2015 WOW! Award

Submissions for the 2015 WOW! Award
Deadline: Friday October 31st.

€2100 in Prize money plus publication in the 2015 WOW! Anthology.

Judges for 2015

Poetry: Afric McGlinchey

Fiction: Danielle McLaughlin

Poems up to 100 lines
Fiction up to 3000 words

Full details, including how to enter, at www.wordsonthewaves.com

Bard of Armagh Annual Festival of Humorous Verse

The Bard of Armagh Annual Festival of Humorous Verse will take place this November in Armagh.
They are running a poetry competition and poems should be no longer than 650 words and shouldn’t exceed nine minutes performance time. It should be humorous verse (suitable for family audience and radio broadcast!).

You can submit written entries or you can also send in your entry on CD/tape.

Cost: £2 per poem.

The competition closes on the 1st of October 2014 and the finals will take place in Armagh on the 21st of November 2014.

For further information, visit their website.

Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair

The Novel Fair is an initiative by the Irish Writers’ Centre that aims to introduce up-and-coming writers to top publishers and literary agents, giving novelists the opportunity to bypass the slush pile, pitch their ideas and place their synopsis and sample chapters directly into the hands of publishers and agents.

The 2014 Fair was attended by representatives from: Curtis Brown, Diane Banks Literary Agency, Hachette Ireland, Jonathan Williams Literary Agency, Liberties Press, Lilliput Press, Lisa Richards Agency, Marianne Gunne O’Connor Literary Agency, New Island, O’Brien Press, Penguin Ireland, Poolbeg Press, The Book Bureau and Transworld Ireland.

The Prizes
Twelve shortlisted entrants will be anonymously selected by a judging panel to take part in the Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair on 21 February, 2015. Each writer will have a stand at the Fair where they will present the synopsis of their novel, the finished novel itself and biographical material. Top Irish publishers and agents will be invited to the Irish Writers’ Centre to meet these writers in person. To fully prepare them for the day, the winners also receive a place on a seminar on ‘How to Pitch Your Novel’, two weeks in advance of the Fair (7 February, 2015).

This year they are extending the prize to those who make the longlist. Twenty-four applicants who are longlisted and who do not proceed to make the shortlist of twelve will have their work evaluated and critiqued by the judging panel.

Entry Details
The entry fee is €45 (€40 for members) and can be paid by PayPal, cheque, postal order, credit or debit card or cash (paid in person) at the Irish Writers’ Centre.

Deadline 24 October, 2014.

There is no limitation on style, genre, or target market, the only requirement being that the writer has not published a novel before.

To enter, you will need to send a synopsis and up to 10,000 words of a novel.

Before you submit your work, check the Terms and Conditions to see if you are eligible. See details and entry form on www.writerscentre.ie/novelfair.

Hanna Greally Literary Awards

The maximum length of composition for poetry submissions is now 100 lines (previously 60), while prose and short stories submissions of up to 1,000 words (previously 300) will also be accepted.

The theme for this year's competition is open - entries will be accepted on any theme, topic or subject. The Ger Hanily Memorial Cup, which forms part of the Awards, will be awarded to the best entry received on the theme of Coman's Wood.

The overall prize winner will receive a publishing package deal from The Manuscript Publisher, valued at €1,000.

**If that's what you want. Buyer Beware

Cash prizes, crystal trophies and certificates will be awarded to runners-up in various categories including National Poetry Winner, National Prose Winner, National Short Story Winner together with an award for a Highly Commended entry among any of the poetry, prose, short story entries. A prize will also be awarded in a special category for National Schools.

Full terms and conditions of entry are available from the SiarScéal website. 

Deadline: 5pm on Friday, 10 October.  

Fee: €5 per entry; €10 for up to three entries.

Winners will be announced at the SiarScéal Festival, which takes place on Saturday, 25 October at Roscommon Library in Roscommon Town. 

The full Programme of Events takes in an evening of readings, concert recitals and workshops.

Desmond O'Grady Poetry Competition

The lovely people at the White House Limerick Poetry present the Desmond O’Grady Poetry Competition 2013; it's open to all poets from all around the world.

Poems can be in English or Irish language and must be unpublished.

Judge: Fred Johnston

Fee: €3 for poem;
€8 for three poems.

Closing date: 31st October 2013

First prize: €1,000

Second prize: €300

Third prize: €100

A longlist of 45 poems will be selected by the judge and author poets are invited to read them on the 20th and 27th November and 4th December (15 poems per evening) at the White House Limerick Poetry Open Mic that takes place every Wednesday at White House Bar in Limerick, Ireland.

More information here

Radio Writing Workshop

This sounds rather thrilling. Good job Kilkenny!

WEEKEND RADIO WRITING WORKSHOP - BOOKING NOW

WOULD YOU LIKE TO WRITE A PLAY FOR SESSIONS HOUSE?

Sessions House Arts Centre is proud to host through the Kilkenny Carlow Education & Training Board Weekend Radio Drama Writing Workshops.
Cost of the workshop is €25 per person
There are two weekend workshops running on the following dates:

WORKSHOP 1

SATURDAY 5TH OCTOBER 10 AM -5PM
SUNDAY 6TH OCTOBER 10 AM -5PM

WORKSHOP 2

SATURDAY 19TH OCTOBER 10AM-5PM
SUNDAY 20TH OCTOBER 10AM-5PM

Radio Drama and Performance Workshop - wherein a radio play will be devised, developed, scripted and performed, specifically for and about The Sessions House Arts Centre, the old Court House and Gaol in Thomastown, Kilkenny
Incorporating the rich history of the building, participants will devise a short piece for radio which they will subsequently perform and record under the facilitation of playwright, Gillian Grattan.
The workshop will explore the following; script writing, editing, acting, creating sound effects, character creation and development, microphone technique and the physicality of radio acting.

Content:
• Development of a story and plot which directly relates to Sessions House.
• Devising and writing of the script or scripts.
• Performance of the piece by participants for recording.
• Sound effects which will be sourced by participants as the project will be recorded in the traditional style: ie: no computerised effects.
• Music, an original piece to be devised by participants.
• Recording the piece, in a professional studio setting
• Performance of the piece to an audience in November at Session House.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Arts Grant Scheme 2014

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has a scheme of grants for the purpose of providing financial assistance to individual artists, arts groups and arts organisations engaged in arts projects or events at local or county level. Grants are also available to support the professional development and arts practice of individual artists, arts groups and organisations.

Individual artists, arts groups and arts organisations working in all art-forms (architecture, circus, craft, dance, film, literature, music, opera, spectacle, street art, theatre, traditional arts and visual arts) are eligible to apply. Collaborative applications are also welcomed.

Grants are available for the arts activity taking place during 2014.

Link here

Support includes:

Event/Project                                                               Maximum €7,000

Funding to support the production of an event, festival or long-term project by an individual artist, arts group or arts organisation that will allow the public an opportunity to engage with or experience the arts. The applicant/s must clearly define the outcome in the application.

 

Professional Development/Artists Supports             Maximum €2,000

Funding to develop or support studios, to purchase materials or equipment or to support the professional development of an artist, arts group or arts organisation. This could take the form of a bursary to allow the artist time to complete a specified body of work or a training opportunity such as a course. This cannot be used to fund third level training or travel. Please note that applicants applying to this funding strand must live or work in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.

Small Arts Grants                                                          Maximum €1,300

Small Arts Grants are available to persons or bodies organising a small-scale community based arts event that would promote appreciation and practice of the arts while improving standards in the arts within the community. Activities that are eligible for funding include amateur/ community art exhibitions, musical and dramatic societies and community publications of a creative writing nature.

 

 

Skylight seeks submissions

The Galway based magazine, Skylight 47 Issue 3 will be launched in January 2014.

Deadline: 1st October 2013.

Please send up to four poems, along with a short biographical note, to skylightpoets47@gmail.com.
Send your poems as an attachment (.doc, .docx, .txt or .rtf) and in the body of the email.

Poems to be no longer than 40 lines and should be previously unpublished.

Shore Writers’ Festival

Shore Writers’ Festival is a free, unfunded festival for young and emerging Irish writers and will be held in Co. Sligo on November 1st, 2nd and 3rd 2013. It is organised by the team at wordlegs.com 

They will be creating an exhibition space for the postcards at the festival and would love to have Irish writers and readers abroad represented through their words.

Shore Writers’ Festival are asking Irish writers/ literature lovers abroad to send them postcards with a few words on their experiences away for this year’s Shore Writers’ Festival. These postcards can contain messages of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, quotes, anecdotes or whatever you like. They can be political, poignant or fun.

All postcards are welcome and will be exhibited at the festival.
Please send your postcards to: Shore Writers Festival c/o wordlegs, Claremorris, Co. Mayo, Ireland

Closing Date: October 15th 2013

Queries to: editor@wordlegs.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/shorewritersfestival
Twitter: @wordlegs ; @shorewriters

Jeremy Mogford Prize for Food and Drink Writing

This one has a prize of £7,500. Dearie me. And Free to enter? Yum. What's a girl to do?

Entries are now being sought for the 2014 Jeremy Mogford Prize for Food and Drink Writing, the annual short story competition run by the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival in association with Oxford Gastronomica, part of the Oxford School of Hospitality Management at Oxford Brookes University. Food and drink has to be at the heart of the tale. The story could, for instance, be fiction or fact about a chance meeting over a drink, a life-changing conversation over dinner, or a relationship explored through food or drink. It could be crime or intrigue; in fact, any subject as long as it involves food and/or drink in some way.

Applicants are invited from anywhere in the world. They can be published or unpublished authors, but the entry itself must be previously unpublished. The story should be up to 2500 words and must be written in English.

Your short story should be up to 2500 words in total in English and have a food and drink theme at its heart. Entries should be submitted by email as a Word document to the mogfordprize@oxfordliteraryfestival.org

Deadline: October 1, 2013
one submission per person and not previously published.

The winning entry will be announced at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival in March 2014. The winner will receive £7500.

Info here

Bard of Armagh

The Bard of Armagh Competition 2013 is now accepting submissions.

Over £3000 in prizes

Visit  www.bardofarmagh.com

The poem should be no more than 650 words and should not exceed 9 minutes performance time.

The poem must be the original work of the entrant. It should be humorous verse, suitable for family audiences and radio broadcast.

*Suitable for Family audiences - counts out quite a few of mine so

Each entry should be type written in English. It should have a detachable cover page stating clearly the entrant's name, address, telephone number and the title of the poem.

CD/Tape recorded entries are also encouraged.

There will be an entry fee of £2.00 for each poem.

Entries should be sent to:
Mr John Makem, 34 Fergort Rd, Derrynoose, Co Armagh, N. Ireland.
BT60 3DN

Final closing date for entries is 1st October and competitors will be contacted by mid-October.

Finals will take place in the Armagh City Hotel on Friday 22 November 2013.

Novel Fair

The Irish Writers Centre has launched the next Novel Fair. The last two have been very successful in getting novels to publishers and out there. I do wonder how many of those already published or nearly there would have been picked up anyway.

The Prize

Twelve entrants will be anonymously selected by a judging panel to take part in the Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair on February 22nd, 2014. Each writer will have a stand at the Fair where they will present the synopsis of their novel, the finished novel itself and biographical material. Top Irish publishers and agents will be invited to the Irish Writers’ Centre to meet these writers in person.

Entry Details

There is no limitation on style, genre, or target market, the only requirement being that the writer has not published a novel before.

To enter send a synopsis and up to 10,000 words of a novel.

Deadline for submissions: October 16th, 2013.

Details here

The Irish Children’s Prize

This is a prize for writing for children, writing in Ireland, not a prize for the best Irish child or an Irish prize for the best child....just in case you were wondering.

There aren't that many competitions for writing for children and here's one from writing.ie

The A. M. Heath literary agency have announced a Irish Children’s Prize,  looking for a new standout Irish voice in children’s fiction.

The Irish Children’s Prize will be judged by Julia Churchill, children’s book agent at A. M. Heath, and David Maybury of Brown Bag Films, Penguin Children’s Books and Inis Magazine editor.

Literary agent Julia Churchill (pictured) said “David and I love all sorts of writing for children. The winner could be a 200 word picture book, a sophisticated YA novel, a 9-12 stand-alone, or a young chapter series. I’m looking for a strong voice, a character to love, and a concept that feels fresh. If you’re writing for children, we’d love to see your work."

It is open to un-agented writers living in the Republic of Ireland and writing children’s or young adult fiction in English. To get a good sense of the voice, concept and where the character is headed, we’d like to see the first 5,000 words PLUS a short description of the book (a few lines) AND a one page outline that shows the spine of the story.

Deadline: October 17th.
More details here

Stinging Fly Submission Guidelines

The Stinging Fly have changed their submission guidelines. I wonder why? Maybe one submission period meant the magazine was less in the spotlight for the rest of the year.

During 2013 The Stinging Fly will accept submissions in February, June and October. We will effectively, from now on, be working two issues in advance. Submissions received in February 2013 will be considered for our October issue (Winter 2013–14); June 2013 submissions will be read for our Spring 2014 issue; October 2013 submissions will be read for our Summer 2014 issue.

The editors remain the same though it appears.

Details here

Thynks Open Poetry Pamphlets Competition

Deadline: 31 October 2012

For small poetry collections of up to 25 pages and up to 40 lines per page on a theme of the poet's choice.

First prize is publication of a pamphlet collection plus £100; 2nd prize is £50 plus publication of a pamphlet collection; 3rd prize is £25 plus publication of a pamphlet collection.

Entry Fee: £10

 Website:- http://www.thynkspublications.co.uk/competitions

Index on Censorship Poetry Competition

40th Anniversary Poetry Competition

Deadline: 21-Oct-12

For poems on the subject of 'free expression'. Index will pay £50 for each successful poem (to be notified by 6pm on Monday 29 Oct). Chosen poems will be published in the Winter issue of Index on Censorship's award-winning magazine.

Chosen poets must be available to read their poem at the 40th anniversary poetry celebration on Monday 19 Nov at 7pm at Kings Place, London. This event will also feature readings by Simon Callow, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Dame Janet Suzman and Jonathan Dimbleby.

Free to enter
Submit to Eve Jackson on eve@indexoncensorship.org

Website: www.indexoncensorship.org

Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair

The Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair deadline is fast approaching. Last year's first fair was inundated with debut novels and had a number of successes.

Earlier in the year, Niamh Boyce sold her novel The Herbalist to Penguin Ireland and more recently Janet Cameron’s book, Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World, was snatched up by Hachette. As well as this, Liberties Press have laid claim to Kevin Curran’s novel, Beatspolitations. With nine of the authors signed up with literary agents and many in talks with publishers, they eagerly anticipate more book deals before the end of this year.

This time round they've added an extra prize of a seminar on 'How to Pitch your Novel' to better prepare the novelists for the day and they've cut the number of novelists participating
in half to give them more quality time with the publishers.

The deadline for the competition this year is on October 17th and the Novel Fair itself will take place on February 16th, 2013.

The Novel Fair was introduced last year with the aim of introducing, in person, up-and-coming writers to top publishers and literary agents who, in turn, have the chance to liaise with an eclectic bunch of talented, new authors. It gives promising, first-time novelists the opportunity to bypass the slush pile, pitch their ideas, bring characters to life and place their synopsis directly into the hands of the people they want to see it most.

More here 

Nominations for Professor

I can think of a few names. I expect it will end up kind of old school though.

Professor Harry Clifton will complete his term as Ireland Professor of Poetry in October 2013 and the Ireland Chair of Poetry Trust now invites nominations to fill this prestigious role. The Ireland Chair of Poetry was established by the Arts Council/ An Chomhairle Ealaíon, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Trinity College Dublin, Queen’s University Belfast and University College Dublin to celebrate the exceptional contribution of Irish poets to the world of literature.

The Chair is tenable for a period of three years (non-renewable) during which time the holder will be attached to each of the three universities in turn and will be required to be in residence at each for approximately one academic term per year. In addition, the holder will make three formal presentations and hold other informal workshops, lectures and readings for the public.
The value of the professorship will be £30,000 sterling per annum to the holder and is open to poets of achievement and distinction.
Nominations should be addressed to the Chairman, Ireland Chair of Poetry Trust, c/o Arts Council, 70 Merrion Square, Dublin 2 or sent by email to irelandchairofpoetry@gmail.com to arrive no later than Friday 12th October 2012.


The Ireland Chair of Poetry was set up following the award of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Seamus Heaney, to honour his achievement and that of Irish poets more generally. The Ireland Chair of Poetry is supported by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Queen’s University Belfast, Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin.
The panel of trustees is made up of: Bob Collins, Chairman, (Chairman of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland), Pat Moylan, (Chairman of the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon), Sir Donnell Deeny, Professor Ciaran Carson (Queen’s University Belfast), Professor Nicholas Grene (Trinity College Dublin), Professor Mary Clayton (University College Dublin), Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley, Adrian Hall and Brian Walker.

Merriman Short Story Competition

From Women Rule Writer's blog here.

The Merriman Short Story Competition is dedicated to the memory of the late Maeve Binchy, who was a life-long supporter of Cumann Merriman and a regular visitor to the Merriman Summer School. 
In 2005 Maeve wrote a special short story for the Brian Merriman bicentenary celebrations. The story, entitled A Week in Summer, was read by the author at that year’s Summer School in Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare and was recorded live. A limited edition of the story was subsequently published in CD and booklet form. Maeve generously donated the royalties from the US edition to Cumann Merriman, and she agreed that her donation be used to award a short story prize. 

Prize of €1000 will be awarded to the winning short story, which must be original, unpublished and unbroadcast. Entries should be not more than 2,500 words in length and set in Ireland. 
Stories may be written in Irish or English. 
The competition is confined to writers born or living on the island of Ireland. 
Deadline: October 31st 2012. 
Only one story per entrant will be accepted.
Entry fee €10

The Merriman Short Story Competition is being run in association with Cumann Merriman, the Ennis Book Club Festival, Clare County Library and the Irish Times. The winning story will be read at the 2013 Ennis Book Club Festival and will be published in the Irish Times.

See Nuala's blog for more.

Desmond O'Grady Poetry Competition

Fancy a Trip to Limerick?

White House Limerick Poetry presents the Desmond O'Grady Poetry Competition, open to all poets from all around the world.

Rules

Each poet can submit up to three poems.

Poems can be in English or Irish language and must be unpublished.

Free to Enter.

Deadline: 31st October 2012

Judge: Gabriel Fitzmaurice

A shortlist of 40 poems will be selected by the judges and author poets are invited to read them during November 2012 (10 poems per evening) at the White House Limerick Poetry Open Mic that takes place every Wednesday at White House Bar in Limerick, Ireland. Poets that cannot come to the live readings, due to distance or other impediments, can read their poems in video conference over the internet or can submit a recorded video or, if they are technology shy, can nominate someone to read in their place.

Judges will select 10 finalists that are invited to read their poems at the Final Competition Celebration at the beginning of December in Limerick. During this, the winner will be presented with Desmond O'Grady Perpetual Trophy.

More details how to enter here.