Under 25? Short-story writer? Valley Press needs you!

Note: The submissions process below is now closed. The collection of short stories was eventually published in November 2012, titled 'Front Lines' - read more here.

In an attempt to break into the exciting, lucrative world of prose anthologies, Valley Press will be publishing a collection of short stories in early 2012, edited by Dan Formby, student of English & Creative Writing and our appointed expert in the form.  The 'angle' is that all the pieces will be from young writers, ideally aged 25 or less (though there is a bit of leeway; we're not age fascists!)  Try and keep them less than 3000 words; other than that, they can be on any subject, they can even be philosophical non-fiction essays if that's your thing.  More than anything, we're looking to represent a generation - according to Dan, a disaffected one, cut-off from society and probably a bit moody (angry young men/women welcome; pick a machine and rage against it.)

We know many of the angry young people are busy with university finals at the moment; so you've got until the 31st July 2011 to get your submissions in.  We'd also appreciate ideas for the title; 'Generation Z' is one suggestion, but you can come up with something less obvious and more interesting.  Best of luck!

Deirdre McGarry in Romania

VP author Deirdre McGarry has forwarded the following report about a recent visit to Romania; without further ado, here it is.

Val Taylor showing the villagers a copy of the book.

I’ve just returned from a trip to Romania, to Odoreu, the village featured in The Day of Small Things, available from Valley Press.  I travelled with my friend Val who inspired the book and who has been committed to the people of Romania since she went there after the revolution and saw the horrors of the orphanages.  She has been going ever since and now is particularly interested in the gypsy community at Odoreu.

Before I got there I stopped for a day’s sightseeing in Budapest, a beautiful city full of sculpture, architecture, stories, history and religious antiquities including the mummified right arm of the king who founded the state in 1000AD.  If you want a relatively cheap short break to a European city I’d recommend it wholeheartedly.

It was a short trip to the border and into Romania, down a few gears instantly in terms of wealth. The roads are quiet, the land is flat and in the countryside there are still iconic East European wooden carts and horses and women in black before their time.

Here is a country of hardworking deeply religious people whose generosity takes your breath away and is truly humbling. It is decrepit, crumbling and in the towns quite ugly and ill kept - the trials and suffering from the era of Ceausescu continues to be a blight. I wasn’t so much worried at night about being attacked as falling down a big hole in the pavement!  It is immediately disturbing to see that most skips contain a poor gypsy rummaging for the means to keep him and his family alive. This is a country which is so deeply prejudiced and disdainful to this group of people who are cut off from work, education and the right to an 'identity' which is the doorway to what the rest of society is entitled to. Many do not have these identity papers and the officials are prone to much bribery and corruption, which makes everything a trial.

At last I get to visit the village I’ve seen so many pictures of and heard so many stories about. It is familiar, but it is shocking. I’m stunned to see a row of four churches at the entrance to the encampment where the gypsies live, churches which have turned them away. I want to kick the door, haul out the priest and vent some serious anger. I thank God I am on a church mission and hopefully bearing a more meaningful witness of the Son of Man I have placed my faith in.

It is a dry day, but I still imagine how the mud would turn in a shower of rain.

The houses are built of home-made mud bricks, with plastic and tarpaulin found in rubbish dumps for roofs. For heating and cooking an upturned oil drum with a wood fire burning inside, and a one-pot meal if you have something to eat prepared on the hot top. Some people have electricity wired from a variety of sources so it was a good job I wasn’t a health and safety expert. The toilet was a large hole in the ground, full of excrement - depth unknown - and I seriously feared I might fall in and never be seen again. I persuaded Melinda, the gypsy leader’s wife who had a wicked sense of mischievous humour to hold my hand while I did the business, which caused great hilarity.

Deirdre with Elvirag and family.

I was deeply distressed that two people were dying without medical aid at all, just sat outside these hovels with only their family to be there beside them and life going on around them. Elvirag had been bitten by a dog, developed blood poisoning and was beyond the antibiotics which might have saved her earlier, except she couldn’t afford medical care. Andreas had lung cancer and was in his last days, without pain relief. I was concerned too for a new baby, Miguel, who lived in this squalor and although clearly much loved could not have access to the clean conditions we demand in Britain. No wonder he had little black fingernails when the only water in the whole community was two taps from wells the Bridlington Romanian Project have sunk, and the river.

But this is Europe! This is part of the European community!

What would I really like to say briefly - I would have swapped the best holiday I’ve ever had for this opportunity, I know it has changed my life and I am going back. I touched a reality I rarely get the opportunity to witness and I believe I am called to wake up to what I can do something about to make the world a better place for everybody. I just thank God he showed me.

I have come back to fundraise for a cow to provide milk for the children (what they asked for) and with a number of other ideas which may help to improve community life.

First Look - 'Pulse'

There is organised chaos behind the scenes at the Valley Press office this week; a crucial week for almost all this year's releases, for one reason or another.  On the public stage, VP author Steve Rudd went on BBC Radio Humberside tonight to announce/promote Pulse (and VP in general, good work Steve!) which served as a reminder that I had yet to mention him or the book on the VP blog yet...

Though Steve is a noted musician and poet, he is most widely known for his travel writing - he circles the globe on an almost yearly basis (it seems!), producing hundreds of pithy, punchy reports around the 1500 word mark, which have been published by the likes of Time Out and the Guardian.  As Steve discussed on the radio, travel writing is many people's idea of perfect job...cruising round the globe, jotting up a few notes, expanding your mind...though at some point you do need to come down to earth (in Steve's case, Yorkshire) and sell your wares.

Steve had a three-book deal with a larger publisher, which was scuppered by the recession/arts cuts (which you can read about elsewhere, endlessly) which allowed me to 'snap him up' (so to speak) a couple of months back.  He's actually written five books, one for each of his trips - Pulse is the latest, telling the story of his 2010 trip through India, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia,
inspired by (in his words) 'a midlife crisis' (if indeed you can have one at thirty.)  He left these countries until last because he was worried they wouldn't live up to his expectations, especially India, but (as you'll see when you read it) he wasn't disappointed.

His biggest influence is Jack Kerouac, and something about his free-wheelin', philosophical approach (or people's general obsession with Kerouac!) leads him to be compared to Jack almost every time he is reviewed - one reviewer from US magazine Traveller's Digest suggested Kerouac would be 'grinning in his grave' if he could read Steve's writing.  I get the impression Steve would rather be seen as a Michael Palin figure (post-Python!), offering a reasonable, eloquent and non-judgemental view of the wider world - maybe a combination of both.  Anyway, now you've been introduced, look out for more info on Steve and the book in the months to come; you're going to absolutely love it.