…and there it was… gone.
Yes. We held our Summer party and other stuff on Monday 10th at the YMCA. The event included a discussion and vote on CWC charges, as well as our 400 word humorous competition. Some said it was hard to tell which was which, but thankfully Jeff was there to help out.
CWC can accept cash payments at meetings by crossing Jeff’s palm with our late queen’s image stamped on round pieces of metal and printed on rectangular pieces of toughened paper, or by transfers into our Metro Bank account, for those who have electricity in their homes.
ere are the details:
Account number: 39655934 Sort code: 23-05-80
Account name: CARDIFF WRITERS’ CIRCLE (all capitals and with an apostrophe)
Please include your name or (from Sept) your new membership number.
Our revised charges (I’m informed the previous rates were the same as ten years ago) were passed unanimously by the members present. From September the new rates are:
Annual charge £30 per annum or £10 per term
Weekly meetings, ZOOM or YMCA, £4 each attendance
Competitions £4 for one entry £6 for two where applicable
Anyone facing issues please speak with a committee member about a reduction
New members get their first two sessions free of charge
So what else did we get up to on Monday?
We had 12 present including a first timer, Bianca, who told us something of her journey so far in writing. At the tender age of 21 years she has already had a short play put on at The Sherman Theatre, and she read us a short piece of hers which was very good and quite lovely.
For the competition; Dan read us Painful Laboured Atrocious, Angela read Celebration, Jane read The Dictaphone Is… (I believe), Paul read Debbie and Ramona Lost In 1973, Jeff read Charles And Camilla, Pam read Poisoned, Ian read Galactic Grannie, Kim read Uncle Bernie, Hughie read an as yet untitled piece, and Sharif read At The Dentists. Heather had not written a piece deciding instead to give everyone else a chance. After the first vote there was a clear winner: Angela. But there was a three-way tie for second, with Jeff, Sharif and Pam all equal. A second round of just those three reduced it (just) to Sharif and Jeff, then the third round (also super close), gave us Sharif in second place. Angela is our longest-attending continuos member and she still wins prizes. Blinking flip!!! She received a keep forever trophy which was very nice indeed, and she and Sharif both also received Amazon vouchers. It says something wonderful about our group that so many people can write such funny and wonderful tales.
Another member some of you may not know is Laura Shepherd, who is currently in a constant round of edits and modifications to her novel we knew as Assumption Island, which her agent is pushing around the world for publication deals. As a real life barrister (not the sort that makes coffee), clever Laura is currently working with the Covid-19 enquiry, and she has been on live TV interrogating people such as former health secretaries. As this is not a criminal trial, she is allowed to use a lead-lined sock and squeaky wet rubber gloves. It was pitiful to watch grown men weep and beg for mercy. She’s an example to us all.
Go Laura!
Below is a novel competition for ladieeeez only, from MsLexia, and also a thing in Penarth about the menopause, with Davina McCall and Dr Naomi Potter, talking to consultant colorectal surgeon and founder of the Everywoman Festival, Julie Cornish, about their award-winning book, Menopausing. The event is organised by Griffin Books of Penarth and is on Thursday 19th October at 7:30 at Stanwell school. Who’d have thought so many famous and important people would be gathered together in a school in Penarth. Wow!!! Well done there Griffin Books. Tickets link contained in the attachment.
Event by Griffin Books
www.ticketsource.co.uk/griffinbooks/menopausing-with-davina-mccall-and-dr-naomi-potter/e-mmmbxj
Public · Anyone on or off Facebook
To mark Menopause Awareness Month this October, we’re delighted to be hosting a very special event with Davina McCall and Dr Naomi Potter. They will be chatting to consultant colorectal surgeon and founder of the Everywoman Festival, Julie Cornish, about their award-winning book, Menopausing.
“Menopausing is more than just a book, it’s a movement. An uprising. Menopause affects every woman, and yet so many approach it with shame, fear, misinformation or silence. Why is no one talking about this? Who has the correct information? And how can we get it? That’s how this book has come about. We are going to tell you the truth, so you can make an informed decision about your life and your body … mic drop.”
For too long, women have had to keep quiet about the menopause – its onset, its symptoms, its treatments – and what it means for us. This book will build an empowered, supportive community to break this terrible silence once and for all. The book explores and explains the science, debunk damaging myths, and smash the taboos around the perimenopause and menopause, so women can make the most informed decisions about their health… and their lives.
Menopausing celebrates the sharing of stories, enabling women to feel less alone and more understood, and talk openly and positively about menopause. No more scaremongering: just evidence-based info. No shame: real women, real menopause stories, real empathy, real community. Honest, no-holds-barred advice: Dry vagina? Zero sex drive? Hair loss? We’ve got it covered.
The start of a movement: to get everyone talking about the menopause in every home, GP surgery and workspace.
Hundreds of women. No more shame.
Davina McCall MBE is one of the UK’s most loved TV personalities. With a career spanning nearly three decades, Davina is firmly established as one of the nation’s most successful TV broadcasters, with current hit series Long Lost Family (ITV) and The Masked Singer (ITV) just the most recent in a long list of hugely successful programming. She was the host of Big Brother for Channel 4 for 10 years, and has hosted the Brit Awards, Comic Relief and the BAFTA television awards. Davina has presented two ground-breaking documentaries for Channel 4 on the topic of the menopause, and her book Menopausing was named Overall Book of the Year at the 2023 British Book Awards. In the 2023 birthday honours, she was awarded an MBE for services to broadcasting.
Dr Naomi Potter qualified as a doctor in 2003 after first achieving a Masters degree in psychology. After 16 years practicing as a GP for the NHS, she now specialises solely in Menopause care and treatments. Naomi’s extensive training includes the advanced certification from the British Menopause Society, the highest level of menopause training available. She achieved her certification under the mentorship of Nick Panay – former chair of the BMS. As well as being registered with the Royal College of General Practitioners and with the UK General Medical Council, Naomi is also a Diplomate of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health.
Julie Cornish is a Consultant colorectal surgeon and Honorary Senior lecturer in Cardiff, with a strong interest in research. She trained in Wales and London, with an MD from Imperial College and completed a pelvic floor fellowship in Oxford. She is the Secretary for the Pelvic Floor Society. She has published more than 60 papers and is regularly invited to speak nationally and internationally on her work. Julie is passionate about improving women’s health and established the Pelvic Health Hub in Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. She is a trustee of the MASIC Foundation which aims to improve services for women injured during childbirth. She has worked to improve services across Wales and chaired the Task and Finish Group on Faecal incontinence which reported in 2019. She set up Everywoman Festival in 2022 as she was frustrated by the slow change in services for women’s health and a general lack of information and education around what is normal and when women should seek help.
We’re expecting this to be a very popular event, book early to avoid disappointment!
***
Thursday 19 October
7.30 pm (doors open 6.45 pm)
Stanwell Auditorium, Stanwell School, Penarth
Tickets: £25.00 including a signed hardback copy of Menopausing / £12.00 event only
BOOK NOW: www.ticketsource.co.uk/griffinbooks
Myslexia Comp
If you’re entering the Adult Novel category of our Fiction Competition this year, we need to see your first 5,000 words by 18 September 2023. If your book is long-listed, we’ll need the full manuscript for final judging by February 2024 – so you’d have another five months to get it finished.
Good luck!
NOVEL
Open to women who are not yet published as novelists, to novels of at least 50,000 words in any genre for adult, or young adult readers. Submit first 5,000 words on entry.
Entry fee: £26
1st prize: £5,000, feedback + industry intros
Deadline: 18 Sep
In other news:
Our very own dear sweet innocent Pamela Cartlidge (Pam) has a new novel out on Amazon, Nine Tolls For Murder. Please take a look. It’s a stand-alone story but second in the series begun with Text Me From The Grave.
Also, Professor Sharif Gemie, who wins prizes and is a damned fine writer of plays and stories, as well as the cleverest animal in the forest having written up our first 75 years history, has been informed by the Glamorgan Archive that they have received our paper records and stored them for posterity. We are going to be written about in the future peeps.
I shall keep you all updated with opportunities and events over the Summer, but until then, have a great time and see you on ZOOM on Monday 4th September.
Byeeee,
P.
ZOOM link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85635610190?pwd=ckFSYzc1c1dUQ0htcEJGdEh2Q1B0UT09
