Memories

MEN Arena, Manchester: December 12th 2009

Artists announced so far:

Snow Patrol
Happy Mondays
Tim Booth, Jim Glennie, Larry Gott (James)
Andy Rourke (The Smiths)
Peter Hook (Joy Division / New Order)
With the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra & Joe Duddell

Tickets are priced from £32.50 to £40 (subject to booking fee) and are available from Ticketmaster, See Tickets and Ticketline.

Follow them on twitter @VersusCancer

Visit versuscancer.org to join the line up and support Versus Cancer

The graphics and pop culture zine Middleboop has helped us out with a shout-out via their blog. It’s run by Gordon Reid who has let his creatives know about Memories and hopefully some of them will want to get involved.

At the moment, Gordon is planning to relaunch Middleboop as a fully fledged magazine, taking it to a new level in creatively-led publishing. He’s also considering carrying an ad for the Memories project in the next issue, so we’ll be working on that with him soon, hopefully. In the meantime we wish him well with the redesign.

Click here to find out more about Middleboop.

Did you notice that little bar to the right that gives notification of our Twitter activities? Yep, we’re on Twitter now and you can follow us by clicking here. Our Twitter name is MemoriesBook and I believe Antony’s rigged it up so that when I’ve posted this blog entry there will be a tweet about it. So, things could get a bit circular and intradimensional as when you visit MemoriesBook on Twitter it will send you back here… but do follow us to keep up to date with Memories news.

Last week was huge for us here on the blog. By opening two of our text slots in the book to all writers who want to contribute, things have really started bubbling. We’ve had great support from other blogs and zines. And we’ve had plenty of writing entries and enquiries. There have been some really touching stories and poems coming in from around the world. We look forward to seeing more of them before our deadline on 31 December.

If you want to write something for Memories, find out more about our open submissions section here.

We’re sending out our thanks to Jacob Denno at Popshot Magazine. Popshot fuses fantastic creative writing through the poetry it publishes with amazing imagery from the illustrators who illuminate the poems.

Jacob has contacted Popshot’s network of writers via email and the Popshot blog to let them know that we are now open to submissions by writers who’d like their work published in Memories. He’ll also be  helping us judge the entries – his experience with creative writing and poetry will be an asset.

To find out how to submit your own story about cancer, click here. Thanks again to Popshot.

NewSugar Magazine have kindly donated some advertising space promoting Memories in their next issue, due for release on Friday 13th November.

NewSugar is a fresh new PDF magazine with a difference… it’s not so much a magazine as it is a gallery, or a street wall or maybe a glimpse of the future. Whatever it is NewSugar promises to make you weep with delight and have your mind-box releasing endorphins in profusion*!

*Weeping and release of endorphins not guaranteed.

With images and interviews from artists around the world and with no real creative brief other than a total requirement for the awesome we hope NewSugar will give you a glimpse into the global uprising of hot, new, creative talent.

Check it out here

Are you a writer, poet or journalist? Do you have a story to tell about how you, or someone you know, has beaten cancer? Or about a loved one who was taken by the disease? Would you like to see your own writing in Memories, a book raising money for a cancer charity?

The Memories project is welcoming written submissions to fill two of the positions we’ve planned for stories within the book. Here are the ins and outs of it:

We’re looking for a great piece of writing that captures a memory you have that relates to cancer. Inside the book, there will be two kinds of stories. One section is going to be by people who have lost a friend or relative to the disease, and their recollection of a day or moments they spent with their loved one. The other is about people who have survived, and their reflections on the effects the disease had on them. We’re looking for one story for each section of the book that will come via this open submissions process. (For more on the overall idea of Memories see http://memories.subism.co.uk/about-the-project/)

It’s not a competition and there are no prizes as such. The reward if your story is selected for print will be to see your story in the book, alongside 12 amazing illustrations. However, stories that don’t run in the book will be posted here on our blog so your writing will still get an audience. (Barring any that contain inappropriate material, though that seems highly unlikely!) Either way, submitting something will be a massive boost to our project.

Judging of the entries will be done by the Memories team (Antony Kitson, Rishi Sodha, Stuart Boyd and Garrick Webster) with the help of guest judge Jacob Denno. Jacob is the editor of Popshot magazine, which is a fantastic and beautifully printed forum for both poetry and illustration. See www.popshotpopshot.com

Your story needs to be 450-550 words in length. Most of the book’s content at the moment is written in prose, though we do have one poem already, and if you want to write poetry just let us know. The closing date for written submissions will be 31 December 2009. Email writers@memories.subism.co.uk and I’ll send you our full writers brief.