Roll away the stone

PG newsletter, June 2009

"Changes for the next Willesden short story competition: a small entry fee will be introduced to cover running costs. Any extra will be donated to a charity and the accounts published online. As you know, this is not the first time we have donated to a charity. Last year we donated $10,000 to Comic Relief (I think most of you have read about that exciting time in literary history). If we can't make money, the least we can do is give it away." (More)

New Judge

Following on from Zadie Smith and Rana Dasgupta, the esteemed Richard Peabody has kindly agreed to choose the winning entry for the 2009-2010 competition.

Richard Peabody is an author and poet based in Washington, D.C. A native of the region, he is perhaps best known as one of the founding editors for Gargoyle Magazine and editor for the anthology series Mondo. He also runs a small press called Paycock Press; aside from acting as the official publisher of Gargoyle Magazine, Paycock Press has released a number of anthologies and works by individual authors.

"Peabody's own fiction and poetry is often set in Washington, D.C. and the surrounding region and is often noted for strong influences from the Beat Generation and experimental authors of the 1960s like Ken Kesey. During his writing and publishing career, Peabody has taught fiction writing for the University of Maryland, the University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins University, and the Writer's Center. He currently resides in Arlington, Virginia with his wife and two daughters." (Ref: Wikipedia)

You can read an interview from 2003 with Richard at Write This.