How to Write in the Summer & the Wasafiri Prize

Ever since I've written I've always looked forward to the summer with longing. From a distance it looks like a long expanse of constructive dreamtime - and hopefully the majority of those can be trapped on paper. A desk in the shade of a tree, hours and hours stretching forward unassigned to duties, broken only by the scratching of a pen.

But the days of July and August can so easily slide into September without achievement - the challenge, the possibility of the empty days are so often filled not with writing but with sleeping or - well, probably no need to list the many ways known to you all of how not to write when you want to. As ever, I'm a fan of any and every motivation to get that pen to paper, and one of those is deadlines, so here's yours for July.                              

The deadline for the Wasafiri New Writing Prize is fast approaching …

Wasafiri is looking for creative submissions in one of three categories: poetry, fiction and life writing. The competition is open to anyone worldwide who has not published a complete book in their chosen category.

To enter, simply complete an entry form and send it along with your work and entry fee to Wasafiri by 5pm GMT on Friday 25 July 2014. The word limit is 3000 for fiction and life writing entries and a maximum of 5 poems (other terms and conditions apply). The prize is £300 and publication in the magazine. This year’s judges are Susheila Nasta, Editor of Wasafiri, Bidisha, Inua Ellams and Monique Roffey. For further details go to http://www.wasafiri.org/wasafiri-new-writing-prize.asp

Our story of the week is VeraClark's 'Intricacies of the Hermit Crab'. Out of two mothers in a playground Vera unravels the neuroses and tensions of one woman's life - the envies and fears and inferiority. From white wine drinking to Facebook stalking, supermoms to pizza parties, this hermit crab has it all.

Our poem of the week is Old Jack is Back's 'For The Boy With Seven Hearts.' It's a coming of age narrative in verse. Rough and shot through with true feeling - this poem calls up a time and a place and all those archetypal conflicts of youth.