Story and Poem of the Month

Our Story and Poem for the month of October have very kindly been chosen by love_writing (who has just finished her MLitt with top marks - so huge congratulations to her!) 
 
Wow its been so wonderful to read over the last month's submissions to the site. I have been blown away by the quality and the variety - it was very exciting to read all this new writing! I've gone over and over the short-list and it's so difficult to select just two. For me though, two which I feel personally drawn to are;
 
Poem of the month:    Never Trust A Writer - Parson Thru.  Never trust a writer | ABCtales       
 
'Never Trust A Writer' hooked me in with those two opening lines. Told in a conversational style, it captures the sadness, anger and frustration of the situation. The short sharp beat of the sentences, combined with the content and the grim setting packs a punch. It's real, honest and emotive. Hasn't left me since I read it. 
 
 

A special mention also goes to Macmanaman's Shopping with Kids - told in such wonderfully relatable and gentle way, with a soft underbelly of sadness. Beautiful poem.

https://www.abctales.com/story/mcmanaman/shopping-kids

 
 
 
Story of the month:  7 Nights in Flamingo Hotel - Drew Gummerson Seven Nights in the Flamingo Hotel | ABCtales      
 

 

I love reading writing that takes you by surprise with unexpected word choices and surprising stylistic turns and twists. '7 Nights in Flamingo Hotel' certainly does that. It feels fresh, and exciting and of course very funny. The second person point of view, which can sometimes be tricky to navigate is done here with ease. Didn't want it to end - there's definitely no pain or douleur in reading this.Glad to see more chapters are now available.   
 
 
Hudson Moon's Queens Story and Fresh Air Kid also both deserve a special mentions. They are wonderfully evocative pieces of life writing, which draw you in describing the tough and tender moments of childhood. Beautiful.
 
 

Comments

Thank you to love_writing for choosing Flamingo Hotel. Congratulations to those others mentioned. It's been brilliant to be back on abc and already I've come across some great new writers and to reconnect with some old ones. 

 

Thank you so much for that, love_writing. Can't believe it. Well done Drew Gummerson. You're producing great stuff. Well done everyone on keeping the site vibrant and alive. I'm a lot distracted just now but want to try to read more. Thanks again for the lovely surprise. Xxx

And congratulations!!!!

Parson Thru