Last Tuesday I read at the 5th Sparks night, a flash-fiction evening held at Brighton's Three-and-ten. I opened the night with my story 'meat', a tale of vegetarians, bondage and Internet pornography. At Sparks each of the stories is accompanied by a specially commissioned photograph and I read in front of an image that included a bare-chested Burt Reynolds.
The night had a well-chosen mix of stories. Sadly Nik Perring could not attend, but I enjoyed his story 'Sharkboy', which was read by Jo Mortimer in his absence. The night also featured poet Tim Wells, whose new collection, Rougher Yet, is fantastic. The only blemish on the night was my decision to go for a meal in Buddies afterwards.
Some exciting things are on the horizon for Sparks, including talk of an anthology in the near future. The next night is on November 3rd and submissions are currently open. You'll have to be quick though, as they close on Thursday 15th. The guidelines are: '1000 words or fewer, any theme. Send in the body of an e-mail to sparksbrighton@hotmail.co.uk and if accepted, come and read.' Sparks is a lovely, friendly night and well worth submitting to.
Me in action, photographed by Nikki Acott
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