Never before been asked to write to a remit. Pleased to have been approached by the editors of ‘Visual Verse’, an online journal of words and images to do just that. They provide the image; the writer responds. What a tease!
One for the Off
International Women’s Day 2015
A great day spent with friends on Sunday 8th March, reading from and discussing fiction that comments directly or indirectly on the lives of women. Violet read from Jessie Kesson’s ‘Where the Apple Ripens’; Steve from Vera Britten’s ‘Testament of Youth’, while I read from one of my own short stories, ‘Small Beginnings’ which explains how things really got started in the Garden of Eden. Emily read a poem by Ursula Fanthorpe, while Charl read one poem by herself and another by her daughter that celebrated the quality of their relationship. Christine tantalised us with an article about Diana Dors from a magazine of the Sixties and with snippets from various other publications of the era. There was much wide-ranging and animated discussion about issues such as violence against women, the roles women have been expected to fulfil at various points in history and how far (or not) things have changed.
Even though Naresh, the billed chef, had gone AWOL, we still managed a comprehensive lunch, courtesy Camilla and me. The event raised £300 for Tribal women in Maharashtra, supported by the work of the Impact India Foundation.
‘Degsie’s All-time Runners’ – instalment 4
Discover the conclusion to ‘Degsie’s All-time Runners’, a story about how a cat manages to destabilise the lives of two elderly women who are neighbours.
Degsie’s All-time Runners – instalment 3
Find out how Degsie’s getting on now, as he transfers from one household to another. Story written and read by Janet.
Her Health in Your Hands
Online journal of the Ahimsa Fund July 2014
http://www.ahimsa-fund.com/non-classe/her-health-in-your-hands-by-janet-swinney/
Is it Sunday Yet?
Trapped in a relationship she cannot end, Barbara has reached the end of her tether. Will she find a way out? To find out, get hold of the anthology, Significant Spaces. To buy your copy, click on the external link, or visit Amazon.
Significant Spaces, Earlyworks Press, July 2013
http://www.earlyworkspress.co.uk/short_story_winners_2012.htm
The Map of Bihar (USA edition)
A poor vegetable seller is minding his shop when a mysterious dog turns up on his doorstep, setting off a train of events that requires decisive action. ‘The Map of Bihar’ deals with poverty and passion. It appears in the anthology Best New Writing 2013, and was nominated for the Eric Hoffer prize for prose 2012. To get your copy, click on the external link.
Best New Writing 2013, Hopewell Publications October 2012
Private Passions
In ‘Private Passions’, the lives of the residents in a Glaswegian tenement are interwoven in ways that none of them realises. This story appears in the anthology ‘Barcelona to Bihar’. To get your copy of this anthology, click here, or visit Amazon:
ISBN 978-1 906451-58-5
The Map of Bihar (UK edition)
A poor vegetable seller is minding his shop when a mysterious dog turns up on his doorstep, setting off a train of events that requires decisive action. ‘The Map of Bihar’ deals with poverty and passion. It appears in the anthology Barcelona to Bihar. To get your copy, click on the external link or visit Amazon.
Barcelona to Bihar, Earlyworks Press, May 2012
The Pork Chop Purloiner
The benefits of Youth and Community Work often go unrecognised and yet the need for it has never been more acute. This article was written at the time of civil turmoil in English cities, but here we are again, with rates of knife crime among young people soaring and the statement is as valid as ever. John Allan, a Community Education worker for Gateshead Council, talked to Janet H Swinney about how this long-term process of transformation works, and how he turned his life around for the benefit of others.
To find out about John’s journey, and the role he now occupies, click here
Paperback ISBN 978-1-906451-64-6
ebook ISBN 978-1-906451-65-3
You are Here, an Anthology of Prize-winning Memoire and Journalism’, ‘Earlyworks Press’ 2012