Lockdown writing competition entries to go on display at new gallery
Local photographer John Byford has been collecting works as a local record of the pandemic for the exhibition at the 1929 Gallery - part of a creative hub and tearooms at the old police station on Roman Bank.
Readers have been getting creative during lockdown - and we can't wait to share their work work with you.
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Hide AdSince the Skegness Standard joined forces with Lincolnshire's best-selling author Margaret Dickinson to launch a short story competition, we have been overwhelmed by the inspiration behind the entries we have already received.
As Covid-19 restrictions are eased and life returns to a new normal, we are looking to bring the competition to a close - and have now a closing date for final entries of June 30.
Stories should be no more than 1,000 words and the best three will be published in the Skegness Standard.
John Byford said: "We are looking forward to displaying entries as part of our exhibition at the new gallery - and we will bring you more news about this in the coming weeks."
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Hide AdMargaret Dickinson, who was born in Gainsborough before moving to the Lincolnshire coast, says she is looking forward to judging the entries, along with former Skegness editor, John Cowpe. She says writing can be the perfect escapism for people confined to their homes during the coronavirus pandemic.
Her latest book, The Spitfire Sisters, was published in January and is the final part of a trilogy. Margaret is already working on her next novel, taking just a short break for her daily stroll.
Born before the end of the Second World War, she says that period of history has been an inspiration in many of her novels.
"I was born during the war and can just remember the rationing," she said.
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Hide Ad"Our lockdown is very different as people were not confined to their home in the same way.
"But now is the perfect time for people to get creative and try their hand at writing a short story."
Mr Cowpe has also had three books published, "Skegness Past", a photographic history of the area produced in conjunction with the Skegness Standard, and two novels, "Ill Winds" and "All For Blood".
He says: "I am delighted to be asked by the Skegness Standard to judge their competition alongside Margaret Dickinson. For several years the Standard and East Lincolnshire Arts ran a successful short story competition. Margaret and I were the judges, alongside the late Peter Emmens. It's great that the Standard has come up with a similar idea to to stimulate people's imaginations during these difficult weeks."
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Hide Ad* Email your entries to [email protected]. Normal JPI Media competition rules apply.
In the meantime we have also been sent a poem by Karina Oakes, which has also been inspired by the lockdown.
WILL SKEGNESS SURVIVE THE LOCKDOWN?
Start of lockdown
I went bed with a frown
made me feel so down
I can’t do this, I sighed
I wake up, panic attack
peace is what I lack
how can I do this for weeks on end?
I go back to bed, I can’t go on
if this lockdown lasts too long
The streets are empty
caravan park shut
they are closed and empty
like a beach hut
The town so still
no tourists about
deader than winter
with no way out
B and B’s closed
hotels too
time on their hands
nothing to do
A sobering thought for locals
And the odd caravanner
Who still have their reasons
For staying on, else they’d be gone
They are still here as Government Exemptions apply………..
Else Police and Security would make sure,
They’d said Goodbye
It’s funny
As when you ask the locals
Where they’re originally from
Nottingham, Mansfield, Sheffield
The list goes on
Tourism will change now
I know that for sure
People will sell their caravans
And it will be like before
Wide open spaces
The odd tourer perhaps
The people of Skegness will clap
Not for the NHS
But to tourists who have gone back
More shops close down
No-one around
Even people from Skeg have to move town
Have to find work
Theres none here, you see
Since Businesses closed down
And tourists have gone to a further off sea
Arcades remain shut
Due to Social Distancing Rule
With less machines
Their profits would fall
Pubs and Clubs close
Too much ale gone to waste
Relys on regular custom
To keep up the pace
Skegness, still and eery
Like a Stephen King clip
Only the big supermarkets stay open
Whilst everything else is dying
Cafes remain shut
No-one visits anymore
Candyfloss and Ice-cream stalls – miss a whole summer
Never happened before, not even during the war
Those who live here
Should never boast
When you come to realize
It’s the tourists that made the coast
Skegness has come full circle
Like 200 years ago
A fishing town
No more, no less
People no longer frequent
The Clock-tower
Or Skegness
People have moved town
Less people around
The result of lockdown
Whilst people were clapping for the NHS
Our seaside towns were dying
And died a slow death
Well done Corona Virus
Less pollution around
But you’ve took away our seaside town !
Which for one gave jobs to lots of people
Made Skegness thrive
Like bees to a hive
The tourists flocked
Even though they got mocked
By locals – each and every year
For their caravan lifestyle !
Lessons learned
No more jobs in the town
Seaside is empty
Home for the seagulls only ……..
After lockdown
I remember when all this were caravans
People will say
Instead of ‘ All this were fields’
Way back when
Now people only come Skegness
For the day
Caravan haters during lockdown
Might just reap what you’ve sown
And remain a ghost-town
So before you judge the tourists
And their all year round trade
Be thankful for the job you had
Before the Corona raid
Lest we go back to the old fishing town
you were from a Bygone Age
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