Stories of Shadow and Light

Stories of Shadow and Light is a project from Shared Reading at the Duncairn, led by Marnie Kennedy. The idea received a boost of support from the public at the Bank of Ideas voting day, and was awarded £2,000 of funding.

Marnie has facilitated two shared reading sessions per week as a volunteer for the past ten years, and attended a few of Belfast 2024’s Bank of Ideas brainstorming sessions in February and March this year. She had an idea for a new Flash Fiction competition to tie in with the group’s summer focus on short stories, to provide a new creative writing challenge and volunteering opportunities to the Shared Reading members, and to bring new members into the group.

Shared Reading at the Duncairn has never had funding for what they do, and as a volunteer Marnie did not want to seek funding that would be burdensome and might change the nature of the group.

“At the Bank of Ideas brainstorming sessions in the early days of 2024 everyone had creative ideas bubbling away, and it was very exciting to be part of that momentum. We really appreciated the support. It felt easy to brainstorm and apply, and wasn’t a burden at all. We decided on a 200 to 500 word Flash Fiction competition as we wanted it to be accessible enough for anyone to enter.”

Marnie said it was great to have Belfast City Hall for the voting day on that Sunday in June, and to “feel the whole city converging around creative ideas.”

Marnie had never organised a short story competition before, but the support of voters and momentum helped her to get stuck in straight away.

Marnie set up a flash fiction workshop in the summer with writer Paul McVeigh, which dozens of entries from all across the island of Ireland, including as it turns out, one from a neighbour just around the corner from the Duncairn.

“People were very grateful for the opportunity to write for a competition open to almost everyone.

Some of the entrants were used to publishing their work widely, and others were completely new to writing. Marnie said there were three stand-out stories written for the Shadows and Light competition that were clear winners.

“We were blown away by the quality of the entries and so was our judge Paul McVeigh.”

Paul was so taken by the stories he awarded two first place winners and a special mention. The group decided to match the prize for both winners and give an additional book token to the special mention.

Winners were announced at the Scribes at the Duncairn event on the 9th of August. As another part of the prize, actor Tony Flynn, recently seen on the BBC's Blue Lights, read out the two winning stories at the event, with Jan Carson, Bernie McGill and Paul McVeigh.

• Joint 1st prize, Daragh Fleming and Alan McCormick - £75 voucher each for No Alibis Bookstore Belfast - (Link opens in new window)
• Special mention to Helen Lyttle - £25 voucher for No Alibis

“The noise on the roof is still there, rustling away like rain as it has been for the last fifteen minutes or so. Outside the sun is pelting down – the sound of rain without its contents is peculiar.”

The Noise on the Roof -  by Daragh Fleming

“I told the bus driver that me being late had saved our lives. He listened more than I expected, and I took a window seat to catch the passing light.”

Why I was Late, by Alan McCormick

Marnie said the Shadows and Light project led to an expansion of the Shared Reading world.

“The majority of entrants hadn’t heard of Shared Reading before, and now lots more people know about it through the competition. The Duncairn can be intimidating to walk into for some people, but since the Shadows and Light project the membership at the Monday session has swelled to 19 people, so now there is a growing need for more Shared Reading facilitators.

Shared Reading facilitators carefully choose pieces of literature ahead of time that they find moving, planning points of interest to stimulate conversation and deepen appreciation. The Shared Reading sessions last one hour and involve lots of tea and chat, as well as reading aloud and discussing personal impressions and meanings, giving the writing close attention. Marnie has brought Shared Reading to mental health and care settings, community groups and charity organizations. Membership is very varied.

The Shared Reading initiative was inspired by the Grow Community Garden at the top of Waterworks Park at which Marnie volunteered. She hoped it would inspire a similar sort of volunteer enthusiasm and deep connection, through literature.

Asked why she has put so much time into this over the years as a volunteer Marnie said: “Primarily, because there’s a need for it; it’s the antidote to our alienating modern world and is community-building in a way that few other things can be. Humans have few opportunities to spend meaningful time with each other away from the banal. The Shared Reading sessions remind me a little of that sort of time in winter when terrible disruptive weather breaks down superficial connections and when people, strangers and friends are brought together in a new deeper way.”

“It brings me joy and it’s a joy to give it to others. People often race through stories to get to the end, but the best stories deserve time and conversation. I look forward every week to the atmosphere in the room when a piece is read aloud and I feel moved in a new way by people’s response. I feel the stories and poems in a way I don't feel them on my own.”

Tuesday night Shared Reading returns to The Duncairn - (Link opens in new window)

Every Tues 7 pm, September - November.
 

Other weekly sessions:

Mondays, 3 - 4 pm, The Duncairn

Fridays, 2.30 - 3.30 pm, Belfast Central Library Libraries NI  - (Link opens in new window)

Drop in and leave the world behind - it's free and there's no need to register.

https://www.facebook.com/stories.at.the.duncairn/ - (Link opens in new window)