Category: fiction

fiction1 Comment

Two on the Shelf

Barry Lee Thompson

Originally posted on Elwood Writers:
Helen was browsing in Stoneman’s Bookroom in Castlemaine last week, and spotted something rather exciting. In the middle of the second shelf in the photo below is a copy of the Elwood Writers anthology Every Second Tuesday. Helen sent this pic to the group, and we ran our eyes along the shelves, absorbing the host of excellent authors whose company we’re keeping. And, thanks to the orange Transit Lounge logo on that singular green spine, we quickly spotted another reason to cheer, nestled quietly on the left of the top shelf: Barry’s Broken Rules and… Continue reading Two on the Shelf

fiction4 Comments

Best of Cover to Cover 2022 | Vision Australia Radio

Barry Lee Thompson

Originally posted on Elwood Writers:
We’re excited to learn that this year’s special Elwood Writers edition of Cover To Cover on Vision Australia Radio (VAR) has been selected for the Best Of Cover To Cover 2022, which will run on VAR between 26 December and 6 January. Our program’s theme is ‘Adelaide’, and it was first broadcast over the Easter weekend. So if you missed our show the first time round, or if you would just welcome the chance to hear it again, tune in to hear us reading our own stories on-air. We don’t have specific timings yet, but… Continue reading Best of Cover to Cover 2022 | Vision Australia Radio

fiction, writers groups13 Comments

Retreat

Barry Lee Thompson

At the beginning of September I joined a group of writing friends for a week-long retreat at a rented house in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. The five of us originally met on a writing residency at Varuna in 2016, and have stayed in touch since then. The Sunday before leaving Melbourne, I sent off a grant application I’d been working on, and I had no other outstanding deadlines looming. I had a clean slate and a clear head, and decided I’d start a brand new short story in my week away. I wanted it to be an … Continue reading Retreat

Competitions, fiction, microfiction6 Comments

Winning stories of the VI edition of The César Egido Serrano International Short Story Competition

Barry Lee Thompson

The first prize went to ‘Fly’ by José Manuel Dorrego Sáenz, from Madrid, Spain. The winning story was written in Spanish, and its author wins $20,000. There were three second prizes of $2000 awarded to the highest-ranking entries in each of the other languages of the contest:‘Where Do You Think You’re Going?!’ is by Emilia Sheppard, resident in Warsaw, Poland – their story was written in English;‘Woodpecker’ is by Natheer Alzuabi, resident in Vienna, Austria – their story was written in Arabic;‘Pink’ is by Ravit Grossman, resident in Herzeliya Israel – their story was written in Hebrew. In line with … Continue reading Winning stories of the VI edition of The César Egido Serrano International Short Story Competition

Broken Rules and Other Stories, fiction, the story behind the story13 Comments

The story behind ‘Twitch’

Barry Lee Thompson

In December 2013, London’s Dazed magazine launched a competition calling for short stories ‘based on surveillance culture’. I’d long been a fan of the magazine, and was drawn to the theme, so thought I’d give it a whirl. I wanted to look at online surveillance, privacy and metadata, and concerns around the trails and traces we deposit in online spaces. The first few sentences of a story came to me quickly, and I was off. I found it easy and fun to explore on the page the liberating, if at-times anxious, aspects of online experiences, and of adult chat platforms … Continue reading The story behind ‘Twitch’