As mentioned here recently, a few months ago an article of mine was translated into French and featured in issue 1 of Hiatus, an occasional magazine published by Francis Ramel and his colleagues at Les Éditions Hiatus. (A mock-up of the article is shown below, and you can read the original English version here.)
As a way of saying thank you to all of the readers who have contributed to Shady Characters over the past few years, I’m going to give away a pristine copy of Hiatus № 1 to one lucky follower. To enter, either:
- leave a comment on this post, making sure to supply a valid email address so that I can contact you in the event that you win, or
- reply to, retweet, or mark as favourite the tweet announcing this contest, making sure to follow @shadychars so that I can send you a direct message in the event that you win. (Please don’t create multiple accounts or repeatedly reply to the message — Twitter may ban you as a result. One reply is fine!)
I’ll add all unique commenters and tweeters together in two weeks’ time and pick one at random as the winner — the contest will close at noon GMT on Saturday 6th July, so get your entry in before then. And not to worry: if you don’t win this competition, there’ll more along in due course. Good luck!
Update: …and the competition is closed. Thanks to everyone who entered! I’ll announce the winner in a special blog post tomorrow.
Comment posted by Alma on
Love the magazine!
Comment posted by Ronald Kyrmse on
We tend to take punctuation for granted, only to find out – when we become more knowledgeable about writing systems – that the theme is far from trivial.
Comment posted by Mark Lindner on
I truly enjoy your blog.
Looking forward to getting your book when it finally ships. I have had it on preorder for several weeks now.
Comment posted by Kate on
Your posts are great. I anticipate every one of them. I would love to get the book, too!
Comment posted by Mar Zum on
I’ve enjoyed learning alongside you through this blog! Thanks for the hard work and happy for your success with the book!
Comment posted by SB Kravetz on
I came across your blog when, after completing a cryptic crossword, I was left with an entry I didn’t understand. It was PILCROW (it was established by crossing letters) and when I Googled it, lo! there was one of your columns. Some accidents are very happy ones, indeed.
Comment posted by NCNyrk on
I love using the correct names of punctuation marks at work, just so I can see the perpetual looks of confusion on my co-workers…really enjoy the blog!
Comment posted by Annie Morgan on
Your articles are such a joy! “Interrobang” has become one of my favourites. I’m just happy to tell you how much I like your blog. Annie M.
Comment posted by Keith Houston on
Thanks all for your comments! It’s great to hear that so many people enjoy the blog.
Comment posted by Marceo on
I have been reading you blog for a few months now. I was always keen on etymology but I never really thought much about the history of punctution. Not until now, at least, and for that I doff my hat before you, syre!
Comment posted by Joshua Mayfield on
Thanks for the great work, looking forward to more obscure characters!
Comment posted by Keith Houston on
Thanks for all your comments! It’s great to hear that you all enjoy the blog.
The competition is now closed — I’ll announce the winner in a special blog post tomrrow.