Open Pen London

Open Pen Issue Five hits your favourite bookshops this weekend (and in some cases next). Make sure you get down to any number of the stores listed at the bottom of this page to get your free copy. We’ve got quite a range for you this April, and find ourselves shamelessly confident that it’s our best issue yet.

An immaculate red in colour, this outing sees Xanthi Barker in fine form in the lead short story ‘Love In The Time of Ketamine’, Welshman David Gill looking back at a curious moment of bonding between a mother and son in ‘Mother’s Day’, Jamie Collinson’s harrowing and poisoned microshort ‘Inherent Sick’, Dublin’s own Remie Purtill-Clarke’s humorous tinyplay ‘The Ice Cream Robbery of Sherkin Island’ and a new column on London’s independent bookshops, affectionately entitled ‘Stinky Little Bookshops’ guest written this Issue by Wood Green resident Adam Luria.

The issue – a fifth to top off a great first year – is guest-edited by The Independent columnist and author of ‘Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class’ Owen Jones, who has his piece to say on writing, writers and social progression.

If you’re unfortunate enough to find that you’ve taken far too long in getting a copy of Open Pen Issue Five, and that your local bookshop has run out, moan/ask politely for the shop to stock more copies of the magazine, or send us an email with your address and we’ll send one out to you. That said… it is always best to support these bookshops first. Go an get your copy of Open Pen directly from its rightful home, the local bookshop. By stocking Open Pen, they hope that you might well pick up a copy of that ruffled copy of Yann Martel’s ‘Self’ that you never got around to buying after you loved Pi so much. Our point is: support our stockists, they need our support and we need their lovely bookshops, little and stinky or not.

See list of Stockists

Look out for more on Open Pen and Issue Five, included live readings to occur later on in the month (Thursday 24th May in Hackney, for those dedicated to their calendars).

 

 

Part of Open Pen’s focus has always been to support the second-hand and independent bookshops of London. It’s with this ethic in mind that from Issue 5 on you’ll find a column somewhere amongst the back pages devoted to a different bookstore each month.

We’ve got to know quite a few bookstores in the time Open Pen has been in print (a solid year, now!); the likes of Sebastian at LXV Books providing us with support and enthusiasm by the bundle load.

In Issue 5 of Open Pen, out in stores across London by the weekend of May 19^th, we’ll be turning our attention to the North (of London, obviously), and in particular a star that has burnt brightly in its short time since it opened its doors. Wood Green’s Big Green Bookshop has provided those local to the area with a hub of literature – much needed since the closure of the Waterstones in the area. But you can read more about that in our first edition of Stinky Little Bookshops, provided by Wood Green inhabitant Adam Luria.

Luria writes, “Everyone should have a local bookshop,” and, in London, most do. But without the continued support of those with an undying affection for the paperback, high street perusers and the great and many passionate and dedicated people who run these shops, like Sebastian, and like Tim and Simon at Big Breen Bookshop, we might one day fall short of that lovely sentiment.

 

To find out more about Big Green Bookshop, check out their website here.

LEST WE FORGET… Open Pen’s very first Book Quiz takes place this Sunday at Biddle Bros.

Do you have your head between the pages of fiction long enough to give yourself a fighting chance at victory (and the accompanying prize money)?

How will I get there? Find your route on TFL, searching for 88 Lower Clapton Road, E5 0QR.

You don’t have to be a book habitué to have fun with this one. The questions vary from really easy to fairly easy, and only a handful of difficult questions are thrown in to whet the appetites of the victory-centric types (people like our editor at Open Pen).

We kick things off at 8pm, so to get a good table it’s worth getting there a bit early. The staff at Biddle Bros are terribly, terribly friendly, and only too happy to mix you up a nice drink at a reasonable rate, our suggestion for the evening would be a tall glass of Hendrick’s Gin, fizzing in tonic.

We’re looking to make this quiz as fun as possible, and seldom do the Open Pen team have more fun than when laughing at other people making a fool of themselves. That’s why we’ve enlisted the help of a local thespian who will be enacting scenes from famous literature, with the Open Pen team as his counterparts (gulp!).

So do come along, and do bring your friends. Even if they’re not bookish nose-scratchers like you, they’ll be sure to have a cracking time.

Oh yes, and get your best pun hats on, because there’s also a prize for the team with the best name.

Details:

8pm on Sunday 29th April at Biddle Bros, 88 Lower Clapton Road.  E5 0QR

Entry Fee: £2 each (maximum of six people to a team)

Should be finished no later than 10pm, more than enough time to waste every last penny of your winnings at the bar afterwards.

Open Pen is proud to announce that ‘Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class’ Author Owen Jones will be doing a shift as Guest Editor for Issue Five of Open Pen, due out in mid-May.

 

With articles in The Guardian, Owen Jones now writes a regular column for The Independent, and has been placed in the public eye of recent with guest spots on BBC Newsnight, BBC Breakfast News, ITV Day Break, as well as topping Left Foot Forward’s poll for Most Influential Left-Wing Thinker of the Year.

In Owen’s editorial piece, he suggests that “Writers do have a role in the struggle against the status quo. They can provide a platform for voices and ideas that are otherwise ignored or intentionally marginalised.” whilst maintaining that social change can only really come from a collective of those below.

To read more by Owen Jones, visit http://owenjones.org/

Issue Five of Open Pen is out in mid-May. To find out where you can pick up a copy, check out our roster of Stockists.

Xanthi Barker’s drug-infested tale of murky heroes and murkier bonds is a well-delivered stroke at post-University culture.

The story will appear in Issue Five of Open Pen Magazine in all your favourite book spots by mid-May.

 

Xanthi, currently living in London, has had her stories appear in The Scribe and The Cadaverine. She has also written features for Spike Magazine, Time Out and London Confidential.

In addition to Love in the Time of Ketamine, congratulations are extended to David Gill for his piece Mother’s Day, Remie Purtill-Clark for her tiny play (and our first to be published) The Ice-Cream Robbery of Sherkin Island and Jamie Collinson’s short Inherent Sick.

To find out where you can get a copy come mid-May, check out our roster of Stockists.

Come on down to Open Pen’s first Book Quiz at Biddle Bros, Friday 27th, April, 8pm.

-Live performance questions from the Open Pen team
-Fun and inventive picture rounds.
-Booze aplenty
-Arguing amongst your table aplenty
-Answer time “I told you so” aplenty
-Prizes. The sort of prizes you actually want. One for the winners, one for the best name, and one for the losers (in the case of the latter may not be something worth having).

Starts at 8pm but get in early to get a good table.

Questions will vary between piss-easy and excruciatingly hard. That way everyone’s happy.

Entry fee is £2 per person. Any proceeds after the money spent on the wonderful prizes will help support Open Pen Magazine, which is of course a FREE magazine, providing aspiring writers with a place in which to have their writing published in print.

Biddle Bros. Builders Ltd., Lower Clapton Road, Hackney, E5 0QR

After a far too lengthy and, unfortunately, unavoidable absence, Open Pen Magazine is back on track. Our fourth issue is coming to you right now via some of London’s best book shops and other stores and outlets.

We’re really excited about this issue and hope that you enjoy it too. We were lucky enough to have winning author Kate Ellis allow us to use her very own wonderful illustration for the cover which, as ever, looks spanking gorgeous! The winning story and runners up are of an exceptional standard and the issue also contains a few words from LXV Books’ owner Sebastian Sandys.

We are accepting submissions for issue 5 right now so get them over to the usual email address and make us happy.

We will soon be releasing details of our second event at Bethnal Green’s own LXV books. The first was a great success so don’t miss out. Details will be up soon. In the mean time don’t miss out on issue 5.

Another great round of submissions and we are excited to announce that the winner and runners (yes, plural) up for our fourth issue have been announced.

Congratulations first of all to our runners up Darren Lee for his story ‘The Grudge Elephant’ and Alexandra Mohlenhoff for her story ‘Languages’. Both were fantastic entries that just missed out on top prize.

And a big congratulations to our fourth winner Kate Ellis for her wonderful piece ‘Lazylegs’ which we absolutely love and will feature on the cover of our December issue.

Details of all of the above authors can be found in the ‘Authors‘ section.

It was a successful first event for Open Pen Magazine at LXV Books in Bethnal Green as Anna Harvey and Eddie Willson read from their respective winning entries that gained them their Open Pen credentials. They mixed it up with some of their other material – old and new – that was very well received by all in attendance.

A big thank you to everyone that turned up for the occasion including Lotte Daley, author of Faking It and guest contributor to issue 3 of Open Pen, Stewart Ferris of Summersdale Publishing who kindly spoke to us about how and how not to get published, and everyone at LXV Books who were fabulous hosts.

For those that missed out we will be looking to hold another reading at some point over Christmas. Details will be announced nearer the time. In the meantime, here are a couple of photos from the night:

Location: LXV Books, 65 Roman Road, Bethnal Green, London E2 0QN
Date & Time: Tuesday 25/10/11 – 6.30pm Drinks, 7pm reading.

Open Pen is to hold it’s first ever event in just two weeks at LXV Books on Roman Road in Bethnal Green. Please come along to enjoy readings from Open Pen’s fabulous winning authors Anna Harvey (winner of issue 2) and Eddie Willson (winner of issue 3).

Get to LXV Books for 6.30pm to check out the range of second hand books available at this lovely book shop before grabbing a drink and joining us for the reading at 7pm. We will of course bring free copies of Open Pen issue 3 for anyone who would like to take one home with them. After the reading you will get a chance to mingle with the Open Pen team, our authors and the guys at LXV books. 

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We hope to see you there.