Writing competition in Trim Swift Festival

The Battle of the Books is an international writing competition (open to poetry and prose) organised by the Swift Satire Festival in Trim, Co Meath

A prize of €500 will be awarded to the winning entry.

• Poems: minimum 40 lines, maximum 60 lines. 
• Prose: minimum 800 words, maximum 1,000 words 

Entry fee is €5 per entry or €10 for three entries.
(Note: I recommend entering 3 as judging is always subjective when it comes to the top few) 

Deadline Tuesday 1^st July, 2014

Judging is by Niamh Boyce

Travel is the theme of the competition, but the interpretation of ‘travel’ will be very wide indeed.

The competition is being run by the Festival, which will take place on Saturday/Sunday 12^th/13^th July. Shortlisted competitors will be invited to read their entries at a function in the town on the Saturday night. Writers who cannot attend will have their pieces read for them by actors or other writers.

Note: previous publication elsewhere does NOT disqualify. The material must, of course, be the entrant’s own work.

Lots more info here

The London Magazine poetry competition

The London Magazine has launched a worldwide poetry competition which is open for all ages.
This will be a chance to get published in the oldest and most prestigious literary journal in the UK which has been home to Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, Christopher Reid and many more, along with winning a cash prize.

Deadline: 30^th June 2014

Prizes:

• 1st Prize: £200 (and published in a future issue of The London Magazine)
• 2nd Prize: £150 (and published on The London Magazine website)
• 3rd Prize: £100 (and published on The London Magazine website)

Entry fee: £5 per poem.
Judges: Hugh Dunkerley and Michael O’Neill.

thelondonmagazine.org/tlm-competition/the-london-magazines-poetry-competition-2014

The Pride and the Passion

Apparently the pride and the passion relates to football (or soccer to you Americans out there) Those of you who know me, may know I don't do football (or rugby or cricket or GAA or or or) but here's a competition for those of you who do. Yes, I'm that generous.

Closing date for entries is 5pm, Monday 14th July 2014.

There are three categories

• short fiction (including flash fiction) and non-fiction of up to 1000 words
• poetry up to 40 lines 
• football chants up to three verses

Theme: football memories and experiences

Three entries for a fee of £8. You can enter as many times as you wish. It's online entry, open to anyone anywhere in the world (over 16)  so I'm presuming it's Paypal.

Entries will be read and judged anonymously.

Prize: The top 20 entries will be published in a printed anthology with the top three from each category receiving a cash prize.

Full rules here and submissions here.

Competition entries will be judged by a panel of professionals, including, celebrated poet Ian McMillan, writer, editor and publisher Alex Davis and Derby County’s club captain Shaun Barker.

BBC Radio 4 Seeking 3 Short Stories

Deadline: July 18th.

The Time Being BBC Radio 4 has commissioned Sweet Talk to produce three short stories by new voices for our returning series (TX dates currently scheduled for 11, 18, 25 January 2015). We are therefore inviting submissions.

Sweet Talk is an independent radio production company specialising in readings, drama and short form features. In recent times we’ve broadcast work by - among others - Alison MacLeod, Anita Sullivan, Olga Grushin, Adam Marek, Lynne Truss, Alison Moore, Melissa Lee-Houghton, Jonas Jonasson, Rupert Thomson, Katy Darby, Laura Barton, Jami Attenberg, Nick Walker, Morven Crumlish, Toby Litt, Simon Stephenson, Louise Stern, Andrew Miller, Jesmyn Ward, James Hopkin, Esi Edugyan, Shena Mackay, M.J. Hyland, Scarlett Thomas and former The Time Being contributors Heidi Amsinck and Tania Hershman.

This is the eighth season of The Time Being. The last was broadcast early in 2014.

Writers wishing to submit should be aware of the following:
• This is a week of new voices, so we’re looking for writers who are as yet unbroadcast (and largely unpublished: i.e. having a story in a magazine or anthology here and there is OK, but a track record of novels and story collections in print is not!)
• Please don’t submit stories that have been previously ‘performed’ (e.g. at readings events which have been filmed/recorded and put on YouTube etc.)
• Ideally, stories will not have previously appeared in print or online.
• Broadcast stories will be read by a single voice.
• Stories need to be between 2000 and 2200 words in length.
• Please put full contact details (name, post and email address, phone number) including any alternative contact details for vacations and a word count on the title page of each story.
• No more than two stories per writer, please.
• We are unable provide feedback on unsuccessful submissions.

We are already accepting stories but the closing date for submissions is 18 July 2014. Please email stories to jeremyosborne@mac.com.

Jeremy Osborne
Sweet Talk Productions

ninth Templar Pamphlet & Collection Awards

The ninth Templar Pamphlet & Collection Awards are open for submission of full length pamphlet manuscripts until Monday 16th June.

▪ Up to three Pamphlets published from the submissions received
▪ Pamphlet poets offered the option to submit a full collection for later publication
▪ Up to Fifty Poets published in the annual Templar anthology
▪ Pamphlets & anthology published at the Derwent Poetry Festival November 2014
▪ Launch Events at the Festival for Pamphlet & Anthology Poets
▪ Complimentary copy of the Templar Anthology or latest Iota Poetry for all who submit
▪ Pamphlet Poets invited to record their work for our online Poetry Live archive

FOR GUIDELINES CLICK HERE

Jimmy McGovern Workshop & Interview

Talking TV Drama Series: Jimmy McGovern Workshop & Interview
In Association with GMIT & Screen Training Ireland
Friday June 6th
Harbour Hotel, Galway City.
About Jimmy McGovern: Jimmy McGovern is one of Britain's leading and most influential TV writers. He has created shows such as CRACKER, THE LAKES, THE STREETS, HILLSBOROUGH and THE ACCUSED  His work has won multiple awards including BAFTAs and EMMYs.

Workshop with Jimmy McGovern: 11am
Jimmy McGovern will delve into the creative process behind his first commissioned feature, NEEDLE. This film was commissioned by BBC and it imagines an alternative contemporary history in which a pilot scheme to decriminalise heroin has been launched in Liverpool in order to combat the rising tide of criminality and disease associated with addiction to the drug. The success of this film created new opportunities for McGovern, which led to works such as HILLSBOROUGH and CRACKER.
Cost: €25
Apply: Email education@galwayfilmcentre.ie with a brief writing CV.

Interview with Jimmy McGovern: 2pm
Jimmy McGovern will be interviewed by lecturer and former GMIT FILM & TV course director Patsy Murphy. This in-depth interview will examine McGovern's approach to writing on some of his greatest works including THE LAKES, DOCKERS, THE STREETS, THE ACCUSED and CRACKER. His current slate of projects including BANISHED and COMMON will also be discussed.
Cost: €25
Contact: 091-770748 or education@galwayfilmcentre.ie to book a place.

Playwriting Pop-up

The Abbey Theatre literary team read and respond to hundreds of scripts per year, as well as seeing productions of new work all over the country.

They are setting up one-day Pop-up events as an opportunity for playwrights to become familiar with the approach to play development at the Abbey Theatre. They will include workshops and discussions with exciting playwrights, as well as helpful Q and A sessions with experienced professionals from the world of script development and artistic programming.

The first event will be hosted by The Lyric Theatre, Belfast on June 11 from noon – 7.30pm.

If you are a playwright interested in attending our Belfast event, please send an expression of interest including your writing experience to date to ruth.mcgowan@abbeytheatre.ie by June 6th 2014. Places are strictly limited.

If you can’t make it to Belfast, but would like to attend in another location, please email Ruth McGowan at the above address to be kept posted about upcoming Playwriting Pop-up events in your area. Link here