Agenda for December

There will be no meeting in December (decided in November meeting).

Minutes for November

Date : Thursday 15th November.
Time 7.45pm
Place: The Old Boot Inn, Eastgate Street (first floor)

1. Notices (none)
2.  Readings.
3. Homework: Arc short story (details below)

Length: between 3,000 and 5,000 words Subject: the future of privacy, loneliness, self-reliance and surveillance.  Guidelines: Is the future social? Is it friendly? Will technology bring us closer together, or seal us each in their own living tomb? Will we act more informally towards each other in the future, or will the Global Village set new, strict standards of behaviour? Will we savour human contact, or grow to fear it? Technology, in whatever guise, should feature prominently in your story, but bear in mind that technology is not about pure mechanics: it's about how people and the things they make work together. We're looking for fiction, not opinion, and the human element will have to be compelling. Entry: Anyone, anywhere in the world can enter.  Deadline: Submissions must be received before Monday 14 January 2012.  Selection: Arc's editors will select one story for publication in Arc 2.1, out towards the end of February 2013.  Prize: We will pay £500 for that story and £200 for each of five runners-up. We will use all of these stories to stimulate conversations about the future on our Tomorrow Project website. Submit your story here. 4. No meeting in December.   Next meeting on Thursday January 17th at the Boot Inn, Eastgate Street at 7.45pm.

November Meeting

Date : Thursday 15th November.
Time 7.45pm
Place: The Boot, Eastgate Row

1. Notices. 
2. Readings.
3. Homework. 
4. AOB.

October Drink

Because there is no October meeting, there will be a drink on the third Thursday (18th.) 8.00 at The Brewery Tap, Lower Bridge Street.

October meeting

There will be no meeting in October due to the Chester Literature Festival.  The next meeting will be on Thursday November 15th.

Minutes for September

Date : Thursday 20th September.
Time 7.45pm
Place: The Old Custom House, Watergate Street (first floor)

1. Notices.

(i) On Friday 26th October at 3pm  George H will be reading at the Glegg Arms, Heswall. 
(ii) On the 3rd October one of Die's stories will be featured in Fear by Crooked Cat, and also in an ebook of Fairy Tales.  
(iii) Die will be talking about her editing and self-publishing experiences in a talk called ReVamp in the Literature Festival on Wednesday 17th October at 1pm in the Town Hall.  
2.  Readings.
3. Homework: Write a piece entitled the best/worst day of my life.
4. AOB. There will be no meeting in October due to the literature festival.  

Agenda for September

Date : Thursday 20th September.
Time 7.45pm
Place: The Old Custom House, Watergate Street (first floor)

1. Notices.

2.  Readings.
3. Homework. 
4. AOB. 

Agenda for August

Date : Thursday 16th August.
Time 7.45pm
Place: The Old Custom House, Watergate Street (first floor)

1. Notices.

2. Warm-up session. 
3. Readings.
4. Homework. 
5. AOB. 

Minutes for July

Date : Thursday 19th July.
Time 7.45pm
Place: The Old Custom House, Watergate Street (first floor)

1. Notices.

Apologies: Ravi, Adrian, Stanley, Lizzie, Miles, Jim, Suzanne, David A, Ian E, Tim and Annie.


Reminder that the deadline for the pieces on fossils is August 31st.  Either a poem or a short piece of prose to Kathryn Riddington at the Grosvenor Museum.


2. Readings. 


3. Homework. Pieces on fossils (any aspect - impression of one, lifestyle, finding one, part of story...)


4. AOB. Next meeting Thursday August 16th at the Olde Custom House, Watergate Street. 7.45pm.

Agenda for July

Date : Thursday 19th July.
Time 7.45pm
Place: The Old Custom House, Watergate Street (first floor)

1. Notices.

2. Readings. 
3. Homework. 
4. AOB. 

Performers at Frodsham's Summer Solstice Event

Photo by Mark Hewitt

A small but select group...(photo missing John J who was also present but camera-shy): in order Austin, Ian E, Muriel, George, Clare, Die and Ian C (and Tiglet, front).  Read Mr Tiglet's version of events here.

And below: from the front...

Photo by Ravi Raizada

and with Die and Tiglet.

Photo by Ravi Raizada

June Meeting

Our June meeting will be replaced by the Midsummer Night's Performance Evening on the Thursday 21st June at the Castle Park Arts Centre, Frodsham 8-9pm.

Agenda for May

Date : Thursday 17th May.
Time 7.45pm
Place: The Old Custom House, Watergate Street (first floor)

1. Notices.

2. Kathryn Riddington from the Museum presentation on writing about  fossils and the evolution of life.
 
3. Readings.
 
4. Homework.
 
5. AOB.  Next meeting CAN Solstice Event in Frodsham on 21st June 8 - 9pm.

Minutes for April

Date : Thursday 19^th April.
Time 7.45pm
Place: The Old Custom House (first floor)

1. Notices.

a.  Meeting place - decided to stay at the Old Custom House.

b. Voted to opt for an evening performance for Chester Writers at this year's Litfest.

Interest in Bitesize slot, poetry for children in GobbleDEEbook and warm up sessions in school.  

 c.  Decided to invite Kathryn Riddington to give us a chat about forthcoming Museum exhibition.

2. Readings.

3. Homework:

Think of a minor argument you’ve had this week.  Write an account of  it in the form of a diary extract for yourself, then a letter to a friend.  Now try and write another letter this time using the voice of the person you were disagreeing with.  Go through this last piece again exaggerating the word choice, the syntax and the imagery.  Make it extreme.

 4. AOB.   Next meeting May 17th

Agenda for April

Date : Thursday 19th April 
Time 7.45pm
Place: The Old Custom House, Watergate Street (first floor)

1. Notices.
 (i).  Meeting place - any suggestions/comments.
 
(ii). Die, our Chester LitFest rep, has reported back from the Chester LitFest with the following:
(a)  Chester LitFest.
(b) Recommendations for novelists.  
(c) Recommendations for poets for children.
(d) Tentative suggestions for warm up sessions in schools from writers for children.

(iii)  Kathryn Riddington from the Museum on writing about  fossils and the evolution of life.
 
2. Readings.
 
3. Homework.
 
4. AOB.

Minutes for March

Date : Thursday 15^th March.
Time 7.45pm
Place: The Old Custom House (first floor)

1. Notices.

Sheriff of Cheshire’s Prize.

2. Warm-up:

Think back to when you were aged 5. Quickly draw a map.

Make a list of the boundaries.

3. Readings.

4. Homework:

Write a piece about the real or imagined territory of your childhood world. What lay beyond it? What guarded it? Describe what happened when you broke through

5. AOB. Next meeting April 19th.

Agenda for March

Date : Thursday 15th March
Time 7.45pm
Place: The Old Custom House, Watergate Street (first floor)

1. Notices.

2. Warm Up Session.

3. Readings.

4. Homework.

5. AOB.

Minutes for February

1. Notices.

Apologies: Michele, Stanley, Elizabeth, David A and Kay.

2. Readings.

3. Homework: Go for a walk. When you come back try and remember as much as you can about one of the people you saw (a stranger). Describe the person's voice, companions (if there were any), what the person was doing and where you think your character will go and do next.

Then imagine the character are stopped by a policeman. Why? What happens next? What is the character's reaction?

4. Next meeting March 15th.

Agenda for February

Date : Thursday 16th February
Time 7.45pm
Place: The Old Custom House, Watergate Street (first floor)

1. Notices.

2. Readings.

3. Homework:

5. AOB.

Minutes for January

Date : Thursday 19th January
Time 7.45pm
Place: The Boot, Eastgate Street (first floor)

1. Notices.

Apologies: Lizzie, Rina, Tim, Beth and Fiona.

Decided to say yes to the event with Cheshire Artists Network at Castle Park Arts Centre in Frodsham on 21^st June (6pm to 10pm) on the theme of Solstice.

2. Warm-up session.

(i) What is the last good film or drama you saw on the TV? Describe, in one sentence, one of the characters in the film. What was the main important thing that happened to him? How did he change?

(ii) without taking your pen off the page write down what comes into your head when you think of the word 'cold'.

3. Readings.

4. Homework: Taking the character from the film again put him in a cold place using the words, phrases and ideas you have listed. Describe what happens to him now.

5. AOB.Next meeting at The Old Custom House, Watergate Street Thursday 16th February.

Agenda for January

Date : Thursday 19th January
Time 7.45pm
Place: The Boot, Foregate Street Row (first floor)

1. Notices.

2. Warm-up session.

3. Readings.

4. Homework:

5. AOB.