unfurling.net

Writing in ensembles

The Short Review, edited by Tania Hershman, brings you original reviews of short fiction collections, written by reviewers who are themselves short story writers. The February 2008 issue includes Pauline Masurel's review of a new collection edited by Jeffrey Eugenides, called My Mistress’s Sparrow Is Dead: Great Love Stories, from Chekhov to Munro.

Heads & Tales is a loose collective of writers, musicians and more, based in Bristol and skillfully herded to perform by Ursula Wills-Jones. They present events of storytelling and music, featuring short stories read live by their writers. Pauline has been a regular reader with Heads & Tales since its inception in 2006.

Bath Storytelling Circle takes place at 8pm on the third Monday of each month, upstairs at The Raven in Bath. The evenings include stories, poetry and song. Entry is free.

Watermark is an anthology of writing by thirty-five graduates from the MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University College. It was launched at the Bath Literature Festival in February 2005 and is available from Amazon.co.uk and through bookshops by quoting the ISBN 0 9540526 4 1.

The book was written and edited by MA students from the class of 2003/04. It was edited by Robin Pridy, contains an introduction by the novelist and short fiction writer Tessa Hadley and features three of Pauline's shorter stories.

Cover: Pauline Sturges

In October 2006 and October 2007 Hannah Godfrey organised The Ribbon Project in Bristol and beyond. Pauline joined those who made their mark on the city by sharing the act of tying coloured ribbons.

Design: Tim Wright

Tim Wright's In Search of Oldton is an amalgam of true stories that he and contributors have remembered about a town from their youth. Or is it a pack of lies? Shuffle the facts and judge for yourself. Mazzy's recollections of the place include motorways and imaginary dogs.

The last remaining documented memories of Oldton now exist online and as special edition packs of playing cards but the search was also turned into a radio play broadcast by the BBC in 2006.

Michael Szpakowski's project imagining ourselves consists of non-digitally-produced black and white self-portraits. and includes Pauline's self-portrait in words. A collection of the portraits showed at the Houston Art Car Museum as part of the exhibition Face in July 2005.

Margaret Penfold is compiling a collaborative Plant and Garden Collection to celebrate the ways that people around the world enjoy their plants and gardens, including a ramble about laurel.

Writers Junction took part in Kicking The Can in Walcot Street, Bath in June 2003 and splashed around in The Bath Suite.

Assorted contributions have been made to The House of Words, which provides performance space for various stories, objects and verbs. The House is a MOO-based series of writing events organised by cahoots and Everdeen and forms a part of The Boulevard des Desseins.

Various unsettled Claims are in progress with Randy Adams and Everdeen Tree. Claims first set sail in July 2002 at Incubation2.

A few lines were cast in QUICK-SHIFT, a writing event that took place in January 2002, organised by Everdeen Tree and co-managed by Andrew Oldham.

QUICK SHIFT

The Blind Tiler's Assistant is a trio performed by the blind tiler, his wife and assistant in frAme5:Digital Labour, for Love or Money.

Writing existed as one part among many of Jevalenazdeth, whose voices could be read in the Collaborative Writing conference at the trAce WebBoard until its closure on 30 May 2003. As for what a jevalenazdeth actually was...well, Jevalenazdeth was as jevalenazdeth did...or didn't. Hopefully that's clear.

Under the Umbrella emerged from the course Experiments in Creative Writing: Collaboration, held at the University of Reading in Summer 2000.

Contract:Expand, written as part of SpeedFactory in 1999, drew on the writing of most of that project's participants.

Further words can be found, scattered on the waters, at the Lost Property Office, a place where anyone is welcome to contribute, and in various trAce-related projects, such as: the Imaginary Post Office run by PostMaster Randy Adams, The Eclipse Quilt, Home and Alan Sondheim's Lost project.