Open Writing

...I used to think the world of Alice, but lately, I’ve come to see that she’s an interfering autocrat, a control freak. She dresses up like the Queen, summons me to meetings in her office, and implies that if I disobey her wishes, I will no longer be considered worthy of the family name...

Ingrid reveals her true opinion if her mother-in-law.

Leanne Hunt continues her story of a woman whoise life is at a cross-roads. The novel is set in fast-changing present-day South Africa.

Continue reading "Chapter 33: The Peace Rose" »

Written by Leanne Hunt - Published at 08:30 AM

Sally Jenkins brings news of extra prize money on offer in a short story competitioon.

Continue reading "Multi-Story Increases Prize Pot" »

Written by Sally Jenkins - Published at 08:20 AM

Lawrence Willson's profound poem infers that pure "self-interest" is integrally illusory, psychologically delusional, and globally disastrous.

Continue reading "That Iconic Wordact, God" »

Written by Lawrence Willson - Published at 08:10 AM

Diarist Samuel Pepys records an expected visit from the new King.

Continue reading "Four Barrels Of Mallows Oysters" »

Written by Samuel Pepys - Published at 08:00 AM

Jim Graham outlines the foundation of Australia's famous Royal Flying Doctor Service ( RFDS) and his involvment with it which spans 50 years. He met the Very Reverend John Flynn, the founder of the Service.

"Without the RFDS the bush would be a far more dangerous place than it is,'' Jim adds.

Jim wrote this article while a member of a University of the Third Age writing group in Mildura. Further articles, stories and poems by Sunraysia U3A members will be appearing in Open Writing in forthcoming weeks.

Continue reading "A Mantle Of Safety" »

Written by Jim Graham (Sunraysia U3A, Australia) - Published at 08:50 AM

Ulysses Grant was general who led the North to victory in the
American Civil War. Often a failure at his small business endeavors before the war, he was plain-spoken, modest and unassuming as a general. When he arrived in Washington
from the West to assume his duties as head of the army in a rumpled, dirty private's uniform, he was not recognized until he signed his name at the guest register of the Willard Hotel. His autobiography - dictated from his death-bed to Samuel Clemons as a way to raise money for his again-impoverished family - is now regarded as one of the classics of American literature. Douglas MacArthur was one of the most controversial
generals in American history. Revered and deified by many, he is most remembered for his generalship during the Korean War and in the Pacific Theater of World War II. But he was egotistical in the extreme, adopting the full decor of generalship and more - and as many reviled him as deified him, especially for what they viewed as the unnecessary aggression and blunders of Korea. Like Grant, he wrote an autobiography, write authors Fred Anderson and Andrew Cayton.

Continue reading "The Dominion Of War" »

Written by Fred Anderson and Andrew Cayton - Published at 08:40 AM

"I was guided by the principle that you only get out of life what you are prepared to put into it. Well, I'm still working on it. There have been many ups and downs but from time to time precious moments of contentment and happiness,'' writes William Sykes.

Continue reading "Happiness" »

Written by William Sykes - Published at 08:22 AM

Sap and words rise in Spring, as John Waddington-Feather's poem reveals.

Continue reading "Spring" »

Written by John Waddington-Feather - Published at 08:00 AM

"In 1826 Samuel Brown was having a really ordinary day. He’d woken after a night of reasonably heavy drinking and looked out on a bleak, loveless sort of London morning and tried to figure out what to do for the rest of the day. After an hour or so of sitting in front of the fire, he decided to make a car,'' writes Ian Arkell.

Continue reading "What Can I Say? I’m a Guy; It’s What We Do." »

Written by Ian Arkell - Published at 08:50 AM

...Did you know that the worker bees are all females? Perhaps that was the reason for my dilemma! It is just normal that as soon as you learn the rules that apply to females, they change the rules!...

Ray Evans recalls the day he got a sore head.

Continue reading "Angry Bees" »

Written by Ray Evans - Published at 08:30 AM

"Sounding, as you have every right to expect, exactly like much-loved, very well cared for, and rarely played 78s, this set is a treasure-house for both serious students of the art of violin-playing and those simply seeking something to rekindle their sense of wonder,'' wrote Paul Serotsky of a 7 CD set commemorating the centenary of the celebrated violinist Heifetz.

Continue reading "Heifetz Centenary Memorial Edition" »

Written by Paul Serotsky - Published at 08:10 AM

Lisa DeMarco brings us another good chuckle.

Continue reading "Being Neighborly" »

Written by Lisa DeMarco - Published at 08:00 AM

Brian Barratt tells of the dish pease porridge, still regularly served and eaten in northern parts of Britain.

Continue reading "When You Boyl Pulse" »

Written by Brian Barratt - Published at 08:59 AM

"A snippet of trivia on the radio this morning caught my attention. Apparently, there is a high correlation between seeing auras and the phenomenon of synesthesia. For those of you who don't know, synesthesia is the tendency to associate words, letters, numbers or names with colours, and there is some controversy about whether this is an indicator of psychiatric pathology or a spiritual gift.'' writes columnist Leanne Hunt who sees a week in colours.

Continue reading "The Glory Spectrum" »

Written by Leanne Hunt - Published at 08:42 AM

...He pocketed the book and thanked Mrs Adams for bringing it. She’d no idea she’d landed him a bomb. If exploded, it could have brought down the government!...

Inspector Hartley receives startling information from the mother of a missing girl.

John Waddington-Feather continues his gripping murder mystery story.

Continue reading "Twentyeight" »

Written by John Waddington-Feather - Published at 08:20 AM

Ron Pataky's poem tells of a young chap who got hold of the wrong end of the stick.

Continue reading "And I Don't Have A Personal Zipcode Either" »

Written by Ron Pataky - Published at 08:00 AM

Continue reading "A Pretty Sober Dutch Lass" »

Written by Samuel Pepys - Published at 08:00 AM