Andrea Wren: Journalist

Poem: Puckered tokens by Andrea Wren

Puckered tokens

Home is where we eat peas
straight from their pods;
growing piles of green into Martian mountains,
saving the wrinkly ones until last
(while the sweet ones get eaten fast).

Home is melted nylon nighties,
brown-tinged, crispy-edged holes;
a puckered token of too much warmth,
of sitting on a stone hearth, knees pulled tight
(and staying up long into the night).

Home is the big light, and white noise.
Brash, with ear drums bald from
bickering. Where silence has no place,
and blaring TV fluorescence reigns
(while CD cases gain coffee mug stains).

Home is without a stair carpet,
easier to sweep the dog hairs then. But
with hard heels echoed, no one
can hide an entrance after twilight devours.
(Facing sharp words in the daylight hours).

Home is Grishka, and biscuit-smelling paws.
Burnt toast puppy breath greeting
your morning, with unconditional love.
How we cried when her time came,
(how we knew no other could be the same).

Mostly though, home is custard comfort,
wrapping every body cell in yellow fleece,
a knowledge of belonging at every
level. It's each emotion and particle. It's me.
(Home is always where I want to be).            

© Andrea Wren 2010 - All rights reserved.

Don't miss your chance - final entry call for Brit Writers' Awards!

As I mentioned in my last post about poetry competitions, today is the final day for entries to the Brit Writers' Awards. In around 7 hours the competition closes, so if you're planning on getting in a collection of poems (there needs to be five in each collection entered), a short-story, a novel proposal or even a song - now is your chance.

As long as you are unpublished, in that you do not have an ISBN number solely in your name, you are eligible to enter, although published writers can be entered by their publishers, I do believe, in a separate category.

With a £10,000 prize pot up for grabs, it's not to be sniffed at.

Poetry competitions and The Poetry Kit (a useful resource)

In searching out poetry competitions to enter, I have found The Poetry Kit to be a great resource.

The site itself is not especially user-friendly and looks extremely amateur, but it very usefully lists the main competitions and awards in chronological order, thereby providing a great online planner for poets and budding entrants to get their work in.

I suppose as most poetry competitions tend to charge a fee for entering, then if you're keen to get your work in, you need to be selective as to which ones you'll go for (remembering that the higher the prize money, the more competition you're likely to have!).

Take care to ensure the competition you're entering is a genuine one though - don't just send your cash off willy nilly to anyone!

One definitely worth entering if you can squeeze something in before the deadline of 26th Feb 2010, and you are unpublished (in that you do not have an ISBN number solely in your name), is the Brit Writers' Awards. With a £10,000 prize pot up for grabs, it's money (and an accolade) not to be sniffed at.

The Brit Writers' Awards are not just for poets either, there are categories for short fiction, novels, children's stories, song-writing and more.

Oh - and confusingly, I thought The Welsh Poetry Competition, was just for people living in Wales, but it's not - they accept entries from anyone and all over the world. Closing date for this year is Sunday, 30th May 2010.

Ten rules for writing fiction (The Guardian)

Inspired by Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing, The Guardian (20th Feb 2010) recently asked authors for their personal dos and don'ts regarding fiction writing. Some of them are very useful, and some of them are hilarious.

I especially like the following 'rules' from the various authors in part one of this article:

Elmore Leonard:

"Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But "said" is far less intrusive than "grumbled", "gasped", "cautioned", "lied". I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with "she asseverated" and had to stop reading and go to the dictionary."

Geoff Dyer:

"Don't be one of those writers who sentence themselves to a lifetime of sucking up to Nabokov."

Anne Enright:

"Only bad writers think that their work is really good."

Jonathan Franzen:

"Never use the word "then" as a ­conjunction – we have "and" for this purpose. Substituting "then" is the lazy or tone-deaf writer's non-solution to the problem of too many "ands" on the page."

Esther Freud:

"A story needs rhythm. Read it aloud to yourself. If it doesn't spin a bit of magic, it's missing something."

Neil Gaiman:

"The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you're allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it's definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it ­honestly, and tell it as best you can. I'm not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter."

David Hare:

"The two most depressing words in the English language are "literary fiction".

PD James:

"Increase your word power. Words are the raw material of our craft. The greater your vocabulary the more ­effective your writing. We who write in English are fortunate to have the richest and most versatile language in the world. Respect it."

And - after you've read the article - the most useful 'rule' of all to come back to? I think this one by AL Kennedy:

"Have humility. Older/more ­experienced/more convincing writers may offer rules and varieties of advice. ­Consider what they say. However, don't automatically give them charge of your brain, or anything else – they might be bitter, twisted, burned-out, manipulative, or just not very like you."

Ten rules for writing fiction - part one (The Guardian, Saturday 20th Feb 2010)

Poem: My sister, wouldn't I miss her? by Andrea Wren

She's Scary Spice – but not as nice
And looks like Posh, without a wash
Wears Kickers – that kick you
Gets mud on her face
And in yours
Draws Biro on your Barbie
Spills Vimto in your bed
Pulls every single hair
Out of your Tiny Tears head

She's slugs and snails
She's off the rails
With a Glasgow kiss she'll greet hello
And when she's dropped you
to the ground
don't say I didn't tell you so

She's handy – with her feet
Or fists, or teeth, or nails
She'll scare with flair
and a psycho stare
Turn your war cries into wails

Yet my little sister, wouldn't I miss her
If I wished her straight to hell
God knows I tried to push her hide
straight down our neighbour's well

Yet my sis sticks up for me, she does
She's cookies and cream, and Ricky Hattan's dream
She's Play Doh, and the Loose Women show
She's my ally, my abrasive confidante

And while my sister is there,
no one will dare
to do unspeakable things
to MY teddy bear.

© Andrea Wren 2010 - All rights reserved.

Poem: Korma Girl by Andrea Wren

Meek and mild?
You know I'm not.
Like Vindaloo,
I'm spicy hot.
A chilli pepper
with fiery bite,
or snarling dog
Ready to fight.
Can growl,
can bark,
can hold my own.
Can bare my fangs,
chew to the bone.
Kill you cleanly,
leave no trace,
wipe that look,
from off your face.
Spiky tongue
and narrowed eyes.
Are you really,
so surprised?
My baby blonde
is Fool's Gold,
lures you to
a stranglehold.
I never claimed
was anything other,
and now you're crying
out for mother.
Your Korma girl
was not to be,
but it's more exciting
to be with me.

© Andrea Wren 2009 - All rights reserved.

Poem: Telly on a meter by Andrea Wren

Picking up a flier on a council estate,
I see it offers me TV at an over-priced rate.
'Buy As You View' is the name with which it tempts,
its vulnerable customers to part with their rents.


Corrie by numbers, well, pounds if you must.
A tenner to watch the full omnibus!
Lord of the Rings? You'll need at least twenty,
and a series of Wife Swap will cost you plenty.


If cash runs low the debt gets higher.
Costs much more for the viewing you desire.
15 minutes of Oprah instead of half an hour.
Now the taste of Hell's Kitchen turns exceptionally sour


Coin slot television - has the world gone absurd?
Ethical boundaries have become all blurred.
The poorest people are the ones who get caught,
shiny wrapper quickly falls from the contract they've bought


Trapped into a scheme which offers little hope
of ever watching the end of your favourite soap.
Or laying claim to the TV as something you own -
it remains forever yours on a never-ending loan.

© Andrea Wren 2009 - All rights reserved.

Nomadic Berber trek in Nov 2009 Wanderlust

I just realised that I completely forgot to post about my article following my gruelling trek with the nomadic Berbers, which was in the November 2009 copy of Wanderlust magazine!

It seems an age ago since I was on this trip last May with On The Go Tours, but I do remember it very well. Certainly, to be travelling with an indigenous group of nomadic Berber people to participate in their bi-annual migration is a once-in-a-lifetime and hard to forget experience - but boy was it a tough challenge a city-girl like myself!

I met some fantastic people on this trip though - not excepting the Berbers themselves, who we managed to share much fun and laughter with, even with the communication difficulties and lack of a shared language.

It's too late to buy the magazine on the shelves now, of course, but you can buy a back issue - number 107 - from Wanderlust if you're interested in reading about my trip.