Writing on the Fringe
We’re announcing the shortlist today!
Congratulations to everyone who entered. Head over to the Fast Foreword page to find out which stories – and authors – made it to the shortlist!
The judges will choose ten stories for our live reading event next week and make the final announcement next Friday, 15th September.
Thank you to everyone who entered!
Tickets for our writing workshops are on sale now!
Saturday’s one-hour workshops are designed to help you find your writing voice.
How do you want to tell your story? Are you happy to be an observer, watching your characters from the outside, or would you rather put yourself and your readers inside their experiences? Is the action taking place in the past, or are you telling the story as it happens? Person and tense are powerful tools for a writer, and this workshop, with award-winning author Rachel Churcher, will explore the benefits and limitations of different storytelling choices.
Suitable for aspiring writers, as well as those more experienced who want to improve their technique.
Tickets: £10 (over 18s) or £5 (16-18 year olds with ID). Over 16s only.
Numbers are limited – book now to avoid disappointment!
In one month from now, the very first Foreword Fringe Literature Festival will begin. In one month and two days, it will all be over.
I can’t remember exactly when it started, but I know it was at the Market Cross Gallery in Bury St Edmunds. Sadly, that venue has closed down – one of the many casualties of obscene energy prices and lack of support for the arts. Myself, Rachel, and a random, organically-grown collection of Suffolk-based authors used to set out our stalls every month at their Maker’s Markets. We attempted to sell books and talk to strangers, entirely ignoring advice from parents and those horrific public information films they used to show on BBC2.
It was probably the very first Market Cross Maker’s Market where the idea of a Fringe Literature Festival came up. Only the two of us were there to test out the first one. We were either more desperate than most to get out of our houses after two years of lockdown, or we both had too many unsold boxes of books at home. It was both, in my case. Either way, we found ourselves there, face masks in place and hands duly sanitized. It’s strange now to think how clean our books must have been at that time. We can’t promise they will ever be that clean again!
From whenever that fateful day was until now, it’s been a whirl of ideas, notes – handwritten and digital – spreadsheets, zoom calls and four billion emails. (The last number is probably an exaggeration … only probably.) We started with no budget, called in favours, invited friends, shared everything we had, and said from the beginning that all we wanted was for ‘everybody to win.’ And people understood that because they want to work that way too. Given the chance, almost everybody does. And the whole thing is still growing too. A brand new event is about to be added, and there’s still time for us to create more. We’re a couple of authors, ideas are not the problem. Time and money are our only constraints, which is probably just as well.
I wish we’d circled the date on the calendar when we actually decided: ‘Yes, let’s do it and start right now!’ but we didn’t mark it. Perhaps it seemed like just a nice dream at the time. Maybe we never believed we could actually do it. But it is happening, and so often we remind each other that what we’ve done so far, creating something out of nothing, is extraordinary and, quite frankly, unbelievable.
In one month and two days, the Foreword Festival will be packing up to go home. If it works, if people like it, if we’re not both totally mad by the end, perhaps we’ll dare to dream about doing it again next year. If and when we do decide that, I’ll make sure to circle the date on the calendar this time. Because you never know, somebody might ask us one day: ‘How did the first ever Fringe Literature Festival begin?’
Jackie Carreira, 7th September 2023
Rachel and Jackie with their books at their first Market Cross Maker’s Market
Tickets for our writing workshops are on sale now!
Saturday’s one-hour workshops are designed to help you find your writing voice.
Historical fantasy (even just historical fiction) is such a wide subgenre that knowing where to start can be confusing. This workshop explores the complicated relationship between history and fantasy and examines different modes of research to help you jump start new stories. Tiffani Angus, co-author of Spec Fic for Newbies, will use examples from her own work to illustrate her process while leading you on a couple of fun activities to get you started finding story ideas. Be ready to take some notes and do some internet searches!
Suitable for aspiring writers, as well as those more experienced who want to improve their technique.
Tickets: £10 (over 18s) or £5 (16-18 year olds with ID). Over 16s only.
Numbers are limited – book now to avoid disappointment!
Tickets for our writing workshops are on sale now!
Saturday’s one-hour workshops are designed to help you find your writing voice.
Here’s the first, from award-winning author Jackie Carreira, exploring the creation of character and voice. Using exercises, insight and a variety of techniques, this workshop is designed to step away from the cliché and help you to create unique characters yourself.
Suitable for aspiring writers of all genres, as well as those more experienced who want to improve their technique.
Tickets: £10 (over 18s) or £5 (16-18 year olds with ID). Over 16s only.
Numbers are limited – book now to avoid disappointment!
The deadline to send in your entries for the Fast Foreword Flash Fiction event is midnight TOMORROW (31st August)!
We’d love to see your creativity, and to show off your work as part of our very first Foreword Festival. Submit your story!
If you’re looking for inspiration, check out our sample story.
Workshop ticket sales for the Foreword Festival are now LIVE! Places are limited, so book your tickets now.
Writing workshops on Saturday 7th October, Publishing Workshops on Sunday 8th, at the gorgeous Guildhall in Bury St Edmunds.
Tell your friends! Tell your writing groups! And check out the workshop details.
We’re all in this together, and we really want everyone to succeed!
Shhhh!
The Foreword Festival is running a Flash Fiction event – Fast Foreword – and if you live in East Anglia (or you are one of our Book Fair authors) you are invited to help us create it!
We’re looking for stories of up to 500 words. Quick, punchy narratives that you can sit and read in the time it takes you to enjoy a cuppa. Stories can be on any theme, in any genre. Just remember that this is a fringe literature festival, so weird and wonderful is encouraged, and more likely to be selected!
A panel of judges will select up to ten stories to be read aloud to the public by professional actors in various locations around Bury St Edmunds during the festival, some or all of which we hope to publish in a Fast Foreword anthology in the future and/or publish on our website. We may also choose stories that are not performed to include in the anthology or website.
We want to see your creativity, and to show off your work in a variety of forms as part of our very first Foreword Festival. Bear in mind that we may choose not to perform anything with a 15+ rating, as there are likely to be children present at the Fast Foreword venues.
To enter, please read our terms and conditions first (below), then go to our online submission form and upload your creation! Closing date for entries is 11.59pm (GMT) on August 31st 2023. (That’s 20 words per day if you start now!)
We’re looking forward to reading your stories!
Terms and Conditions