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Posted by Ewan on Fri, 01 Sep 2023 Competition was fierce this week as it has been for all of the month previous. Story of the Week Sean McNulty’s The Bradbury is to his usual very high standard and just pips Jane Hyphen’s ‘ Is That All There Is ’ and The Other Terrence Oblong’s ‘ The Woollen Mill Problem ’ to the accolade. Poem of the Week Turlough’s beautiful and moving ‘ You Never Said ’ is this week’s Poem of the Week. I’d like to mention...

Our site has been overflowing with wonderful pieces this week - thank you so much for posting them, and thank you all for your generosity in leaving comments for others Story of the Week was exceptionally hard to pick today, but in the end I've decided on Jane Hyphen's brilliant 'His Bit of Fluff' Our Poem of the Week goes to skinner_jennifer for her wonderful recollection of a summer childhood in the country Big congratulations to both! https...

Posted by airyfairy This week two pieces in particular lodged in my brain and wouldn't let go. Poem of the Week is onemorething's beautiful and thoughtful 'The Loneliness of a Cuckoo'. We're used to thinking of them as the bad guys of nest-stealing, but this poem contemplates what identity means when you don't have your own place in the world: The Loneliness of a Cuckoo | ABCtales Story of the Week is Mark Say's 'Dinner with Adele'. It's far...

I just wanted to say a very big thank you, firstly to onemorething and Mark Burrow for the organising and the MC-ing, and secondly to all our wonderful readers who gave such brilliant performances - I think it was our best yet! Our first time readers: Di_Hard Turlough Jane Hyphen And also: celticman onemorething marandina hudsonmoon Mark Say Sean Mcnulty Mark Pithie monodemo You are all stars!

Our Story and Poem for the month of July have very kindly been chosen by Mark Say: Poem of the month It’s been a close call in choosing poem of the month, with a handful of works in which a short, sharp choice of words and vivid imagery has been used to strong effect. This characterises my top choice, Healing (for an old mate) by smokejack, a powerful evocation of uncontrolled dark thoughts during the night, and the renewal of an appetite for...

Chosen by Ewan This week’s story of the week is a ‘Of Long Women and Little People’. It’s a splendid slice of whimsy, written in the style of academic writing and as such is as dryly funny as so much of Sean McNulty’s work. Read it here Our poem of the week this week is Under Late Spring Sky by skinner_jennifer, which creates a scene of bucolic beauty for the reader. Read it here This week’s inspiration point can be found here .

Posted by airyfairy I hope no-one's suffering too much from the heat, choking on wildfire smoke or getting too soggy from the great British rain we're having in my part of the world. Story of the Week is another installment in the life of Mark Burrow's heatbreakingly wonderful young protagonist Jason. This chapter gives him a rare moment of triumph and exhileration, along with - as usual - some killer one liners and observations on the world...

UPDATE: Our reading list is now strictly speaking FULL, but we might have room for one or two depending on timings. Please contact rachel@abctales.com to let her know if you want to go on the waitlist. For all readers already on the list, here's the link to register - please do so as soon as possible. Also if anyone would like to come along to be in the audience, you will also have to complete the registration link or you won't get in. Hope to...

Chosen by Ewan Story of the Week No beating about the bush, this week’s Story of the Week is Turlough’s Miss Australia 1978 in four parts. Miss Australia 1978 Pt One Miss Australia 1978 Pt Two Miss Australia 1978 Pt Three Miss Australia 1978 Pt Four I did enjoy returning member Sooz006’s continuing series Silas Nash catch it all here Celticman’s Goatie 17 continues to maintain this series’s high standards too. Poem of the Week I cannot deny that...

Our picks for the month of June have very kindly been chosen by Mark Burrow: ABCtales – Pick of the Month The joy of ABCtales is in the variety. Everybody is welcome to play in the sandpit of prose and poetry. Looking over the work in June, there was plenty of writing to choose from. It seems obligatory for anyone who does Pick of the Month to say it’s been hard to make a selection. Well, as someone doing this for the first time, I can confirm...