Inkerman Writers
a showcase of our work
John Dean's Blog (176)
Opportunity for children's writers and illustrators
This opportunity may interest the children’s writers among you, more on the page link here…
Added by John Dean on August 7, 2015 at 11:17am — No Comments
Earthstrider - a real treat for young readers
Earthstrider by Mike Watson is a lyrical story for children about a magical stranger who makes a river flow again.
Earthstrider can be obtained on Amazon or directly from Thynks Publication Limited…
Added by John Dean on June 4, 2015 at 9:08am — No Comments
Open mic night to be held
The Open Mic night for authors season continues on Thursday June 25, the last before the summer break.
The nights, supported by Darlington for Culture and which offer a forum for writers to read their material and audiences to enjoy it, run at Voodoo Café/Cantina, 84 Skinnergate, Darlington, on the last Thursday of the month. Each session starts at 7pm and the cost of entry is £3 paid on the door.
More information is available from Inscribe Media Limited at…
Added by John Dean on February 27, 2015 at 8:00am — No Comments
A Life of Crime
Advance notice of a Darlington Arts Festival event featuring three Inkerman Writers
Saturday May 23
2.30--4pm
A Life of Crime
Darlington Art Gallery, Crown Street Library, Darlington
Darlington-based crime writers Bud Craig, whose recently published second novel is Dead Certainty, Mike Beck, author of Harry’s Torment, and John Dean, whose latest novel is A Breach of Trust, talk about…
ContinueAdded by John Dean on January 12, 2015 at 11:35am — No Comments
A Breach of Trust to be published
John Dean’s latest novel, A Breach of Trust (Hale), is out on January 30 2015. A crooked businessman suffers a fall at home and there is no reason to think it is anything other than an accident until after he dies when information comes to hand which points towards murder.
Detective Chief Inspector Blizzard and his team are brought in to investigate and attention…
ContinueAdded by John Dean on January 12, 2015 at 11:30am — No Comments
Open mic night
The Open Mic night for authors season continues on February 26.
The nights, supported by Darlington for Culture and which offer a forum for writers to read their material and audiences to enjoy it, run at Voodoo Café/Cantina, 84 Skinnergate, Darlington, on the last Thursday of the month. Each session starts at 7pm and the cost of entry is £3 paid on the door.
More information is available from…
ContinueAdded by John Dean on January 12, 2015 at 11:30am — No Comments
Pam's story included in anthology
An international group of flash fiction writers, collectively known as Flashdogs and including writers from our area, our very own Pam Plumb among them, have launched their first anthology. The anthology comprises one hundred and ten stories from thirty -four writers covering styles and genres from dark comedy to sci-fi to poetry.
The ebook will be available from Amazon and, priced at £1.49. All profits are to be…
ContinueAdded by John Dean on December 11, 2014 at 9:03pm — No Comments
Bud’s latest book is published
Dead Certainty by Inkerman Writer Bud Craig has been published.
Social worker turned Private Eye Gus Keane returns in this gripping murder mystery.
If something happens in Salford, Manchester, it is generally bad news and when two dead bodies turn up within a few hours of one…
ContinueAdded by John Dean on December 11, 2014 at 9:00pm — No Comments
Writers' awards are launched
The Northern Writers’ Awards are now open for applications. The annual awards discover and nurture writing talent from the North of England and there is more than £46,000 worth of prizes and support up for grabs, for writers working across all forms and genres.
There are…
ContinueAdded by John Dean on November 19, 2014 at 1:00pm — No Comments
Murder mystery at the museum
A new exhibition with a literary theme has opened at Head of Steam .
Murder and Mystery Writers: Past and Present is on loan from the National Portrait Gallery until Sunday 14 December.
The exhibition has contemporary photographs of crime writers by award-winning photographer Nicola Kurtz, and Victorian photographic works of authors such as Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle.
Added by John Dean on November 14, 2014 at 8:58pm — No Comments
Spring course dates
Creative writing tutor John Dean is running his popular courses at the Friends’ Meeting House in Skinnergate, Darlington and books are being taken for the Spring 2015 course.
The adult learning courses deal with all aspects of creative writing, focusing primarily on prose, including short stories, novels and other forms of writing as well as occasional forays into the world of stage, theatre and radio.
Each course is different and deals with everything from characterisation to…
ContinueAdded by John Dean on November 14, 2014 at 8:57pm — No Comments
Open mic night
The Open Mic night for authors season continues on Thursday November 27, the last one of 2014 (it resumes in January).
The nights, supported by Darlington for Culture and which offer a forum for writers to read their material and audiences to enjoy it, run at Voodoo Café/Cantina, 84 Skinnergate, Darlington, on the last Thursday of the month. Each session starts at 7pm and the cost of entry is £3 paid on the door.…
ContinueAdded by John Dean on November 14, 2014 at 8:57pm — No Comments
Courses start
Remember - courses start September 16/17 - still places for Tuesdays. Contact John on 07889 554931 if you wish to book.
Added by John Dean on September 11, 2014 at 6:21pm — No Comments
Ghostly goings on at open mic
Hi everyone
The Open Mic night for authors 2014/15 season continues on Thursday October 30 and, since the event is so close to Halloween, the organisers are hoping for some ghost stories.
The nights, supported by Darlington for Culture and which offer a forum for writers to read their material and audiences to enjoy it, run at Voodoo Café/Cantina, 84 Skinnergate, Darlington, on the last Thursday of the month. Each session starts at 7pm and the cost of entry is £3 paid on the…
ContinueAdded by John Dean on September 11, 2014 at 6:00pm — No Comments
Competition goes quarterly
The team behind the Global Short Story Competition has announced that it is going quarterly.
Begun more than six years ago, the competition has until now run on a monthly basis but has switched to one which runs for three months at a time, with the new one running from August 1 to October 31, 2014.
The prizes continue to be £100 for the first prize and a £25 prize for highly commended writers. The entry fee remains £5.
The competition, which has topped £11,000 in prize…
ContinueAdded by John Dean on August 6, 2014 at 11:44am — No Comments
Bringing the arts community together
An initiative to bring together artists across the borough of Darlington is being launched.
The inaugural First Wednesday Arts Network, run by Humantics CIC and Darlington for Culture, will take place on 6th August between 6pm and 8pm at the Forum Music Centre, Borough Road, Darlington.
Allison McKay, who runs Humantics CIC, owners of the Forum, said: “It was strongly identified at the Arts Debate led by Darlington for Culture during the arts…
ContinueAdded by John Dean on July 4, 2014 at 11:08am — No Comments
Open mic night
The Open Mic night for authors 2013/14 season ends with the final session on Thursday June 26. The nights, supported by Darlington for Culture and which offer a forum for writers to read their material and audiences to enjoy it, run at Voodoo Café/Cantina, 84 Skinnergate, Darlington, on the last Thursday of the month. Each session starts at 7pm and the cost of entry is £3 paid on the door. They will return on September 25 for the beginning of the 2014/15 season..…
ContinueAdded by John Dean on June 26, 2014 at 1:00pm — No Comments
Pam goes into print
Added by John Dean on June 17, 2014 at 9:08am — No Comments
Autumn term dates
Creative writing tutor John Dean is running his popular courses at the Friends’ Meeting House in Skinnergate, Darlington and bookings are being taken for the Autumn 2014 course.
The adult learning courses deal with all aspects of creative writing, focusing primarily on prose, including short stories, novels and other forms of writing as well as occasional forays into the world of stage, theatre and radio.
Each course is different and deals with everything from characterisation…
ContinueAdded by John Dean on June 1, 2014 at 5:05pm — No Comments
Kindle magazine seeks submissions
Stephen Baird, of Darlington, has recently setup a Kindle-based quarterly magazine publishing science fiction, fantasy and horror short stories and is looking for more submissions.
The first issue of Wicked Words in now up on Amazon (look for…
ContinueAdded by John Dean on May 15, 2014 at 9:06pm — No Comments
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About
DfC
The Inkerman Writers are members of Darlington for Culture (DfC), which was set up in 2010 to help save Darlington Arts Centre from closure.
Its members include representatives of arts and community groups.
DfC was established after the centre’s owner, Darlington Borough Council, announced that budget cuts meant that it would have to withdraw its subsidy from the Arts Centre.
Although the centre closed, the organisation remains active - more at www.darlingtonforculture.org
Publications
Welcome to the site created by the Inkerman Writers to showcase our work.
Based in Darlington, North East England, and having celebrated their tenth anniversary in 2013, members have enjoyed success in a variety of arenas, including winning, and being shortlisted and highly commended, in short story competitions, having novels published and publishing the short story anthology A Strawberry in Winter, which can be obtained by visiting the website www.blurb.com
The group's second anthology of short stories, Christophe's Farewell and Other Stories, can be obtained, cost £4.95 plus postage and packing, from
The Inkerman Writers’ latest book, Out of the Shadows, which was launched as part of the 2013 Darlington Arts Festival, is on sale. The book can be ordered direct from
http://www.blurb.co.uk/b/4204019-out-of-the-shadows
The group also produced The Last Waltz, a double CD of short stories, available by contacting deangriss@btinternet.com, cost £5 plus p and p.
Several of our writers wrote original one-act plays in a collaboration with the Green Theatre company, which were performed at Darlington Arts Centre early in February, 2012.
Darlington-based Inkerman Writers have produced their latest anthology of short stories, Inkerman Street, based on the demolition of a fictional northern street and the stories of the people who lived in it.
The book, which features a variety of stories ranging from horror to comedy, was launched to a large audience at the Darlington Arts Festival Literary Day on Saturday May 26 and begins like this:
“Inkerman Street is still and graveyard-hushed tonight, the terraced houses cold behind boarded-up windows, silent sentinels among a sea of wasteland. No one lives here now and tomorrow the bulldozers will move in to flatten the houses to make way for the Council’s Grand Plan.
“Although the people are long gone, the houses still have life. Peek into one of the bedrooms and see on the wall a painting of a seaside scene, brightly-coloured boats bobbing in the harbour, fishermen pipe-smoking in the noonday sun and seagulls wheeling high above the choppy waters. In the roaring silence of the night, you can hear the screeching of the birds and taste the salt air, acrid and herring-sharp at the back of your throat. It is an illusion; the bedroom is empty and the blooms on the faded wallpaper have long since wilted.
“The air in the houses is musty with neglect yet but a few months before, these were bustling homes filled with frying bacon and steaming irons, whistling kettles and playing children. The houses witnessed all these scenes for more than 150 years. Behind their curtains were enacted a thousand stories but tomorrow they will be destroyed because Inkerman Street is the last of its ilk.
“Now, on the eve of the street’s death, the people who once lived here have returned, gathering solemn and silent in the mist, the ghosts of the past come to pay final tribute….”
The anthology can be purchased at http://www.blurb.co.uk/bookstore/invited/7524452/bae89c993c98ec8c8b37b12d6b9b37ecced5dec3
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