Page Seventeen

It took a little longer than planned but I’m finally here to point you in the direction of the Events page. We’ve loaded a few photos from the Issue 8 launch and hope you enjoy them.

The launch was a wonderful afternoon where, once again, we filled Burrinja Cafe with contributors, friends and anyone else keen to hear some poetry and enough tastes of short stories that they couldn’t help but buy the book then rush home to find out what happened.

It’s always a delight to listen to the contributors read their own pieces, and I admit to feeling a tear press against my eyelid as one of the readers announced it was the very first time she’d had her name in print. A brand spanking new writer. One of our favourite kinds.

It’s always exciting too to announce the competition winners, and even though contributors receive their copy of the magazine on arrival, it came as a shock to Leah Swann to be awarded first prize in the short story competition, as she hadn’t thought to look up the results. I think this is a first, and it was lovely to share her joy as she realised. I must admit, when I first read her story Streetsweeper I had little cry.

As with any publication, there are a lot of people who worked hard to make sure Issue 8 is as fantastic as it is. So, one last time, I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Vicki Thornton, Ashley Capes, Laurie Steed and Peter Farrar for their fabulous editorial decisions, Graham Nunn and Amanda le Bas de Plumetot for the fine selection of poems and stories from the annual competition and Amanda (again) and Marian Dalton for their exceptional proofreading.

I’ve just come off the back of being fiction editor for Issue 8 of page seventeen, having read a whole bunch of short stories. ‘You must be tired,’ people have said to me. ‘Here, have a pillow for you must be oh so exhausted.’

Well, yes and no.

I’m tired because of all the other jobs I do in addition to my role at page seventeen. Reading through submissions, however, was an absolute joy. Frustrating, yes. At times disheartening. But for the most part, there was a simple bliss in reading others’ words, visions, and stories as they searched for a wider audience.

 And what a range: I came across old ladies dying while hiking, time-obsessed mothers, writers who literally saved the world and a dog whisperer… and that was just in the first week. As time marched on, I read of masturbating mothers, pre-wedding jitters, a girl’s first period and some futuristic visions that would frighten George Orwell. All of these (excepting perhaps the sci-fi, which isn’t exactly page seventeen’s strong suit) had the potential to feature in the journal. What stopped them from making the shortlist, however, was an ailment more common than you might think.

I liked many of the stories I mentioned above, but they all needed a fleshing out of the themes, voices and characters within the story.

In Amanda Lohrey’s recent post on writing a short story (available here),  she suggests leaving a story for another month, or three, or six, before coming back to it, so as to ‘let it cook in the oven of your subconscious.’ While six months is a long time to let a story mature, I’d certainly advise at least a month, particularly between the first and second drafts. By doing this, you gain perspective on what is and isn’t working in the story. You sharpen the saw, and with said saw, slash away any characters that aren’t directly aiding the story. You change point-of-view if necessary, and you eliminate ‘that’, ‘however’, ‘to me’, ‘at me’, ‘inside of me’, and any other redundant phrases.

Some writers have told me they write perfect first drafts, so they don’t need to revise. These writers, quite frankly, are on crack. And they’re probably not getting published often.

Writing a great story is not easy. It will make you question your sanity. It will distract you when you’re trying to make love to a beautiful man or woman. But, it’s worth it, because you can always work on the story and then go make love to said beautiful man or woman.

I would have loved to have given feedback to each and every submission this year, but instead I’ll leave these three fragments as lessons learned on the short fiction highway:

1)      Never, ever, send your first draft to an editor. They can spot when a story hasn’t been developed.

2)      Join a writing group with writers that are at the same stage or slightly advanced from you. Sometimes you’re too close to the story to spot its most important flaws.

3)      Your story is done when you cannot do anything else to make it better. Challenge yourself before that point. Strive for excellence: change characters, add and delete scenes. Get an assessment from the VWC if you’re entering it for a big competition, and if not, then still get an assessment, or group feedback at the very least.

Editors don’t owe you the right to publication. You need to prove to them that you’re worth it. How much effort you put in is up to you, but if you don’t go the extra mile, then someone else will… and they’ll be the one getting published.

Thanks to all those who submitted their stories and congratulations to those writers selected. Thanks also to Peter Farrar and Vicki Thornton, my editorial committee for Issue 8. And finally, a special thanks to Tiggy Johnson, who does this every year while still working on her writing and raising three kids

Tiggy has helped foster the careers of any number of writers and poets over the years including myself, Ryan O’Neill, Vicki Thornton, Natasha Lester, Bronwyn Mehan, Nathan Curnow, Sean M Whelan, and Maxine Clarke. Their past contributor list reads like a who’s who of contemporary Australian writing, but at some point they were (and indeed, still are) just writers and poets, searching somewhere for an audience, a place to be published and respected.  And Tiggy has given us that, time and time again.

See you at the launch.

I must admit to enjoying the role of acting editor while Tiggy has been away on her holiday. There has been the joy of selecting work, of discovering new voices and enjoying the strength of known names. There has been the sorrow of turning down work, the juggling with pages and word counts.  As well as working with our competition judges, Graham Nunn and Amanda le Bas de Plumetot, our poetry editor, Ashley Capes, and the selection committee of Laurie Steed and Peter Farrar.

They have all been brilliant to work with. None of them minded (or appeared to mind) the emails that began with …ooops I think we have a problem.

There will be a short time when the Page Seventeen post will not be manned. I’m about to take a small holiday but before too long Tiggy will be back, reins tightly in her hand, answering any queries or questions.

I sincerely hope that I have responded to everyone that submitted to Page Seventeen, if not I apologise.  The paperwork I freely admit was the one area I dreaded.

However after reading the quality of work that has been selected,  I think we are going to have a great Issue 8 and can’t wait to see the final product.

We would love to see you at the launch

Saurday 13th November, Burrinja Cafe, 350 Glenfern Rd, Upwey, 1 pm.

Vicki Thornton

Acting Editor

Tiggy has begun her adventure and so I will be updating you on the happenings at Page Seventeen while she is away.  (I’m trying to avoid the cliche while the cat’s away the mice will play…but…)

Submissions have closed and this year we had more than 250 poems and 180 short stories for general submission. This is the most number of short story submissions we’ve ever had.

And now for the fun.

The editorial committee will begin reading. Our poetry editor, Ashley Capes, will be reading all poetry submissions, and the fiction will be read by myself, Peter Farrar and Laurie Steed (our fiction editor).

So I’m going to crank up the heating, make a coffee and immerse myself in some wonderful short stories.

Vicki Thornton -Acting Editor

Memories of a Friend by Lisa Fitzpatrick was shortlisted in the 2009 Page Seventeen Short Story and Poetry Competition and is hence published in Issue 7. Current Fiction Editor Laurie Steed shares his thoughts (initially posted on the Gum Wall, Dec 4, 2009, reproduced with permission).

The Story
Jen has broken up with her husband Phil. They have two children together, and Jen’s doing her best not to take it out on the two kids.

She left the relationship because he was beating her, and now busies herself with the day-to-day process of raising her kids. She packs the lunches, considers the housework, and makes a mental list of things to pick up from Phil’s. She has an additional task today; going to see her friend Sal, along with Sal’s newborn baby.

Jen has to work first, watching elderly residents knit, thread by thread at Clarabell Hall, with “nursing home stares”. She heads off at one, leaving them to their world of inactivity, time frozen.

She has reasons to be hesitant about seeing Sal, but wants to be there for her friend, and so pushes her grief down, at least for the time being.

Jen drives to the hospital, stopping first to pick up food and gifts for Sal and the baby. And then, with dahlias in hand, she visits the maternity ward.

Why it Sticks
With good stories, you barely notice the seams as you read. Even better stories have any number of subtly linked scenes, narrative echoes of the overall theme. Fitzpatrick’s story is filled with narrative echoes and thematic symbols, many of which I missed the first time around I was so engrossed by the character’s journey. On subsequent readings, you can literally see motif upon motif, all contributing to articulate the story’s common themes of grief, isolation and guilt.

Memories of a friend also succeeds because it is willing to take risks with its characters, where grey is most definitely the colour. These are not mere caricatures, but real people, with their own flaws, mean-streaks, and petty insecurities…and that only makes their story all the more compelling.

There are a few changes going on at page seventeen this year, and starting this blog is just one of them. Before I let you know about some of the other things, I should give you an idea of what you might expect to find here.

First of all, there’ll be the odd bit of news. For instance, submissions are currently open. That means you can either make a general submission or enter our annual competition. Or both.  That’s good news. Even better news is that they’re open until the end of June, so you have plenty of time to get something together. See our submit page for more information.

We’ll also be posting reviews. Reviews of individual pieces we’ve published or single author titles from people we’ve published. Expect the odd profile and images of some of our authors in action. And a few other bits and pieces we’d like to keep as a surprise for now.

As for changes, this year’s selection process is one massive change in itself. For the first time, I’m not going to have a say in the content, with the exception of one or two pieces. Instead, Issue 8 is in the hands of the following fabulous people.

First up, Vicki Thornton is taking on the role of Acting Editor and will handle a huge chunk of the admin, oversee the selection process and be part of the reading team for our short stories. Not to mention all the little fiddly bits that won’t be mentioned here.

This year we see our first Poetry Editor and a Short Story Editor. I’m very excited to let you know that Ashley Capes is taking on the Poetry Editor position and Laurie Steed the Short Story Editor position. Ashley will handle all the general submission poetry, including the short form pieces, while Laurie will share the reading load with Peter Farrar and Vicki.

Of course we are running the popular Page Seventeen Poetry and Short Story Competition again and this year’s judges are Graham Nunn (poetry) and Amanda le Bas de Plumetot (short story).

In case you’re not excited yet, we’re also having our first ever 2-for-1 sale.

All you have to do is purchase a copy of page seventeen (direct, this won’t apply at bookstores). We’ll send out a 2nd copy of the same issue, or a previous (in-stock) issue of your choice.

What’s the catch? Well, there’s only one: we’ll be sending both copies together, you can’t split them.

But it’s just for April and stocks are getting dangerously low, so get moving.