Short stories for blokes

An amusing tale about an oil-rig toilet mishap could hopefully encourage young men to take up reading again.

Literacy North Otago tutors Peter Finlayson and Cliff Browne have each had two short stories published in Rough Justice, the result of a "books for blokes" short-story writing competition run by adult literacy provider Adult Learning Support in Nelson.

The stories in the book were written with young men in mind and were described as "quirky, amusing and occasionally politically incorrect".

There was a shortage of reading material to engage young men and the idea of the competition was to generate stories that would appeal to them.

"This is not Mills and Boon", Literacy North Otago manager Paul Marsh said.

Mr Browne and Mr Marsh discussed how to encourage men to write about 18 months ago.

They decided to take the lead.

Subsequently, a small group met occasionally, and "basically sat around telling yarns" before committing them to paper, Mr Browne said.

They were now looking at "where to from here", and investigating how material could be published, providing an outlet for the stories people have.

"Everybody who comes here has a story to tell," Mr Marsh said.

Mr Browne, who has been a tutor for four years, writes poetry, so short stories were a new challenge for him.

For Mr Finlayson, who has just completed his tutor training, it was his first published work.