So, the Stranger than Fiction Challenge then! This month’s challenge was to choose a horseracing story from the sports pages of your local newspaper, or the horseracing pages in general (depending on your paper I guess!) and to either
1. Write a poem using only words from the story or page (as appropriate)
OR
2. Using the headline from one of the stories as a title, write a piece of short fiction. The headline must also be included as a sentence in the story in a way that makes sense!
The Challenge was for the Chapters and Verse Open mic in Hammersmith Ram in London (www.hammersmithram.co.uk), the Last Wednesday Series in Twisted Pepper Dublin (www.bodytonicmusic.com) , the Last Wednesday Series in Rocky Sullivan’s in Red Hook in Brooklyn (www.rockysullivans.com) and online (till the end of the month) athttps://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=199383660084322&ref=ts
Work of those that rise to the challenge will be posted here, in alphabetical order or writer by surname.
Ross Hattaway is a New Zealand born, Dublin based poet. His first collection The Gentle Art of Rotting was published in 2006 and his second one Pretending to be Dead will be published in 2011:
A Hundred Thousand Welcomes By Ross Hattaway
Sarah Lundberg is from Dublin and is the publisher and editor at Seven Towers Agency.
Punctuating Reality By Sarah Lundberg
Phil Lynch is a Dublin performance poet who has been performing on the scene here since the1970s – with a little gap when he lived abroad.
Big bucks and Grand Crus by Phil Lynch
The Stranger than Fiction Challenge for the April open mics , or starting at the end of April for the on-liners is to find a poem or story – or at least part of a poem or story/prose.
Poem:
Your found poem must be taken from a sign, an advertisement, a news story, a work file or an official letter. At least one full stanza of your poem must be the found poem. You may add further stanza if you wish.
Story/Prose:
The found phrase must also be taken from a sign, an advertisement, a news story, a work file or an official letter. The found phrase must be the title of your story/prose and must occur in the story at least once in a manner that makes sense.
As always the pieces can be read at the Chapters and Verse goes to London Reading and open mic, the Last Wednesday Series Dublin Reading and Open Mic, The Last Wednesday Series Dublin Reading and Open Mic, or posted online at the Stranger than Fiction Writing Challenge virtual open mic.
The Frozen Mic 