Feature:
  Angels Can Fly, a Modern Clown User Guide, by Alan Clay: New Zealand Launch Events

Writing News:    
   Poets on Wheels 2005, Australia's best-known Poetry Touring Project seeks Poets, NSW
   Ashton Wylie Charitable Trust Awards, in association with the NZ Society of Authors, NZ
   Ripples, Australian Fiction Magazine with a Science Fiction / Fantasy twist, seeks submissions
   Call for submissions for the Wandering Hermit Review, twice-yearly arts and literary journal, USA
   IL RJVE literary magazine, needs Articles, Short Stories, Poetry or Visual Art submissions, UK

Media News:   
   Writing and the Digital Life Project, exploring the impact of Digital Technologies on Writing 
   Project Greenlight Australia attracts 1200 Scripts which can now be Downloaded and Reviewed

Artmedia Services: 
  Newsletter Advertising, Web Promotion on the Artmedia Site - Subscriptions and Unsubscriptions    

Welcome to the March 2005 edition of the e-publishing quarterly from Artmedia Publishing, a publication with an Australian and New Zealand focus, and a global perspective, exploring the changing nature of the book and electronic publishing.

First up my apologies for the delay in publishing this edition, but I have been buried in New Zealand, writing, writing, writing... on my new book, but I am back with a new publishing strategy which I reveal in the ePublishing Report in this issue, tracing the experience of American author Cory Doctoro, and exploring the Creative Commons License, which is built within current copyright law, and allows you to share your creations with others, but only on certain conditions.

I also announce the first launch events in New Zealand of my new book, Angels can Fly, subtitled a Modern Clown User Guide, which promises a mix of fiction following the adventures of ten clown characters, some personal clown anecdotes from 20 professional clowns, a total of 50 practical clown exercises, and some theory on the nature of modern clown. Befitting this eclectic mix, the launch events will not only include readings from the book, questions and book signing, but also a 15 minute clown performance entitled the 'Seven Clown Commandments'.

In Writing news, we have information on applications for the Poets on Wheels tour in New South Wales, Australia, and the NZ Society of Authors is calling for entries for the 2005 Ashton Wylie Charitable Trust Unpublished Manuscript and Ashton Wylie Charitable Trust Book Awards. A new Australian fiction magazine with a Science Fiction / Fantasy twist, makes its appearance and seeks submissions; as does the Wandering Hermit Review, a twice-yearly arts and literary journal, in Washington State, USA: and IL RJVE literary magazine in the UK, who are looking for articles, short stories, poetry or visual art submissions.

In the Media section we have advance news of a new research project exploring the impact of digital technologies upon writing and lived experience project, managed by Sue Thomas, the former Artistic Director of trAce, now Professor of New Media in the Faculty of Humanities, De Montfort University, in England.

And we have information on Project Greenlight, a successful contest that was established by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in the US in 2000. Project Greenlight is now in its third series in the United States, however the competition is only open to residents of the United States. Recently they launched the Australian version of Project Greenlight, offering one million Australian dollars to fund a feature film. The deadline for script submissions has passed, but you can still participate as a reviewer.

Australian born poet Richard James Allen has combined a unique international career as a writer, performer, choreographer and filmmaker, and his first novel, The Kamikaze Mind, will be published by Brandl & Schlesinger in 2005. Find information on advance orders at: http://www.artmedia.com.au/kamikaze_mind.htm  "An astonishing and rich work, pithy and witty, tender and often wise, sad and raunchy, imaginative and very surprising...I found myself constantly wishing to note down quotable quotes...eloquent and moving." Thomas W. Shapcott. Richard James Allen and Karen Pearlman run the Physical TV Company which makes dance and physical theatre for the screen. Their award winning dance films and video dance works, stories told by the body, regularly screen nationally and internationally at Festivals and on TV. http://www.artmedia.com.au/physical_tv.htm 

Creative Commons is based at Stanford Law School, where it shares staff, space, and inspiration with the school's Center for Internet and Society. For general information, visit http://creativecommons.org   Since March last year, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), in Brisbane, has led the effort to translate the Creative Commons licenses literally and legally for use in Australia. The Australia license has now been integrated into the Creative Commons licensing process, so you are able to license your works under Australia's law.

"There is already strong demand within the Australian community for a legal means of facilitating the distribution of Open Content," explained Project Co-Leader Brian Fitzgerald, Professor and Head of the School of Law at QUT, "and Creative Commons will be a tremendous platform on which to build these protocols and agreements." Australia joins Brazil, China, Croatia, Finland, France, Ireland, Japan, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and Jordan in the iCommons effort. http://www.qut.edu.au.

 In May, Alan Clay will launch his new book, Angels can Fly, a Modern Clown User Guide , which promises a mix of fiction following the adventures of ten clown characters, some personal clown anecdotes, a total of 50 practical clown exercises, and some theory on the nature of m modern clown.

Angels can Fly will be available in paperback, on order through bookshops and online stores, in May ( ISBN 0-9578844-1-9 ) Look out for launch events in England and Switzerland in July, in Australia in August / September, and in USA and Canada in October / November. 

New Zealand Launch Events:

Hutt City Library, Woburn Rd - Thursday 12th May

Auckland Central Library , Lorne Street - Saturday the 21st May, 1.30pm

Some of the individual exercises from this book have been posted on Alan's blog, together with some of the anecdotes. Here are a few examples of the anecdotal sections:

Amelia Cadwallader - Clown School in Ibiza

"The first time I heard about a clown school in Ibiza, Spain, was as I walked down a darkened wet street in Hobart, Tasmania. At the time the idea of clown school on a Balearic Island seemed foreign and I put it to the back of my mind. The idea never sat still, and one year later was bought to life as I stepped off a plane and onto the island of Ibiza. As I walked along the tarmac I realised I had no idea of what was to come from my decision to complete the three month Summer academy at Bont's International Clown School." Read the rest of this anecdote at http://www.alanclay.com/blog.html

Kirk Marsh - Realization of my Clowning

"So I get a job at a Las Vegas casino as a juggler/stiltwalker to do a pre-show for a floor show. At this point I could juggle, but couldn't do anything fancy while down the strip the best juggler in the world is performing. For the first month of my contract I got no response at all. Nothing. A slight applause now and then, but nothing more."
Read the rest of this anecdote at: http://www.alanclay.com/blog.html

Johnny Melvile - Basque Clown Anecdote

"It was October 1982. I was pursuing my solo career all over Europe but also working together on a project for theatre with a Swedish company JORD CIRCUS. The show was inspired by the book 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez . Our idea was to rehearse on the road at various festivals where we could play our own shows but still meet to develop the ideas for the new show which was to be premiered at the World Festival of Theatre in Nancy 1983. The group and I met in San Sebastian in the Basque country. Spain had transformed from a Fascist dictatorship to party-land after the death of Franco in 1975. The situation in the Basque country however was still critical with separatists and government-forces committing acts of violence against each other in the name of freedom." Read the rest of this anecdote at: http://www.alanclay.com/blog.html

Poets on Wheels 2005.  Australia's best-known poetry touring project is up and running again, this time exploring south-eastern New South Wales by train & bus in early September. One of the previous poets says, "Irrespective of whether you're 'up-and-coming' or have just had your 30th book published, these tours are an invaluable once-in-a-lifetime experience. Go for it!" For a week, the poets will be performing and running workshops in a range of venues from pubs to schools. You'll learn a lot, sell books, be happy and exhausted. Applicants will need to: have some experience in reading and workshopping, be flexible, and have an ABN, be a member of the Poets Union (you can join at the same time you apply), by Arts NSW funding guidelines, be a resident of NSW. The Poets Union actively encourages diversity - of region, style, gender and professional development stage. A large number of those previously chosen didn't come from Sydney. You will be paid $850, have all NSW train travel plus "on tour" accommodation paid. The Poets Union particularly encourages poets who have not been on an earlier POW tour to apply but those who have been previously may apply again. Please send a CV detailing relevant experience, along with five pages of sample poetry to: Poets Union, P.O. Box 91, Balmain 2041. Applications must be received by 31st March. POW is sponsored by NSW Arts.  Les Wicks mailto:meusepress@hotmail.com

Ashton Wylie Charitable Trust Awards for 2005. Ashton Wylie Charitable Trust in association with the NZ Society of Authors is calling for entries for the 2005 Ashton Wylie Charitable Trust Unpublished Manuscript and Ashton Wylie Charitable Trust Book Awards. These two $10,000 awards reward excellence in the mind, body and spirit genre. Last year's awards generated a lot of interest and we had 63 entries for the unpublished manuscript award which was won by Juliet Batten for her manuscript titled A Cup of Sunlight. There were 39 entries for the book award. Which was won by Michael Henderson's book Finding True North published by HarperCollins. The deadline for the unpublished manuscript award is March 31st 2005. The deadline for the book award is May 31st 2005. (Books must have been published between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2005). For submission forms, conditions and details of eligibility criteria, please contact the NZSA office. You can email -mailto:nzsa@clear.net.nz

"Hello. My name is Sam and I'm starting an Australian fiction magazine, Ripples Magazine, with a Science Fiction / Fantasy twist. This magazine will be a showcase for creative short fiction, poetry and illustrations in the Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy genres. We're looking for something special from our incredibly talented Australian artists. We'll start out small, just an A5, black and white magazine, with a print run of less than 500. But we're confident that our subscriber base will grow in time. Right now we're looking for submissions for our premiere issue which is due out in July." http://www.ripples.150m.com  Regards, Sam Cousins. Ripples Editor. mailto:ripplesmagazine@gmail.com

"Call for submissions for the Wandering Hermit Review, a new, twice-yearly independent arts and literary journal, is looking for poetry and fiction, essays and reviews, comics and art. The Hermit will be a perfect bound, digest size journal of 120 - 150 pages. Poetry: Please send 3 - 5 poems at a time preferably pasted into the body of the e-mail. As Robert Duncan wrote, "every order of poetry finds itself, defines itself, in conflict with others." We'd love to see that conflict take place within the covers of The Hermit. Fiction: For short shorties we'd prefer to see the text pasted into the body of the e-mail. Unlikely to publish anything beyond 20 pages. As with poetry, we're open to a broad range of literary fiction. We'd like to see short stories, microfiction, fables, and novel excerpts that stand on their own. We're interested in  Social Realism, Surrealism, Magical Realism, Postmodern Meta-fiction, and the indefinable. Weird is good. So is funny. Send humor. Not interested in paint-by-numbers genre fiction but if; like Oakley Hall for the Western, Walter Mosley for Detective Fiction, Ursula LeGuin for Sci-Fi, you're working within the constraints of the genre to say something serious and original about the human condition, by all means let us have a look. Essays & Reviews: Well-written, concise considerations of contemporary arts, literature and life with a preference for subjects outside the corporate mainstream and within the Pacific Northwest. DIY culture. Tell us about that brilliant musician we're unlikely ever to see perform on television or hear on the radio, the small press book of the poet too weird and honest for academia, your neighbor who welds junk into phantasmagoric monsters in his garage. Comics & Art: Quality black & white drawings, photos & thoughtful, original comics."  Please send submissions with a brief bio to: whrev@yahoo.com  Charles Potts, The Temple Bookstore.com  Walla Walla, Washington State, USA.

IL RJVE literary magazine , needs articles, short stories, poetry or visual art submissions. A new publication, we are in the process of gathering material for a possible summer launch. The magazine is meant to have an interesting range of material, in other words anything that might spark the interest of a reader. The main sections are articles, fiction and visual arts, which can literally be on anything, as long as it reads well and is reasonably entertaining. The only things we dissuade you from sending in are articles on current affairs or anything time based, the magazine is not meant to be a read and then wait for the next one, more like something you keep and read whenever you need something to stimulate. Fiction, means short stories, poetry, novel excerpts, plays, or just strings of pretty words. As it is a start-up in a notoriously difficult market, we can't pay great amounts, to start with it will be nominal, but obviously once it breaks even, we might get the first round in. Send in anything as the number of talented people out there who keep their short stories in their desk drawers is tragically high. Just write something, we shall reply to everything. mailto:ilrevesubmissions@hotmail.com

"Writing and the Digital Life Please note this advance news of a new research project exploring the impact of digital technologies upon writing and lived experience. The emphasis will be upon creating an integrated and interdisciplinary cycle of research, teaching, and writing projects, providing ongoing reflection and the generation of new ideas. We are especially interested in applying the lens of creative writing to technological and media ecologies, practical creativity, human computer interaction, and the natural environment (what do we mean by 'natural'?). The project is managed by Sue Thomas, former Artistic Director of trAce, now Professor of New Media in the Faculty of Humanities, De Montfort University, UK. To be kept informed of future developments send email to listserv@jiscmail.ac.uk and put the following text in the body of the message: SUBSCRIBE WRITING-AND-THE-DIGITAL-LIFE your name. For more information please contact Sue direct at sue.thomas@dmu.ac.uk Professor Sue Thomas, School of Media and Cultural Production, Faculty of Humanities, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom http://travelsinvirtuality.typepad.com/

"Project Greenlight Australia attracts 1200 script submissions! With submissions now closed, Movie Network is thrilled to announce that 1200 screenplays were submitted to the unique filmmaking competition Project Greenlight Australia. Executive Producer Chris Berry commented "We are truly excited about the total number of scripts submitted - it is an outstanding result for Project Greenlight Australia. On a population pro rata basis, it is a stronger response than was achieved by the first series of Project Greenlight in the United States." Movie Network CEO Tony Forrest added "This impressive number of entries reflects the demand for a competition of this nature. Project Greenlight offers a level-playing field for those keen to get into the film industry. Screenplays are judged on their merit, and everyone has an equal chance of winning. It's so rare that an opportunity like Project Greenlight arises, and Movie Network is proud to be able to give someone a break into the industry." With over 1200 scripts submitted, 720 of these have met all of the Project Greenlight minimum entry requirements and are eligible for public evaluation. Scripts can be downloaded and reviewed at www.projectgreenlightaustralia.tv until 5.00pm Monday 28th February, 2005. This is a perfect opportunity for other film enthusiasts to get involved in the reviewing process. Their vital input will ultimately decide which of these scripts will make it into the top 100. This top 100 will be announced in early March, and narrowed down to an eventual winner by an industry judging panel. The winner of Project Greenlight Australia will be announced in June, with production of the winning feature film to commence in the same month."