Two strands

Much gratitude to Jose Varghese! It's wonderful to be listed for two stories with the astonishingly talented Susmita Bhattacharya in the Fifth Strands International Flash Fiction Competition!

Something rhymed

 

Image copyright: Rae Joyce / Rachel J Fenton 

 

A few months ago, I contacted Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney to ask if I could guest post on their blog SomethingRhymed.com -- reader, they said Yes! Much gratitude to them and to Clêr Lewis editing my post so beautifully and for making the process so enjoyable.

Flash list

Overjoyed to have made the shortlist for the Strands International Flash Fiction Competition. It's a cracking shortlist to be on and I'm chuffed to bits.

Re petition

I am part of a group trying to save Red House, the home of feminist writer and businesswoman Mary Taylor who, besides being extraordinarily important in her own right, was Charlotte Brontë’s best friend. Caroline Goodwill is leading the charge for the Brontë Red House Group and the following is her call for help:

The Red House Petiton was launched on Change.org at the end of July. By the end of August we had 3,000 signatures but let it run to 3,700 to allow for unacceptable signatures. 3,000 is the number required to go to Full Council meeting at Kirklees local authority. Unfortunately, when we submitted the signatures, we were told that we had only achieved 2,730 acceptable signatures. This was because almost 1,000 signatures were from abroad. We thought signatures from abroad strengthened our case that Red House is of national and international importance but as far as KC are concerned they were not acceptable.

We are now attempting to gain 4,200 signatures as quickly as possible so we can re-submit the petition. The petition is now ring-fenced to disallow non UK signatures. Incidentally, Change.org sometimes ask for a donation - we are not asking - it is not for us - but for Change.org and is entirely optional.  If any of you have links to local Facebook sites that we are not already using, perhaps you could let me know and I will put the petition on that site. This seems the quickest and most efficient way to obtain signatures. 

https://www.change.org/p/the-leader-of-kirklees-council-save-red-house-yorks-inspiration-for-shirley-by-charlotte-bronte

Please do not sign again if you have already signed as both signatures will be disqualified.

Once we have the required number of signatures, we will re-submit to Kirklees Council and hope to gain a date for presenting to the full council.  It should be around mid-October.  We are under time pressure because a number of things happen in November which will make Red House much more vulnerable.  

Once the petition is safely presented and we have a date for the meeting with full council, we must mount a strong national and international campaign to save the site and prevent building on the grounds.  Many emails and letters will need to be produced and if there is anyone in the group who would like to assist with this task, please leave your email in the comments - I won't publish them - and I'll put you in touch with Caroline, the secretary of our group.

Any ideas or names of people who may be able to help with funding, information, publicity etc - please let us have that information. 

Pencil art

Back in April 2017, I was lucky enough to be conducting research for my Mary Taylor graphic biography at the Brontë Parsonage Museum Library while artist Clare Twomey invited visitors to recreate a long lost manuscript of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. I was thrilled to be able to add a line and was rewarded with this beautiful inscribed pencil. I just got it framed. Many thanks to @studioclaretwomey.

Red house alert

80 signatures needed: please sign and share this petition to save Red House, home of Mary Taylor.

Who is Mary Taylor, you may be wondering? Brontë fans will know her as the best friend of Charlotte, and she should be as well known. For the past three years I have been researching and writing her life story in a quest that has taken me from New Zealand to New York to Yorkshire: it's fascinating and, given the chance to read it, I think you would be as obsessed by Mary as I am. Saving Mary's family home is a crucial step in preserving herstory. Please help.

River dove

Thank you to Paul Farley and Andrew McRae for including "River Dove" on the @placesofpoetry map. Longlisted for The Rialto Nature Poetry Competition, judged by Michael Longley, I'm stoked to be able to pin it where it belongs: https://www.placesofpoetry.org.uk/poem/21849/  #poetry #poems
not least because of the beautiful William Hole map it's pinned to. 

Flash in the dark

Chuffed to bits and very grateful to have had my flash "Dinghy" selected for inclusion along with stories from Anita Arlov, Lisa Bell, Leanne Radojkovich, Eileen Merriman, Kirk Lafferty, and others, on this billboard to celebrate Flash in the Dark for National Flash Fiction Day, June 22!

Flash in takahē

I'm very grateful and chuffed to bits to have three flashes published in takahē magazine, thanks to Zoë Meager. You can read them here.

White fungus

WHITE FUNGUS

地址：

408台灣台中市南屯區南屯路二段420號7樓之5

Address:

7F-5, No. 420, Sec. 2, Nantun Rd., Taichung City, Taiwan 408

 

White Fungus to Release 16th Issue

 

Taiwan-based magazine White Fungus is about to release its 16th issue. The new issue features a 50-page interview with Carolee Schneemann, an epic exploration of the world of animal music, plus Kurt Gottschalk reports on a New York performance of Max Richter’s SLEEP.

 

Taipei curator Jeph Lo describes witnessing the emergence of noise music in Taiwan’s post–martial law era, alongside a photo essay on political demonstrations held during the island’s transition out of military rule. There is an article about 2018 Turner Prize–nominee Luke Willis Thompson, plus an interview with Dor Guez about the Christian Palestinian Archive. The issue features new performance art from Taiwan, plus a profile of obscure Wellington street artist Ruffo who appears in Chris Kraus’s classic fantastical memoir I Love Dick.

White Fungus was started in 2004 by brothers Ron Hanson and Mark Hanson in Wellington, New Zealand. The first issue was an impromptu protest against the building of a motorway that would cut through the city’s arts district, destroying heritage buildings and forcing artists from their studios.

 

Copies of the first issue were produced on a photocopier, wrapped in Christmas paper and hurled anonymously through the entrances of businesses throughout the city. The name of the publication comes from a can of “white fungus”, a commercially produced pulped beverage the Hansons discovered in their local supermarket in Taiwan. In 2009 the Hansons relocated back to Taiwan where they have since been active publishing and directing live art events.

 

The 16th issue of White Fungus will be hitting shelves world-wide in mid-January via Boutique Magazines. If you would like any further information about White Fungus, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

 

Ron Hanson

Editor-in-Chief

editor@whitefungus.com