Clare Howdle and Parabola (guest post)

Someone's asked me to write a short story for a creative writing collection. That hasn't happened in years. I've written stories for friends. And the occasional tale for myself. But it's lovely to have someone else ask me. This one - which I've nearly finished - is for Clare Howdle's Parabola Project. Here's a bit more about the collection...

In our current economic climate, adventures in independent publishing are more than a little thin on the ground, so what a pleasure to come across The Parabola Project, 80 pages of style and substance, marrying the captivating words of contemporary creative writing talent with eye-popping images and illustrations.

Packed with stories, novel extracts, poetry and prose from 11 wordsmiths, the principle behind Parabola is one of an ever-growing upwards curve – a publication which motivates, inspires and cultivates the creative writing community by showcasing some of its brightest luminaries and freshest blood, side by side.

Published in November 2010, The Parabola Project Issue I: Origins has gone down a storm with readers and critics alike, collecting awards for its design, acclaim for its writing and appreciation for its attempts to provide an outlet for writers at a time when getting words printed onto paper is becoming increasingly difficult.

The success of The Parabola Project Issue I has not only left the team behind it hungry for more – it’s grown their appetite. With Issue II of Parabola come plans to double the pagination, bump up the featured writers, draw in more illustrators and photographers, print twice as many copies to meet demand and distribute even further afield.

“Parabola is all about driving the creative scene forward and the response to our first issue was so positive we really want to build on that and take things to the next level,” explains Clare, editor and publisher of The Parabola Project and founder of writing group Telltales, from which Parabola has grown.

“It’s a real passion project so every penny from every copy of Issue I sold has gone back into the pot for issue II, but if we want to make it bigger and better, we need more. That’s where our Wefund campaign comes in.”

Thinking outside the box, Parabola has launched a crowdfunding campaign with leading website www.wefund.com to raise £2000 which will boost their production budget and enable them to make Issue II superlative. The campaign runs until the end of October and anyone can log on to Parabola’s profile, watch their film and pledge their support in return for incentives – from VIP launch invites to bespoke posters and illustrations.

“We really hope members of the public, industry professionals, arts organisations and anyone with an interest in the growth of the UK’s creative scene gets behind us,” Clare concludes. “We know there is a wealth of writing and illustration talent out there and we want to take it to new audiences and really show what our creative scene is capable of.”

To find out more about The Parabola Project and to help get a bigger, better Issue II to print, log on to http://www.wefund.com/project/help-get-parabola-project-issue-ii-print

To follow the progress of The Parabola Project: Issue II log onto www.wordslikepictures.com/telltales where Clare and the team will be posting weekly video blogs to give a insight of the publishing process.

Parabola Project Issue I: Origins is available for £4 plus postage and packing from  www.parabolaproject.com