The Lasse Press and the author invite EAW members to join them at the launch of Norwich Submerged: the meandering river and the Great Flood on Tuesday 2 April at New Mills Pumping Station, 8 New Mills Yard, Norwich NR3 3AH. Drinks will be served. Booking is essential as places are limited, so please indicate your preferred timeslot (5 pm or 5.45 pm) by emailing lassepress@gmail.com or texting 07888 231 500. Note that the venue has stairs and machinery in situ and is therefore unsuitable for those with walking difficulties or children under 12.

EAW member Susan Curran of Lasse Press invites EAW members to attend the launch of Landscape of Towers: the explorer's guide to the lost churches and religious ruins of Norfolk by Clive Dunn on Thursday 28 March at the Book Department, Lower Ground Floor, Jarrolds, London Street, Norwich. The event will begin at 6 pm for 6.30 pm and is free. Drinks will be served. Please book a ticket via www.jarrold.co.uk/event-diary/event-list and feel free to bring your friends.

Our first event for 2019 will be a pub get-together at the Coach & Horses, Bethel Street, Norwich on Thursday 3 January from 5 to 7 pm. Please note the new venue and day of the week! Very much hope to see as many of you as can make it.

Wishing all EAW members a merry Christmas and a very happy and peaceful 2019. See you next year!

Thank you to all EAW members who came along and made our 2018 Christmas lunch party a resounding success. Special thanks to Amanda Hopkinson and Nick Caistor, who generously let us use their house yet again, and to all those committee members and EAW members who donated prizes for the raffle. 

EAW has just received the following email from Megan Dennis of Norfolk Museums (Gressenhall):
'We are currently creating a children’s literature temporary exhibition called Once Upon a Time here at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse. This is designed to inspire family reading and a nostalgia for reading. It has been co-curated by our visitors and local library users.
I am writing to ask three things:
1) We are developing a section on children’s authors with a link to Norfolk – would you be happy to be featured in this section and do you have anything we could use to illustrate your work? This could be a working copy of one of your books, something that illustrates your writing process or something that inspires you.
2) Are you available to do book signing/workshops/story telling sessions? If so would you be interested in doing something for us next year? What types of costs would you charge?
3) Who should we contact to try and obtain copies of your books for sale in our Museum Shop?
Do get back in touch with me with the answers to my questions, or if you have any of your own. 
Many thanks
Megan Dennis
Curator
Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse
T. 01362 869253
Email: megan.dennis@norfolk.gov.uk
Norfolk Museums Service
Gressenhall Farm & Workhouse, Gressenhall, Dereham, Norfolk NR20 4DR

We awarded our Book by the Cover Award at the East Anglian Book Awards ceremony for the fifth time last Friday. And for the first time, the award went to a local designer who actually attended the ceremony! So congratulations to Niki Medlik of Studio Medlikova, who designed the cover of Devoured ​by Anna Mackmin, published by Propolis Books (Henry Layte of the Book Hive). Congratulations to Niki, and thank you to all EAW members who voted for this award. 

... are due to the following EAW members:
Rory Clements, awarded the Crime Writers' Association's Historical Dagger for 2018 for his novel Nucleus, published by Zaffre;
D.J. Taylor, shortlisted for the East Anglian Book Awards, category Fiction, for his novel Rock and Roll is Life, published by Constable & Robinson;
David Bedford and Mandy Stanley, shortlisted for the East Anglian Book Awards, category The Mal Peet Children's Award, for their book Birdy & Bou: Th Floating Library, published by Simon & Schuster;
Phyllida Scrivens, the winner of the East Anglian Book Awards, category Biography & Memoir, for her book The Lady Lord Mayors of Norwich​, published by Pen & Sword.
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All EAW members should have received their invitation to our annual Christmas lunch party, happening this year on Sunday 16 December from 12.30 until 4 pm. Cost is the usual low £5 per person, to cover wine, soft drinks, cutlery etc. If you haven't received an invitation, please let me know. Alison Pressley, EAW Chair

EAW has received the following email:
​Keith Packer <Keith@nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk>

Dear Alison,
 
I am contacting you regarding the Talking Statues Creative Writing Competition, which is being run by the National Centre for Writing (formerly Writers’ Centre Norwich) and Creative Nation – with funding from Arts Council England.
 
The competition aims to give budding writers the chance to bring two Norwich “statues” to life – being the missing statue at the Church of St John, Maddermarket, and the Snap the Dragon ceremonial mask at the Museum of Norwich at the Bridewell.
 
The missing statue competition is open to anyone aged 16 and above, and the Snap the Dragon competition is open to anyone aged 16 and below. 

In both instances, writers are asked to submit a short monologue (maximum 350 words) from the perspective of the statue. The winning entry will be professionally recorded and included as part of Talking Statues Norwich, commencing early 2019.

Both competitions will be supported by free writing workshops held in Norwich during October half-term break, including this:
https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/talking-statues-writing-a-monologue-workshop-under-16s-2/

Full details, including entry guidelines and terms and conditions, can be found here:
nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/unesco-city-of-literature/talking-statues/creative-writing-competitions/

The deadline for entries is midnight on 30th November 2018, and all entries should be sent to: competitions@nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk

I would be very grateful if you would circulate the attached information to any of your members that may be interested.