Whoo-hooo! MNDA gets £2000 from our Insights Fundraiser
We would like to proudly announce that our fundraiser to support the Motor Neurone Disease Association cleared just less than £2,000. I would give an exact amount but we still have a few outstanding receipts which will affect the final tally. Stay tuned.
Many thanks to all who came out on Saturday to help launch Insights: Fifteen Stories Exploring Disability and to hear Tracy Chevalier lead a very interesting discussion about writing, creativity and disability. Her thoughtful and sensitive leadership on the panel made it an exceptionally interesting and moving event.
Congratulations to the three winners of the short story competition: Jim Knight, Diane L Miller and Pam Corsie.
As Katie Isbester said in her speech welcoming everyone that evening, we have the misfortune to be living through interesting times. But seeing so many people come in support of the MNDA that evening affirms the best of our species: communal, generous, creative and deeply deeply compassionate.
Insights: Fifteen Stories Exploring Disability is available through all bookstores and through Amazon. Net proceeds from the event and from the sale of the book go to support the MNDA.
Just to prove that it wasn't all high-minded literary chat, the bar was open and well stocked and well staffed.
Many thanks to Ollie and Alice for volunteering their Saturday night.
In fairness, it seems only right to say that they were not alone in volunteering. We had nine volunteers from the community. MANY THANKS TO ALL!
The panel discussion on writing and disability, hosted by Tracy Chevalier. From left to right: 3rd place prize winner Pam Corsie, Michael Coolwood, 2nd place prize winner Diane L Miller, Shirley Muir, and 1st place prize winner Jim Knight. They had much to say about writing from how they do it to any illnesses that they channelled to tell their stories.
So very pleased that Tracy Chevalier came to the book launch of Insights: Fifteen Stories Exploring Disability. In addition to saying a number of kind words about the enormous difficulty in writing a short story versus a novel, she also generously hosted a panel discussion with the winners and other finalists about writing and disability. She was a pleasure to have, not merely a superb writer but a superb human being.
Katie Isbester, the founder and editor of Claret Press welcoming the audience to a night of generous giving and fabulous discussion in aid of MNDA. Katie Isbester was also one of the judges for the short story competition that chose three winners from a long list of fifteen finalists.
