THE WRITER’S NOTEBOOK by n quentin woolf
Here is a fluff-free collection of pointers and reminders for the aspiring writer of prose fiction. It’s a handy way to keep in mind both well-worn and time-proven ideas (like showing rather than telling, and deepening conflict), as well as comments that will help you avoid some common pitfalls (mistaking real dialogue for representative dialogue, or writing a movie instead of a novel). Full of useful nuggets, the book is entirely hand-written.
This 90-page book is small enough to slip into a back pocket and makes a great gift for the writer in your life.
£6.50 – order below
THE BOOKSHOP IN BRICK LANE various; ed. n quentin woolf
In 2007, writer N Quentin Woolf founded a literary circle in Brick Lane, East London. The group has met every week since then, creating and critiquing a vast, diverse range of plays, poetry, novels and short stories. This, the group’s first anthology, is a celebration of their meeting place: Eastside Books.
In The Bookshop On Brick Lane, fiction and non-fiction interweave to form a tapestry of Brick Lane at the start of the 21st Century. Marybel Moore combines history with memoir to reveal some of the curiosities of the area, while stories by nineteen different authors, ranging in subject and style from fifties detective fiction to the reminiscences of a holocaust survivor, from obsession stories to love affairs, are anchored by the solid presence of the bookshop.
With a foreword by Russ Willey, author of Brewer’s Dictionary of London Phrase and Fable, the variety in The Bookshop In Brick Lane makes it a great book for dipping into, whatever your mood.
ISBN – 978-0-557-47265-9
£7.99 – order below.
WEDNESDAY various; ed. n quentin woolf
A collection of stories, memoir and poetry from the writers’ circle that met each Wednesday in 2009 at Eastside Books in Brick Lane. From stories of the old East End to tales of US counter culture, poems of mountains to tales of people with secrets, this anthology has something for every taste.
Includes work from:
Helen Bond, James Mansfield, N Q Woolf, Ross Hopkins, L J Mountford, Donna F Collier, Sara Bearman, Melanie Venables, Steve McGregor, Elizabeth Carola, Kerry McCarthy
ISBN 978-0-557-37879-1
Soon to be available on Amazon U.S.
£7.99 – order below
Posted 7 months, 2 weeks ago at 4:29 PM.
A Christmas Carol
Join us at Eastside Books for the abridged version of Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol read by Steve Wells. After a well received event last year Steve returns with his animated telling, bringing the characters to life before the audience’s eyes. There will be mulled wine and mince pies a-plenty. Great fun for all ages. Places must be reserved in advance by calling Eastside Books on 0207 2470216 between 11am and 6pm Tuesday to Sunday or emailing lit@nquentinwoolf.co.uk ADMISSION: £4
DATE: Saturday 12th December
TIME: 2:00pm
VENUE: Eastside Books, 166 Brick Lane, London E1 6RU
TELEPHONE: 0207 2470216
TRANSPORT: Equidistant from Bethnal Green, Liverpool Street and Aldgate East tubes
Posted 9 months ago at 3:01 PM.
Helen Gilbert
So the launch of ‘The Bookshop in Brick Lane’ was, by all accounts, a roaring success. We happy anthologists had really pulled out all the stops to get the thing onto the shelf for Christmas, cutting both corners and things that weren’t really corners but had to be cut also, for expediency. Our proof-reader, Warren Davis, worked his tail off turning our early efforts into grammatical, well-spelt pieces of prose. Marybel Moore did a phenomenal job of turning round the factual pieces of the book. Sarah Pidgeon deserves huge credit too, for work that is currently undetectable but which we hope will be introduced in the second edition.
Jill Young
Marybel Moore
And then, suddenly, many months of planning and scribbling and collecting came to fruition: the publisher’s truck rolled into the parking-lot and out first bulk order of the anthology was delivered. They looked pretty good, we were pleased to discover (some serious type setting problems in the proof copy had left us a little nervous). The text looks authoritative; the short stories – 18 of them, look professionally set out; the pieces of non-fiction, woven in among the tales,
Troublesome Trio
Kate Ellis
Mark, Madeleine, Jill
are a pretty good balance of size and content. Russ Willey’s foreword, to quote Camus, gives ‘the whole thing a more official air’. By the way, thanks Russ, for reading our book and believing in us enough to put your name to it.
Kerry McCarthy
The question had always been how to celebrate the delivery of our group effort
It was clear that the venue of choice should be Eastside Books – how could it be otherwise? But the fact is that not all of our group are keen on public readings. Marybel had the inspired idea of bringing the bagels chapter to life and consequently there were bagels a-plenty at the launch. We met at 7, with newly married Tera arriving well ahead of everyone else,
Nicloe Tattersal
Peter Mahon
along with her new husband. They didn’t stick around for
Kiki Otto
the celebration for the very understandable reason that they are on the first day of their honeymoon. It was great to see Tera again after so long and especially good to see her looking so full of beans. And then the crowd descended. I’d say there were 30-40 folk present and the red wine flowed. After thank yous to all concerned we settled down for some storytelling. Mark Dubois, Gareth Storey, Warren Davis and Tim Howard all read for us, some from their anthology contributions, and others from works in progress. Jane Miller read two poems which reflected
Linda Chapple
on the importance of seizing the day and not taking life and time for granted. They were very moving. There was a wonderful moment when I looked
Tim and Ced
Maddy Wynne-Jones
around the room and saw a bookshop full of adults all sitting on the floor enthralled by someone telling a story, and I though yes, this is what it’s all about.
And so, with charming inevitability, to the Brick Lounge, an establishment whose comfy couches and delicious beer have been in no way neglected by our happy band these past two years. It was great to catch up with everyone, particularly those of our group who have moved further afield. 2010 holds all sorts of promise and as the year turns it’s also
Mark Dubois
good to reflect of the accomplishments of the group and its members over the last year, not least of which is the continuation of the group itself. A good note on which to end 2009.
Posted 9 months ago at 4:45 PM.
Sarah Waters
A busy weekend at Eastside Books in Brick Lane, where amongst other happenings I had the chance of a sit-down with novelist Sarah Waters. A pleasant and unassuming sort, she told me she’s in a bit of a hiatus at the moment; various ideas for the next novel are bubbling away nicely in her unconscious but are yet to coalesce into something recogniseable. Having been nominated for the Man Booker probably goes some way towards assuaging the writerly self-doubts that often accompany such unanchored times between novels. I wonder how the attention over the nomination has worked for her – she seems rather a private person.
Keen as ever to hone my interview technique I asked her what her least favourite interview question has been. ‘Why the 19th Century?’, she decided. The question is lazy, of course, but it’s the frequency with which it is asked, requiring the same long-winded answer, that really gets her down.
I was keen to apply this new piece of intelligence. The very next day, an opportunity to put it into action came about as I interviewed, on The Arts Show, a clarinettist, a composer, an artist who works with pubic hair and a kids’ fantasy author, respectively. I carefully avoided making so much as a mention of the 19th Century. Lo and behold, the show went swimmingly. With this simple avoidance-of-19th-Century-related-questions ace up my sleeve, I feel equipped to take on the world.
Hm.
Alan Gilbey
On Monday evening the visually-oriented Alan Gilbey beat his migraine and put in a sterling 2-and-a-half-hour set on screenwriting. Highlights included a 100-year-old cartoon (the first ever to include a recogniseable character), a surreal, nightmarish example of production line animation, and a sweet stop motion short film, which he used to explain certain techniques of structure and pacing. Attendees were shown how to develop a pitch, too.
Posted 11 months, 1 week ago at 4:05 PM.
Following on from previous successful seasons of creative classes for complete beginners, I’ll be launching two new classes this month:
Thursdays evenings in Brick Lane from September 24th
Saturday mornings in Stoke Newington from September 26th
This workshop is an 8-week course for new writers who are looking to develop a portfolio of early-stage prose writing skills. Each week we address a different area of writing craftwork. The workshop incorporates instructive, creative and critical elements. The course includes:
- Structuring fiction
- How to reveal character
- How to use the setting to tell the story
- Ways of finding inspiration in the world around you
- Conflict and its uses
- Point of view
…and much more.
The course aims to be relaxed and friendly, and it runs for eight weeks.
Places on this course always go quickly and pre-booking is essential, so please email workshops@nquentinwoolf.co.uk to book your spot. Sessions £10 each and can be paid weekly. Further information at www.nquentinwoolf.com
Posted 1 year ago at 2:47 PM.
Marybel Moore
We’re getting to the final stages of putting together an anthology of writing (both fiction and memoir) based on the theme ‘The Book Shop In Brick Lane’ (the bookshop in question being, of course, Eastside Books, our meeting-place these past years. Marybel Moore is in charge of the historical contributions - no small undertaking, what with this being the east end of London, with its waves of immigration and disaster forming a palimpsest through which the historian must patiently peel . The fictional contributions have been edited by veteran group member Warren Davis, and we’re delighted to have attracted Rachel Lichtenstein to write an introduction to the collection. (Given that Rachel is perhaps best known for the oral history ‘On Brick Lane’, there’s no pressure whatsoever on Marybel.) We’re aiming for publication and launch this side of Christmas – watch this space.
Posted 1 year ago at 12:58 PM.
