WEEKLY POST October 4th

CONFERENCES
‘The Border as Fiction’- INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE SHORT STORY - TORONTO
Invitation to go to the International Short Story Conference, in Toronto, June 2010. To participate in a panel discussion, and to read. It would be a marvellous opportunity to take the text book to a wider audience.
GET WRITING CONFERENCE, Feb 2010 – HERTFORDSHIRE
Invitation to run a short fiction workshop at this conference held at the de Havilland Campus of the University of Hertfordshire in February 2010, organised by Verulam Writers. Talks by Salley Vickers and Adele Geras among others – I am really looking forward to this.

REQUESTS TO SUBMIT
1.A new piece of work, signed, for auction at a literary lunch to be held at The House of Commons.
2.A non-fiction essay for a forthcoming anthology by adopted adults.

FORTHCOMING
Reprint of The Return of the Baker…(2nd, Fish Prize, 2009) in Art from Art Anthology, Modernist Press, LA, USA.

CATCH-UP
Sevenoaks Literary Festival
Fellow Salt author Carys Davies and I entertained the Sevenoaks Lit Festival Book Groups Tea on Saturday 26th September. Readings, discussion, questions and answers. A generous crowd, lovely chocolate cake, and 35 books got sold between us, which is brilliant going!
Tales of the Decongested
Je opened the batting for Tales of the Decongested, Friday 25th September, at Foyles, Charing Cross Road. TOTD has been taken over by two colleagues from the old Fiction Workhouse, and there are now very smart minibooks of writing by the readers to buy to add to the experience. It was especially lovely to hear Rebekah Lattin Rawstone, TOTD founder, read a story herself.
Small Wonder Festival
I can’t add much to Tania Hershman’s account of the festival, which takes place on my doorstep. (Well, nearly!)
However, as it is so wonderful to ;’discover’ a writer, even though they have been around for years - I would like to draw everyone’s attention to the writing of Manzu Islam. I bought both his collection for short stories and his novel. The stories are deeply engaging, evocative, intensely thought-provoking – as was his reading at Small Wonder. He eclipsed the others in his event quite cataclysmically. He must have wondered who this nutter was who rushed up with two books for signing, and pressed a copy of her own book into his hand! But I reckon, if someone gives you a gift, you try to return something, no matter how little.