Quick Tales, courtesy the Griff

Peter Griffin sends this notice. Do please participate, everyone, and tell your friends.
---------- Forwarded message ----------

Hi all,

We're delighted to be able to tell you about this contest we have just got up and running. We're presenting it in partnership with LiveJournal, one of the oldest, most respected names in the community blogging world.

It's a pretty simple challenge we have here, one that will particularly appeal to all the fiction writers among you, but not too intimidating for those of you who like other forms of writing to give it a bash.

Can you tell a quicker, snappier story than anyone else? Would you care to pit your story-telling abilities against those of your peers?

Quick Tales, the LiveJournal - Caferati Flash Fiction contest, asks you to tell us a story in 500 words or less. On offer: delicious cash prizes, global visibility and the chance to be part of a book.

You probably know what Flash Fiction is all about - we have run Flash Fic contests for the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival for the last three years, and FF tags and memes have been floating around the blogosphere for ages - but, just in case you do need a few starting tips, see this page: http://livejournal.caferati.com/contests/what-is-flash-fiction/

The contest is open to residents of India who are members of LiveJournal's India Writing community. (If you're not an LJ member, joining is free. Click the "Create a LiveJournal Account" link at the top of any LJ page.) The theme is "Journal," and your deadline is 7th September.

Prizes? The top 5 winning entries take home cash prizes of Rs 19,999, Rs 16,000, Rs 12,000, Rs 8,000 and Rs 4,000, respectively. And the rest of the top ten get paid accounts on LJ for one year. Each of the top 100 entries will also be highlighted on LJ's India Writing community - http://community.livejournal.com/india_writing/ - for the world to see. (Short-listed stories may also be included in a book that LiveJournal plans to publish at a later date.)

Go straight through to our Quick Tales microsite - http://livejournal.caferati.com - for all the details, and don't forget to join India Writing, which is the place where all the updates will be happening. Live Journal has more plans for writers in all languages in India, and that community will be HQ.

We'd also be very, very grateful if you chose to tell your friends about it, and, if you have a blog or personal site, or are a member of other writing communities, to link to the site - http://livejournal.caferati.com - as well.

Good luck, and we hope to see your entry soon!

Peter, Manisha and Annie
Editors & moderators, Caferati

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http://www.caferati.com/

caferati Listings 12: Crossposted

Caferati Listings 12

1.
A Delhi Press magazine wants freelance writers

Delhi Press, India's largest magazine publishing house, is seeking freelance writers for a new fortnightly magazine to be launched in January.

The magazine, Caravan, will be modelled after magazines like The New Republic and The New Yorker—a text-heavy magazine dedicated to high-caliber, long-form journalism. Caravan's primary focus will be on domestic and international politics and social issues, with secondary emphasis on topics such as arts and culture, travel, sports, science and technology, environment, education and business. Any story idea is on the table, provided it would be of interest and importance to to a socially-conscious, intellectually-curious Indian reader.

Caravan also has at least one opening for a fulltime editor.

For any questions or information, contact associate editor Ben Frumin at ben DOT frumin AT delhipress DOT in or bfrumin AT gmail DOT com.

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2.
The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize - an update

An update of the listing in Edition 10. The complete listing is:

The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize is a cash award of one lakh rupees.
A 3-member panel of judges will shortlist entries. The 2008 panel of judges includes William Dalrymple and Kamila Shamsie.
We invite entries in the following genres: poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction (travel writing, autobiography, biography, and narrative journalism) and drama.

Open to first-time authors of all ages.
The book must be published between June 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008.
Only books published in India are eligible.
Publications must be in English or translated into English from an Indian language.
Vanity press publications are ineligible.
Deadline for entries is July 15, 2008.

Jeet Thayil will be happy to answer specific questions. Please email jeet DOT thayil AT gmail DOT com. Or leave a query, with your email address, here .

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3.
Undercover Utopia invites submissions

From an email:

We have launched our imprint Undercover Utopia. The first book, November Rain, came out last month. The next one is due out next month.

As on 15th September we have opened our doors to new submissions. The website is undercoverpro.net. Look for the submission tab while browsing around, or head for sitemap. We are offering some of the best terms to writers in India, though we are looking for writers from around the world. Two US writers have already submitted their complete illustrated children's books to us, and we have already signed on one Caferati member as our next novelist. His book will be out in December this year. We don't ask our writers to organize/spend on their book launches unlike all other Indian publishers. We are accepting submissions in any genre but the book has to be a novel—no short stories—a novel with a very strong plot.

Submitted by Abhigyan Jha of Undercover Utopia.

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4.
Platform magazine wants a features writer.

Platform is looking for a Features Writer interested in the creative arts for feature-based columns. Those interested please contact us at info AT platform-mag DOT com and/or ssiganporia AT gmail DOT com.

Hat tip: Danish Husain

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5.
Got a dog story?

Excerpted from an email

I am now compiling a database of real-life incidents in which Pariah/Pariah-mix dogs have proved to be good watchdogs. The data will be used by canine behaviour consultant Shirin Merchant, the WSD adoption programme and the Indian Pariah Dog Club. It will also be available online for public reference.

If you know of any street dogs/building compound dogs/pet Pariah/pet Pariah-mix dogs who have prevented burglaries and other crimes, please mail the story to wsdindia AT gmail DOT com with a copy to rajashree DOT khalap AT gmail.com. If you did not personally witness the event, the story must be from a reliable and named source. Please mention at least an appoximate date, the location where it occurred, and whatever information you have about the dog (age / gender / description / etc).

The Welfare Of Stray Dogs(WSD) Tel: +91 22 23733433. E:mail: wsd AT wsdindia DOT org or wsdindia AT gmail DOT com

Hat-tip: Priya Pathiyan.

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6.
State Times wants writers

A new English daily newspaper, State Times, is looking for part-time or full-time writers, news associates, investigative journalists, etcetera. Please write to editor DOT kumar AT gmail DOT com

Submitted by Ajay Kumar via the Caferati forum.

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7.
Citizens For Peace wants submissions for its Peace Tree

2nd October is no longer just an important date on the Indian calendar. It is now the day on which people across the globe will observe the United Nations Day of Non-Violence.

On this special day, Citizens for Peace, in partnership with Times of India, is planning a Peace Mela - an evening dedicated to creative expressions of the striving for peace through music, song, poetry, dance, drama, films and more. The Peace Mela will be held in Mumbai (at the Horniman Circle/Asiatic Library space ) on the evening of 2nd October. It will be a five hour long gathering of well-known performing artists as well as unknown young talent.

You are invited to participate, with poems, prose pieces, posters, photographs etc., all on the theme of peace. The Horniman Garden area will be used to display poems, photographs and prose pieces that people have sent in.
Poems: Max 150 words
Prose pieces: Max 250 words
Photographs (prints): A3 or A4 sizes
Entries to be sent by either email or post.
By email to: meghann AT mdiworld DOT com.
By courier/post to: EMDI, IES Management College, 4th Floor, Opposite Lilavati Hospital, Bandra Reclamation, Mumbai 4000 50. Ph: 26550808/26427171
Please keep copies of whatever you send. Entries will not be returned.
The last date for sending in the entries is 28th Sept.

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8.
Reminders from past issues

- The international music magazine we mentioned in Edition 11 is still open to pitches from writers
- Siyahi is still acepting submissions (Edition 11)
- The Times / Chicken House Children's Fiction deadline is 17th November (Edition 11)
- NaNoWriMo (Edition 11) sign-ups start 1st October and stay open until the end of the month
- If you have a book coming out up to 30th June next year, remember The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize (Edition 10)
- Osians may still be looking for authors to represent (Edition 10).
- Pinstorm is still open to writer CVs (Edition 10)
- The TFA Creative Writing Awards (Edition 9) deadline is 20th October 2007.
- IFC-FT Essay Competition 2007 (Edition 8) deadline is close! 30th September 2007.
- Every Tuesday (Edition 8) is still open to story ideas.
- The Scian SciFi Short Story contest (Edition 6) deadline is around the corner! 30th September 2007.

Joy and jello,

Annie Zaidi, Manisha Lakhe, Peter Griffin

for Caferati

Caferati Listings 11

Crossposted from Caferati Listings

A slightly longer gap this time. Apologies. We've been a bit tied up with work, deadlines and, not least, getting Caferati's First Annual Celebrating Shakti Bhatt Workshop going. (And if you're in Delhi on the 30th September, do join us. Details at the link.)
1.
Can you write about music?

This came in via email:

An international music magazine is looking for writers, contributors and photographers for its India/South Asia edition. Besides definitive, edgy, incisive writing on music and musicians, which forms the core, the magazine will also cover national affairs (features, profiles), technology, trends, fashion, books and movies. This is a heads-up for prospective writers/contributors in all metros and the Northeast. There will be a web edition as well, and this message is also a heads-up for that crew. If you're interested, please email sudeep dot chakravarti at gmail dot com with your interest and specs. Peace.

Submitted by Sudeep Chakravarti.

[Back to top]

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2.
The Times / Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition

An excerpt from the web page:

Have you a manuscript hidden at the back of the wardrobe? Have you been scribbling in a shed at the bottom of the garden? Have you been making up brilliant bedtime stories? Now's your chance to see your name on the cover of a book!
The Times and Chicken House are launching a competition to find a great undiscovered children's writer. Our judges will choose one winner, whose novel will be published by Chicken House.

Your submissions must be full-length manuscript in English, of no more than 80,000 words accompanied by a brief synopsis, plot-plan and a letter of submission explaining the book's appeal to children . No picture books and graphic novels.
Note the eligibility criteria:

You must not have published a book in any form, in any country, whether fiction or non-fiction. In this case a "book" refers to a printed work of which you are the author. If your work has only appeared in newspapers, magazines, story or essay collections, or in electronic format (ie online) then you are eligible to enter.

The Prize
An offer of a worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House, which shall be subject to negotiation and completion between Chicken House and the winner.
Entries must be by post (email submissions will be rejected) to The Times, 1 Pennington Street, London E98 1TT marked Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition.
Deadline: Saturday 17th November 2007
Complete Terms and conditions and Submission Guidelines here. Make sure to read them.
More about the contest here .

Hat-tip, Christina Daniels.

[Back to top]

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3.
Siyahi wants authors, poets, researchers, translators

A note from Siyahi:

Siyahi, a Literary Consultancy, is working for promoting and managing creativity and taking the Indian word, to the world. We are forum for authors, poets, researchers, translators and publishers to evolve and expand the scope for Indian literature. We bring to publishers, the talent they are looking for. We are working with all genres and with all languages, with publishers in India and abroad. For submissions please contact mitakapur at siyahi dot in.

Submitted by Mita Kapur, who is, among other things, a long-time Caferati member, co-coordinator of our Jaipur chapter , and good friend. Good luck with this, Mita.

[Back to top]

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4.
Translators wanted for an anthology of Dalit poetry.

Dr. K. Purushotham, Associate Professor of English, Kakatiya University, is bringing out an anthology of Dalit poetry.

I am planning to bring out an anthology of Dalit Poetry in English translation from different languages of India. This task cannot be accomplished without the cooperation of the translators from other languages. Therefore, I have planned to bring out the proposed anthology by associating an editor for each of the languages. Those interested in translating and/or editing the Dalit poems from their languages to English are requested to associate with this project.

He is looking for people to translate from all the major Indian languages—except Telugu—into English. If you're interested, please write to Dr P at purushotham_ku at hotmail dot com.

Information from this post on blogbharti.

[Back to top]

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5.
Come November, it's NaNoWriMo

Hm. We don't know whether this quite fits into Caferati Listings, seeing as y'all are seriously talented, writers who sweat over their craft, and the NaNoWriMo web page says, "Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together." But what the heck, if it gets you to take the finger out and start writing, it's a good thing.
NaNoWriMo (short for National Novel Writing Month) gets people to register, and then spend the month of November hammering out a 50,000 word novel. From 21 participants in 1999, NaNoWrMo has grown hugely popular; there were 79,000 participants last year, and nearly 13,000 of them actually finished their 50,000 words. To quote the site: "They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists."
Please note that there is no prize or publishing contract offered. All who finish the 50k will be "added to our hallowed Winner's Page, and receive a handsome winner's certificate and web icon." And while it must be noted that their FAQ page lists 14 published novels that started out at NaNoWriMo, it is also pertinent that that number is out of some 35,000 winners over the years.
Sign-ups begin 1st October, 2007, and the writing begins November 1.
What it's all about here.
How it works here.
Frequently Asked Questions.

Hat-tip: Vineeta Malkani.

[Back to top]

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6.
Reminders from past issues

- If you have a book coming out up to 30th June next year, remember The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize ( Edition 10)
- Osians may still be looking for authors to represent (Edition 10 ).
- Pinstorm is still open to writer CVs (Edition 10)
- The TFA Creative Writing Awards (Edition 9) deadline is 20th October 2007.
- IFC-FT Essay Competition 2007 (Edition 8 ) deadline is 30th September 2007.
- Every Tuesday (Edition 8 ) is still open to story ideas.
- The Scian SciFi Short Story contest (Edition 6 ) deadline is 30th September 2007.

[Back to top]

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Feedback welcome at caferati at gmail dot com. This newsletter depends hevily on your suggestions and submissions. Please do keep them coming in. Details are at http://groups.google.com/group /Caferati-Listings/web/FAQs

We'd especially like to know if you have applied for or entered any of the stuff that has appeared in Caferati Listings. And of course, if you have got a job, got published, won something or generally improved your life in some way, puhleeze tell us. Such knowledge helps us get through the long, lonely winter nights.

Luck, love, and lozenges to you,

Annie Zaidi, Manisha Lakhe, Peter Griffin

Caferati Announcements

Crossposted from Caferati Listings

Edition 9

1. A new book prize

2. A new literary agency

3. An internet marketing solutions company wants copywriters

4. A news portal wants an Associate Editor in Bombay

5. Reminders

1. The Shakti Bhatt First Book prize

The Shakti Bhatt Foundation and the British Council invite entries in the following genres for the inaugural prize: poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction (travel writing, autobiography and narrative journalism) and drama.

The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize is a cash award of one lakh rupees. A 3-member panel of judges will shortlist 6 books published between 1 June 2007 and 30 June 2008. Only books published in India are eligible. Publications must be in English or translated into English from an Indian language.

The Shakti Bhatt Foundation is a non-profit trust.

or more information please contact: alice.cicoliniATSIGNin.britishcouncil.org

From Rwituja Mookherjee of the British Council

2. Osian's launches a literary agency

Osian's Literary Agency is always looking for high quality works of fiction and general non-fiction (biography/memoir, narrative travel writing, current affairs and contemporary issues), and represents authors for the sale of rights to their work in India and all major overseas markets, including the UK, US and Europe. The focus is on writers based in, originating from or writing about, the Indian subcontinent; India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

For more information on the agency, how to submit your work etc, email kavitaATSIGNosians.com, or log onto our website www.osians.com.

From Kavita Bhanot of Osian's Literary Agency

3. Pinstorm wants copywriters

From Pinstorm's Creative Director

Richard Clayderman, John Lord, Louis Banks, Ray Manzarek - Now if only their Keyboards generated Prose…

Adept in grammar, ability to develop interest in a wide range of products/services and communicate effusively about them, plenty of surfing experience, the yen to prove your marketplace effectiveness as a Copywriter by following the Response statistics, interest in drafting text messages within a tight format, the versatility to write landing-page copy which is persuasive without being formulaic, enthusiasm for creating tiny Flash-sequences that are catchy and promote a brand - perhaps all of this with a couple of years' experience as well.

We must either think this is our lucky day or that this place is El Dorado!! One thing's for sure - Pinstorm Technologies is the fastest growing Internet marketing solutions Co. in Asia (as accoladed by Red Herring Magazine in its Top Picks). ESOP for us is not something to do with fables only - exercise your option here to translate your words into wallet-fillers!

Spell-check your mail before sending it to briandATSIGNpinstorm.com

Contact: Brian D'souza, Human Resources, briand@pinstorm.com , 26480520 / 2648853More about Pinstorm at www.pinstorm.com

4. A news portal want an Associate Editor

Associate Editor based in Bombay office of a global news portal focused on environment and engineering. The candidate should have minimum three years experience reporting, editing under deadline, preferably in daily newspapers. Knowledge of science and engineering is preferred. Should have sound editing skills and ability to fact-check, report and develop copy based on raw information. Interested candidates may email resume and clips to deerparkATSIGNgmail.com

The interview will be conducted Sept. 7, 8 and 9 in Mumbai. Information courtesy Anita Vasudeva.

5. Reminders

1. The TFA Creative Writing Awards ( Caferati Listings Edition 9) deadline is 20 October 2007.

2. Submissions to Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul series ( Edition 9) close on 15th September.

3. IFC-FT Essay Competition 2007 ( Edition 8) deadline is September 30th.

4. Every Tuesday ( Edition 8) is still open to story ideas.

5. The Scian SciFi short story contest ( Edition 6) deadline is September 30th.

Caferati Blog, Forum
Our other newsletters and local newsgroups

Caferati Updates, Caferati-Contests

Active City Chapters: Ahmedabad, Bombay, Bangalore, Calcutta, Delhi , Dubai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kanpur, Lahore, Lucknow, Madras, Nagpur, Pune, Singapore.

Works in Progress: Boston , Goa, Indore, Jodhpur, London, San Francisco Bay Area.

Annie Zaidi, Manisha Lakhe, Peter Griffin

Edition 8

1. Creative writing awards - call for entries

2. "Chicken Soup" stories wanted

3. A few reminders from past Listings editions

1. Toto Funds the Arts Creative Writing Awards 2008 - Call for Entries

Toto Funds the Arts (TFA) invites entries for its third annual awards for young Indian writers in English. Two cash awards of Rs. 25,000 each will be given in January 2008.

BUT: If you are less than 18 and older than 30 on 1 January 2008, or live outside India, read no further!

ALSO: The spirit of the Toto Awards is to identify promise and encourage young talent. Therefore, do not submit an entry if you are already an established writer.

TFA is looking for entries in a variety of genres -- the novel, short stories, play scripts and poetry. The submissions should ideally be not more than 10,000 words. Pieces of short fiction; an extract from a novel or play script; or between five and ten poems are recommended norms. Sensible combinations of the above are acceptable within the word limit.

Deadline: 20 October 2007.

Entries should be sent in soft e-mail copy to totofundstheartsATSIGNyahoo.com as well as in hard copy form to:

Toto Funds the Arts (TFA)

H 301 Adarsh Gardens

8th Block, 47th Cross

Jayanagar

Bangalore 560 082

Phone: 080-26548139

The fine print

Entries must be accompanied by a signed statement confirming the applicant's date of birth, whether the applicant's work has been published in print (give details), and also affirming that the submitted work is original.

Submitted material will not be returned.

The decision of the TFA jury is final and cannot be contested in any forum.

Toto Funds the Arts (TFA) is a not-for-profit public trust set up in memory of Angirus 'Toto' Vellani, who was intensely passionate about music, literature and films.

Information courtesy Arundhati Ghosh

2. "Chicken Soup" stories wanted

You've heard of, if not read, the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Well, there's now going to be a series for the Indian Soul. The following (edited) from an email:

Chicken Soup is essentially a compilation series of hundreds of heart-felt stories of real-life experiences about love, courage, awareness and awe that has touched the minds and souls of millions of readers.

I am currently compiling individual experiences for the 'Chicken Soup for the Indian soul' series for Westland publishing house. The book will carry the brand name of Chicken soup and the publishing house believes it will surely be a success.

I welcome experiences.

Here is the format:

It could be on any person / event / incident which made an impact on you. This impact could be a change in the way you thought or lived, or improved performance, or in making you a better person, more more courageous, persistent, optimistic or positive, or it may have broadened your horizons. If you think it is worth speaking about, I am willing to listen.

The instances could be specific or general.

Some broad topics:

Love - It could be love between you and your spouse, parents, children, friends, strangers you met and connected with. Or an episode of love you have witnessed.

Understanding love

Learning to love yourself

Parenting

Overcoming obstacles - stories on how you persisted with something
Someone who made you believe in yourself - how, what specific things did s/he say or not say.

Giving without expectations

Forgiveness

These are just starters. The subject could be anything; as long as the story puts a smile in the readers heart.

Note: The story should be in first person, with the contributor's name at the end.

Contributions can be between 500 and 1500 words.

Deadline: 15th September

Submit to: bharadiarakshaATSIGNhotmail.com with a cc to rakshabharadiaATSIGNgmail.com

Submitted by Raksha Bharadia, author of Me - A handbook for Life (Rupa & Co) and Roots and Wings - A handbook for parents (Rupa & Co).

3. Reminders

1. IFC-FT Essay Competition 2007 deadline September 30th.

2. Every Tuesday is still open to story ideas.

3. The Scian SciFi short story contest deadline is September 30th.

Annie Zaidi, Manisha Lakhe, Peter Griffin

1. IFC-FT Essay Competition 2007

The International Finance Corporation and the Financial Times invite entries to their annual essay contest about the role of the private sector in international development. The top prize is a US$20,000 cash award, and winning essays will be published on the IFC and FT web sites.

Entries will be accepted until September 30, 2007.

Application details; prize essays from previous year: http://www.ifc.org/competition

Information courtesy Mayank Rungta.

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2. Junior and mid-level correspondents

Reproduced from an email:

I am looking to recruit junior and mid-level correspondents (on a full time basis) at Magna's Bangalore bureau. The profile of work will involve writing stories for mainly Society, Savvy, Society Interiors and Savvy cook book and for Magna 5 other magazines - Stardust, Showtime, Health N Nutrition, Savvy fashion and glamour and Society World of Luxury, as and when the need arises. You can get a lowdown on all the magazines and their contents at www.magnamags.com

If you know of anyone looking for a change, please have them write me at anubijurATSIGNyahoo.com.

My contact details are below.

Anupama Bijur

Bureau Chief,

Magna Publishing Co Ltd,

1107, Barton Centre, MG Road,

Bangalore 560001

Ph; +91 80 25599646 /7/8, 25594604

Mob: + 91 98441 24290

Info forwarded by Manoj Vijayan of Marketing Edge Designs<http://www.marketingedgedesigns.com/>

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And this one's from Menka Shivdasani:

3. Looking for writers for a new arts and culture weekly

If writing about arts and culture is your forte, here's an interesting opportunity. Ace Publications is launching a weekly called Every Tuesday in mid-August, focusing on art, cinema, theatre, dance, literature and everything related to Indian culture. Mr Shashi Vyas, director of Pancham Nishad Creatives Pvt Ltd, one of the largest organizers of classical music concerts in the country, is the publisher, and the entire content has been outsourced to my company, The Source <http://www.editsource.com/>.If you are interested in doing in-depth interviews and features, write to Menka Shivdasani at everytuesday ATSIGNeditsource.com with your ideas.

Annie Zaidi, Manisha Lakhe, Peter Griffin

Job offer and call for submissions

Crossposted from Caferati listings
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1. Journalists Wanted
for a new Bombay magazine
Wanted: Sub-editors / copy editors / Full-time journalists / writers / reporters. Also designers. A new magazine is being launched in Bombay. It is city-centric and will focus on celebrities. Obviously, they don't want to reveal more since the magazine isn't out yet. They're offering competitive salaries. And they would like to make it clear that this a 6 days a week job, and the work doesn't stop till the next issue is out. They're looking to put together a team by early December. (Our apologies for not posting this earlier. To apply, please email Suren Bhatia at surinATgmail.com
[Information courtesy: Rushina Munshaw - Ghildiyal of A Perfect Bitehttp://a-perfect-bite.blogspot.com/]
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2. Call for submissions; Writer's Bloc Festival
Rage Productions (Rahul da Cunha, Rajit Kapur and Shernaz Patel) is organising Writer's Bloc, a festival of plays written by new writers, to be staged at Prithvi (Jan 9th-21st) and NCPA (Jan 23rd-Feb 4th). The festival is a culmination of a year-long process, in conjuction with the Royal Court Theatre London, of conducting workshops for new playwrights to help them complete a full-length play. Part of the programme is a section called the Platform Performances that will precede each of the Prithvi shows. These will be held at 8 pm each day, Jan 9th-21st. In keeping with the festival theme, each Platform performance will be a 20-min reading of original writing in any form: poetry, short fiction, an except from long fiction, skit, play except, song, or a combination of all these. Actors are available to read out/enact pieces, if required. (But writers may choose to read their own work.) If you'd like to submit your original writing to be read, please mail the piece(s) to Niloufer Sagar at nilousaATgmail.com. RAGE needs to finalise the platform listings by the end of this week. So hurry!
[Information courtesy Mukul Chadda]
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Until next time, then.
May your muses treat you with kind, tender care.
Thank you
Manisha Lakhe, Annie Zaidi, Peter Griffin
(Feedback welcome at editors at caferati dot com.) And please keep those suggestions coming in. We need them!)

Caferati Listings mailing list: from Peter Griffin

Caferati - Calcutta
http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-CalcuttaCaferati-Calcutta@googlegroups.com
Today's topics: Introducing: Caferati Listings (beta)

From: "peter griffin"

Hello. This is to inform you that we have now started a new mailing list, Caferati Listings <http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Listings>. Unlike most of our newsgroups, this one doesn't require moderator approval to join. And it is a send-only list, so you you will not be subjected to endless replies, debates and chatter. To subscribe go to http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Listings and sign up. (Or mail one of us, and we'll send you an invitation.)

About Caferati Listings

Since we have access to a bunch of writers, we get a lot of requests to help publicise contests and submissions to anthologies, list job openings and stuff like that. Some of these we post to our forum, or forward to our local groups. This can get tedious when done piecemeal. So we decided to create a separate newsletter devoted to just that task. Caferati Listings will send out information about interesting writing opportunities, paid and unpaid (provided we think they're cool) and events. This includes:

• Contests, online or in print.

• Calls For Submissions from publishing houses and the media, online or in print.
• Information on literary events and festivals that seek participation fromoutside their own geographical area.
• Job opportunities for writers, full-time, part-time, freelance, retainer-based or one-off assignments.

Frequency

Emails to this list will never exceed one a week. More likely than not, it will be a comprehensive monthly mail, unless something very juicy, but with a very short deadline crops up. You can also choose not to receive any emails, and only visit the group's home page whenever you please. (Just remember to bookmark it, hm?) You can adjust those settings when you sign up, or later, by visiting the group's page.

Privacy

Caferati's editors are the only ones who will have access to the email address you use to subscribe to Caferati Listings. We will never sell, rent or lend this list to any other person ororganisation.

Submissions to Caferati Listings

You are invited, nay, urged, to send in information about contests, events, writing opportunities, calls for submissions, literature festivals and the like. You need not be the person behind whatever it is you're submitting. You're welcome to send us tip-offs and links as well. In the case of tip-offs, we will credit the first person to send in a particular item. Like so: "Via: Salman Naipaul, yourURL" (if you send us one). Please let us know if you do not want to be credited. Mail editorsATcaferatiDOTcom, and use the words "For Listings -Submission" or "For Listings - Tip" in the subject line to ensure you get past our spam filters. (Do NOT mail the group directly. It is, as we said, a one-way mailing list, so your mail won't reach us or Caferati Listings subscribers.) Make your submission brief, and do include URLs where those interested can get more info.

Ideal submission:

Name of event or opportunity
Brief explanation
Rewards
Conditions / restrictions / deadlines
URL for more information, if necessary
Your name and URL

Conditions for Submissions

Do NOT send us email with attachments. We won't open them. If there is any kind of entry, admission or application fee, please state that clearly. Likewise with deadlines, and any other restrictions or conditions. For unpaid writing opportunities, please state why you think the opportunity is worth the application. If you submit a paid job opportunity, please state clearly the experience, qualifications and/or certifications you consider mandatory, contact details for queries, and the preferred method of, and deadline for, application. If you're including a "more information" URL, please link directly to the relevant page or permalink. Don't post a parent site site link and expect people to go search. If you're expecting us to hunt and then list your submission, we have two words for you. Ha. Ha.

Caferati's editors reserve the right to refuse to include your submission, and to not give you any reasons for refusal. Listing events or opportunities will be free for as long as we can manage it. However, if this list becomes insanely popular (we wish!), and begins to take up large amounts of the time we set aside to earn our livings, we may consider charging for submissions, particularly where the person or organisation making the submission stands to make money. This will be with plenty of advance notice. And if we do so, paid submissions will be in a separate, clearly marked section.

Strictly local events

For information on Caferati's own local read-meets and other strictly local writing-related events and opportunities, please check if we have your city covered in our list of local newsgroups (URLs below the signature line), and subscribe to one of those. Just to make this clear, you don't have to be a Caferati member to subscribe to Caferati Listings <http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Listings>.

Of course, for those of you who aren't, we would be thrilled to see you on our free Forum <http://bwc-network.ryze.com/>, currently hosted on Ryze<http://www.ryze.com/>.

http://caferati.com/ListingsAnnouncement.htm

Thank you.

Annie Zaidi, Manisha Lakhe, Peter Griffin--for Caferati

<http://www.caferati.com/> http://www.caferati.com

Blog: http://caferati.blogspot.com

Forum: http://bwc-network.ryze.com

News for members: http://groups.google.com/group/CaferatiUpdates

Announcements of contests we run, endorse or partner:

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Contests

Local Groups in India:

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Ahmedabad

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Bombay

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Bangalore

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Calcutta

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Delhi

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Hyderabad

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Jaipur

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Jodhpur

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Kanpur

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Lucknow

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Madras

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Nagpur

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Pune

Local Groups elsewhere:

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Dubai

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Singapore

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-BayArea

http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-London

Caferati Read Meet

This was a huge success, with Ria Chakraborty, Najnin Islam and Sulipta Jana representing WIP, with support from Inam Hussein Mallick, who also read a poem of his own. All four contributions were of a very high quality. I only have a few points to make about the reading styles. With the exception of Inam, all of you needed to be much louder and clearer. Reading your work well is the courtesy of writers.

Further opportunities to read will come up in future. I'll be posting them here.

Poetry Dot SCAM

Some of you will remember a green and elegant pamphlet from poetry.com that was put up on the notice around this time last year, advertising a free poetry competition with lots of prizes. I have since learned (courtesy Peter Griffin of Caferati) that this is a SCAM. If you have entered a poem for the contest DO NOT PAY THEM ANY MONEY under any circumstances. To know more go here.

Caferati

I've added a link to this organisation in the links section of this page. This used to be the Bombay Writers' Cafe. There was apparently a read-meet a week ago at the Punjab Club, organised by Anurag Mathur (not the author, someone else) and Ravi Bagaria, which we seem to have missed out on. If you want to join their messsage board, you'll also have to join Ryze, hence the other link.
There's also a Google Group for Calcutta. You will need to contact caferatiATgmailDOTcom (Peter Griffin) and/or have a gmail ID to join this.
Oh and please do read TC's novel in progress :)