Blogs

ABCtales Critiquing Service - good reports!

Posted by tcook on Mon, 26 Mar 2012

Over the years many of you have asked for a critiquing service and it has taken a long time to find (a) someone good enough to do it well and (b) someone who will charge what we regard as a reasonable fee. Finally, we've done it! Lorraine Mace is a freelance writer, columnist and tutor for the Writers Bureau. Winner of the Petra Kenney International Poetry Competition (comic verse category), Lorraine's fiction, features and humour have appeared...

The Favourite - Film Review (Spoiler, not my favourite movie!)

Posted by elsie katz on Wed, 26 Jun 2019

The critics thought this was wonderful, the public less so - I can see why in this barrowload of hysterical, historical power-struggle vomit. Queen Anne has gone off her nut after none of her 17 babies lived. Lady Sarah Churchill has a lot of power and control over her but step by step Abigail Hill, a dispossessed aristo who enters the house as a maid ousts Sarah off her perch There's a constant atmosphere of sex and violence and sexualised...

The Road to Red Square

Posted by philwhiteland on Wed, 26 Jun 2019

Being the fourth part of The Moscow ChroniclesI Follow the link s for Part 1 - Moscow Calling , Part 2 - Taksi! and Part 3 - Night in the City I awoke bright and early the next morning. Well, it was relatively early for me and I’m never all that bright in the morning, but I did my best. I staggered down to the dining room which was somewhat gloomy, which rather matched my mood. The gloom was a consequence of the fact that it was below street...

The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files, BBC 2, BBC iPlayer, directed by Tim Kirby and David Ross.

Posted by celticman on Tue, 25 Jun 2019

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00068sk/the-unwanted-the-secret-windrush-files Historian David Olusoga investigates the story, behind the story, of the Windrush Scandal. He unearths government papers to show the duplicity and hypocrisy of the British Government in creating ‘a hostile environment’ for those considered undesirable because of skin colour. Who can forget Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists? Enoch Powell and his ‘...

Calling all poets!

Posted by london_calling79 on Tue, 25 Jun 2019

‘Hear me raw’ is a monthly poetry reading hosted on Skype for those people who can’t make live readings due to geography, nerves or simply because sometimes life gets in the way. The brainchild of internationally recognised journalist Hannah Storm and published poet Alex Smith (london_calling79) ‘Hear me raw’ seeks poets who are willing to read live via Skype (audio only at the moment) and to share the beauty of their craft with other poets...

Leggings - Maybell’s squad!

Posted by maisie on Mon, 24 Jun 2019

Leggings - Maybell’s squad! Over the intervening weeks, Maybell has been working on her presentation, giving interviews and talks by radio, making sure her game is well known and played out. She has had members it seems of a public services course over to Norwich for evening work, and I do so hope that it doesn’t include the nude films, bdsm, and the dirty blankie house of 1001 pleasures…. They skulk at the bus station if I see them while...

Prejudice and Pride: The People’s History of LGBTQ Britain, BBC 4, BBC iPlayer, director James Giles.

Posted by celticman on Mon, 24 Jun 2019

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0578x02/prejudice-and-pride-the-peoples-history-of-lgbtq-britain-series-1-episode-1 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08zn99q/prejudice-and-pride-the-peoples-history-of-lgbtq-britain-series-1-episode-2 Presenters Susan Calaman and Stephen K Amos take us viewers through 50 years of LGBTQ history from before and after the (partial) decriminalisation of homosexuality in the 1967 Sexual Offences Act...

'Swim With Me In Deep Water' by Penny Sharman

Posted by Cerasus Poetry on Sat, 22 Jun 2019

The latest release from Cerasus Poetry is ‘Swim With Me In Deep Water’ by Penny Sharman. It is already available to buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/107332852X?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 and will shortly be in stock to buy directly from Cerasus: https://cerasuspoetry.com/books/swim-with-me-in-deep-water You can discover more about Penny and read some of her poetry on her website: https://pennysharman.co.uk She has already had a pamphlet...

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point

Posted by Insertponceyfrenchnamehere on Fri, 21 Jun 2019

Posted by Philip Sidney on Fri, 21 Jun 2019 Summer's been a bit of a wash-out but everything in the ABCtales' garden is rosy. I've gone for a clutch of pieces that didn't get the golden cherries in the week but are no less deserving for that. First-up, a lovely piece of nature writing from Di-Hard is our poem of the week: https://www.abctales.com/story/dihard/18th-june-woods-and-back Story of the week is one that spoke to me for lots of reasons...

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point.

Posted by Philip Sidney on Fri, 21 Jun 2019

Summer's been a bit of a wash-out but everything in the ABCtales' garden is rosy. I've gone for a clutch of pieces that didn't get the golden cherries in the week but are no less deserving for that. First-up, a lovely piece of nature writing from Di-Hard is our poem of the week: https://www.abctales.com/story/dihard/18th-june-woods-and-back Story of the week is one that spoke to me for lots of reasons from the prolific and talented Rosalie...

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