The Michael Round Prize 2025 is now closed. Thanks to everyone who took part.
The competition, which was free to enter, is for pieces of fiction up to 1,200 words long, and is dedicated to the memory of our late and much-missed Chairman. The competition attracted more than 270 entries from 37 different countries. Thanks to our hard working panel, the judging process is already well in hand and we will announce the results at our November meeting.
At our regular meeting on 13 October, Stella led a session on writing memoir, life stories and autobiography. Memoirs have become an increasingly popular form of creative writing in recent years (even putting aside all the stories which are really lightly veiled autobiographical fragments). After all, if we accept the old advice to ‘write about what you know’, what could be a more appropriate subject than your own life?
Update: The notes and reading list from the meeting are here:
Peter gave a presentation on the benefits, disadvantages and risks of entering competitions (and he does actually recommend it). You can see the presentation, with commentary, below.
Jane Austen stands high in the ranks of English writers. If we have to think of one example of painting, we are likely to pick the Mona Lisa: if we have to name one piece of classical music, it might be Beethoven’s fifth symphony. The play, I suppose, is Hamlet, but surely the novel must be Pride and Prejudice. However, it isn’t always appreciated that Austen was in some important ways an innovator. She was a pioneer and prime user of the technique of Free Indirect Style (the name varies a bit) in which the thoughts and feelings of a character are expressed through the voice of the narrator. She does it with such skill we don’t even notice, but some of her finest moments are delivered this way.
Jo will kindly hosted our Summer Party on 9 August – a very pleasant afternoon for a glass of Pimm’s (or two).
Thanks to Stella for producing a newsletter!
In a cozy burrow beneath an old oak tree, Peter Rabbit sat at a miniature wooden table, nibbling the end of a carrot thoughtfully. Around him were stacks of parchment, and ink pots made from hollowed-out acorns.
Outside, birds chirped and the wind rustled the garden leaves, but inside, Peter was lost in a world of his own creation — a tale of adventure, turnip heists, and cunning escapes from farmer foes. He called it “The Tale of the Bramblewood Bandits.”
Now and then, his cousin Benjamin Bunny would peek in, offering suggestions (“Add a hedgehog with a prickly temper!”), while Jemima Puddle-Duck stopped by to provide editorial advice (“You must revise the bit about tails — it’s all fluff!”). Peter was determined. He was going to enter the Michael Round Prize!
’If you’ve visited a bookstore recently, chances are you’ll have seen displays filled with healing fiction titles such as Michiko Aoyama’s What You Are Looking For Is in the Library (2023, US) and Hwang Bo-reum’s Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop(2022, US)…’
Croydon Writers 