already underway. The competition opens to entries on January 1st, although, if previous years are a guide, the bulk of entries will arrive in the last two weeks, many on the last day – all of which makes for a hectic time for organisers and readers in early June! The guest judge for 2017 is Laura Wilkinson, novelist, writing mentor and author of ‘Redemption Song’, ‘Public Battles, Private Wars’ and ‘The Family Line’. Laura will announce the winners at the competition prize-giving on Sunday July 16th 2017.
In 2016, first prize went to David Swann for An Arabesque: the Lamping’, second prize to Clare Golding for ‘Deafening’, third prize to Rolf Venner for ‘Julia’s Breakfast Redux’. The local prize was awarded to Liz Jones of Wells for ‘All These Inexorable Things’; local runner up was Jude Winter of Frome with ‘Hide and Seek’. You can read their stories, chosen by literary agent Jane Judd, at- http://www.fromeshortstorycompetition.co.uk/2016-winners-plus-shortlist/.
Entry is by post or online and the rules, plus full details of how to enter, are on the website www.fromeshortstorycompetition.co.uk
