Competition update 27 July 2016

With 38 days till the closing date, there is still all to play for. To date we have had just 63 stories submitted and I'm eight behind in the reading, looking at two tentative yeses, and a small number of maybes. At this grade of ore, we will need about 300 entries to get 10 yeses for the short list.

By the way with the profit-sharing system, when we go over 150 - break even point - all subsequent entry fee income will be split equally among the ten short-listed. As we only get £4 per entry after Submittable commission, that would produce a prize fund of £600.

If you're wondering what the first 150 entry fees are used for, the answer is for publishing the book, author copies, and the results event. If there's anything left over we'll chuck it into the prize fund as well.

Steve

All details and how to enter: www.newshortstories.com

Can you help trace the Willesden Morozoff family?

Letters

Can you help me find the mystery lady in the photograph? This is the story:

My great aunt Emily Elizabeth Hall married a Russian Tailor called John Morozoff. They had children: John (1891) & Vera Maria (1893), both born in Westminster; then Leslie Paul (1904) born at 18 Grange Road Willesden; then Henry Frank (1898),  Pauline (1900) and Emily Elizabeth (1901) all born at 13 Hawthorne Road Willesden, which subsequently became no.51 Hawthorne Road.

My great aunt died in childbirth with Emily Elizabeth. After that the father moved to l, Brenthurst Road, Willesden and had the children baptized in St.Marys Church Willesden.- they were there but

They moved to Belgium in 1904. Later 3 of the children came back here; they were John, Vera Maria and Henry Frank and I am in contact with this part of the family. However  we don't know what happened to the other 3 children: Leslie Paul, Pauline and Emily Elizabeth.

I have been in touch with the Belgium archives and I was very fortunate that they had the Morozoff file. As they were foreigners in the land they had to inform the authorities when they moved address. So I know that Pauline was leaving Ixelles in Belgium in 1926, unfortunately don't know where to.

The photograph I have is in 1904 in Belgium. But apparently this woman figured in the family when in Willesden. She would have descendants somewhere and if recognized may be a stepping stone to finding where the rest of the family went. I have done work on the Ancestry Search engine and have trawled all the passenger lists and cannot find any of these Morozoffs so have hit a brick wall at the moment.

Kathy

If you have any info. for Kathy, please contact kathleenpjones at  live.co.uk. Ed.

A literary agent to read our winning stories

We are delighted to announce that agent Carrie Kania of literary agency Conville & Walsh has kindly agreed to read the ten winning stories this year. Here is a link to Carrie's profile. Among her many credits, she launched an imprint that racked up 13 New York Times bestsellers. She also works for leading writers in the short story world, including Simon Van Booy, who won the Frank O’Connor award in 2009 for his collection of stories Love Begins in Winter, and Paul McVeigh. So once again, please send us your best short stories. Each one will be carefully read and considered. Thanks. (Ed.)

Today's specials

Sudbury Hill

But remember you can't have a la carte Europop now that we're leaving the EU.

Europop Week - Wednesday - for Remain (2)

Summer Night City - ABBA

Let's enjoy all this wonderful territory of ours.

Europop Week - Wednesday - for Remain

With the added delights of watching the reactions of the irreplaceables Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson in the audience as Andrea takes the high note - and the roof off the Albert Hall

Europop Week - Tuesday - for Remain

Solidarity with Ukraine as Russia attacks it and annexes Crimea, just for wanting to join the EU

Europop Week - Monday - for Remain

Je t'aime / moi non plus - Serge Gainsbourg (France) and Jane Birkin (England) - l'Entante très cordiale. The best pop song in the history of the world?

Europe is ours. Own It!

From the Acropolis to Galway Bay, from Lappland in the Arctic Circle to the subtropical Canary Islands, the European Union is ours. Europe is ours.

AMS on Brexit

Woody Nightshade

Hyper-Reality

HYPER-REALITY from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo.

A thought-provoking video by Keiichi Matsuda. It's brilliant and by turns scary and humorous.

End of Winter

It's cold, it's wet, it's one of those days.
Yes, those days. Gifts of light,
Water, thoughts and air.

It's noisy and crowded on the train,
In the rush hour, but it's an hour
And it holds together one of our days.

In a moment of anguish, breathe
With your mind. It's a moment and
If it weren't there, you'd be dead.

We've had our days, our moments,
And come back for more.

--
Stephen Moran

Katy Darby to judge Willesden Herald competition 2016

We are pleased and not a little excited to announce the judge for the international Willesden Herald New Short Stories 2016 competition.

Katy Darby’s short fiction has won various prizes, been read on BBC Radio 4, and appeared in magazines and anthologies including Stand, Mslexia, Slice, The London Magazine and the Arvon/Daily Telegraph Anthology. She has a BA in English Literature from Oxford University and an MA in Creative Writing from UEA, where she won the David Higham Award. Her first novel, The Unpierced Heart, is published by Penguin (Fig Tree). She is a Visiting Lecturer in Creative Writing at City University, is Literary Editor of .Cent and a former editor of Litro magazine, and co-founded and directs the award-winning short story event Liars’ League.

Katy Darby

There's nothing that Katy doesn't know about short stories, especially since Liars' League recently celebrated its 100th themed live event, in possibly her 100th costume. Liars' League has given their first break to dozens of new and up-and-coming writers, with their stories brought to life by a company of superb actors. For a fiver you can catch the show every first Tuesday of the month Downstairs at the Phoenix, Cavendish Square in London's West End.

Habemus iudicem

We have some news. The investigating magistrate for the 2016 competition. Watch this space.

The unaccompanied child refugee

Save our beautiful souls

Horsenden Hill Park today

On the way in from Melville Road

The bowling green

Playing fields

More playing fields

History of the Kodak factory in Harrow

Now set for closure, The Kodak factory "continued to grow throughout the twentieth century, and by 1965, occupied a 55-acre site, employing at its height ... over 6,000 people." From: A History of Kodak in Harrow | Harrow Online

New Short Stories competition 2016

It’s been a while. We’re going back to a simpler time when the first prize was an inscribed mug. Supported by Liars' League. Closing date for entries will be August 31st. All the details are on our Submittable page. Looking forward to reading for Willesden Herald: New Short Stories 9.



We are delighted to announce that this year's story competition is supported by the mighty Liars' League, the literary spoken word event that is taking the world by storm, after starting in London, and now with cousins in Hong Kong, New York and other cities near and far. For the past several years, the Liars' League company have provided the readings at the Willesden Herald results and anthology launch events, which has made them rather wonderful nights. It's a unique delight for a writer to hear her or his words brought to life by professional actors in front of a live audience. This is one of the things that makes our short story competition so special.

Update: Katy Darby to judge 2016 short stories competition

Tracks

East from Sudbury Hill

Sudbury Hill station

Footbridge

West view

View from the footbridge

Greenford Road

250 jobs at risk in Kodak factory in Harrow

Coming Soon - Swing Time by Zadie Smith

Music. Not the other type of swinging. Or both perhaps. NW2?

‪#‎zadiesmith‬ ‪#‎swingtime‬

"Look, just look, the Vistula is near"

Russian Prints from World War 1

"This exhibition features Russian prints made during the First World War and its aftermath. Taking its title from an early propaganda print produced by Kazimir Malevich, the suprematist painter, and revolutionary poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, the show presents work produced as part of a propaganda effort from the Tsarist war mobilisation in 1914 through to the Bolshevik era and the Civil War. ..." To read on and for full details see
http://www.londonprintstudio.org.uk/…/look-just-look-the-v…/.

At the London Print Gallery, Harrow Road, April 8th to May 7th

‪#‎russianww1prints‬ ‪#‎malevich‬ ‪#‎maykovsky‬ ‪#‎lubok‬ ‪#‎propagandaart‬ ‪#‎londonprintstudio‬ ‪#‎exhibitions‬

The Institute "in liquidation" - Summer classes in doubt

The Institute in LiquidationThe Institute, which has been providing excellent classes for adults and young people at...

Posted by The Willesden Herald on Wednesday, 6 April 2016