This year, the Northern Short Story Festival celebrates its fifth birthday, and we want you to join us!
For the first time ever, no matter where you are in the world, you will be able to come to the festival. That’s because this year, our Summer festival will take place online. So if you have a device and an internet connection, you’ll be able to access our programme of workshops, masterclasses, and even a Virtual Pub Quiz.
Set to take place on Saturday 30th May, this year’s Northern Short Story Festival promises to be something to look forward to in these challenging times. We do hope you’ll join us.
All ticketholders will be sent a link to download Zoom and get on their workshop, prior to the festival. We will also be hosting a short “get online” session in the days before the Festival to ensure that all ticketholders are able to access their workshops.
Saturday May 30th
10.00-12.00 ***SOLD OUT*** Prose Writing for Poets with Rachel Bower – £6
A workshop for poets who want to write prose, and prose writers who want to make their writing sing. We’ll explore how you can use poetic techniques to inspire new writing, and to help you edit and revitalise existing work. Led by poet & short story writer Rachel Bower, whose work has been shortlisted for the White Review Short Story Prize, and longlisted for the V.S. Pritchett Short Story Award. Suitable for writers at all levels. Apologies but this workshop is now SOLD OUT. Tickets are available for all our other events.
1.30-2.30 Interactive Fiction with Krishan Coupland – £4
From Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novels to browser-based Twine short stories, interactive fiction is a thriving form with a long and complex history. This workshop session will provide an introduction to the world of interactive fiction, and give you the tools you need to create, publish, and even sell your own. Led by Krishan Coupland, whose debut chapbook When You Lived Inside the Walls is available from Stonewood Press, and winner of the Manchester Fiction Prize and Bare Fiction Prize. He is unduly preoccupied with theme parks. No special knowledge or experience required. Participants will need to download recommended software packages prior to taking part in the workshop. Links to these will be sent out to these prior to the event. Tickets here
3.00 – 4.00 *** SOLD OUT *** Short Story Masterclass with CG Menon: Using Folklore in short fiction – £5
After the huge success of her sell-out workshop “Writing Compelling Fiction” at the 2019 Festival, we are overjoyed to welcome prizewinning fiction writer CG Menon back to the Northern Short Story Festival.
Folklore provides writers with a rich heritage of characters, images, themes and phrases. In this workshop we’ll be learning how to mine folklore to create short stories that resonate beyond the page with your readers. We’ll look at how you might incorporate folklore into your stories, from rewriting fairy tales to using archetypal characters within your own setting. We’ll also draw on folk tales from a number of different cultural origins to show how these can give your stories a broader cultural frame of reference. Apologies but this workshop is now SOLD OUT. Tickets are available for all our other events.
Virtual Pub Quiz with Joe Williams 7.00-9.00
PWYF / Suggested donation £3
Get a round in at the “bar” and join Saboteur shortlisted writer, poet, and Viz writer Joe Williams for our first ever Virtual Pub Quiz.
Just like any other pub quiz, you’ll work in teams, and try to answer questions in the literary-flavoured Picture Round, Music Round, and Missing Word Round. With prizes in several different categories, and the cheapest pints in Leeds (depending on where you’ve bought your beer), we cordially invite you to join us for a night out in our Virtual Pub, The Farewellto Arms.
Eat as many crisps or pork scratchings as you like, but remember, NO GOOGLING!
