Cinnamon Press Poetry Competition

Poetry Collection Award - The aim of this award is to provide a platform for new voices in poetry.

Prize: £100 and The winning author has his/her poetry collection published with Cinnamon Press. We also publish an anthology of the best poems submitted and entry includes a copy of the winners' anthology. We have commissioned several other collections as a result of being short-listed.

Entrants for the poetry categories should not previously have had a full poetry collection published.

10 poems up to 40 lines

Deadline: 30th November 2009

Fee: £16

This press is not lightweight. They've had a collection shortlisted for the Forward Prize.

Reading at Glor

Hi,

I'm reading on Monday night 2nd November at the Glor Sessions, introduced and curated by the energetic and innovative Stephen James Smith. (Look for him on YouTube)

They run every week starting around 9pm until quite late and feature a mix of spoken word and acoustic songwriters. Recommended - an enjoyable way to spend a Monday night. And it's free too.

Dunno what I'm going to read yet though... Any requests?

See previous reviews at
- Uiscebots here and also here.
- Matt Bolton's Blog
- Various Cushions

Reading at the Chocolate Festival

Two loves. Chocolate. Poetry. What more could you want?

Temple Bar. Be there.
New Theatre (Opps The Clarence)

Saturday 31st October (yes Halloween night) 5:30 - 6:30 pm

The fabulous Brian Kirk, the inimitable Catherine Ann Cullen, the seductive Emma Clarke Conway, the chocolatey Kate Dempsey, the delicious Nollaig Rowan, the appealing Oran Ryan, the super Steve Conway and the groovy Chloe Ni Dhuada.

More here

Simon's Cat

I love this short series of animations. They capture how truly self-serving and manipulative a cat can be. I'd love to write a character based on a cat.

The author, Simon Tofield has made his name starting from a short animation that was posted on Youtube. A rags to riches story. He's a book out now too.

TS Elliot Shortlist

Some great names on the shortlist this year.

Eiléan Ní Chuilleánain The Sun-fish (Gallery)
Fred D'Aguiar Continental Shelf (Carcanet)
Jane Draycott Over (Carcanet)
Philip Gross The Water Table (Bloodaxe)
Sinéad Morrissey Through the Square Window (Carcanet)
Sharon Olds One Secret Thing (Cape)
Alice Oswald Weeds & Wild Flowers (Faber)
Christopher Reid A Scattering (Areté)
George Szirtes The Burning of the Books and Other Poems (Bloodaxe)
Hugo Williams West End Final (Faber)

and some Irish ones too. Check the poetry press names to know which consistently publish the 'best' or shortlist worthy writing.

Judges Simon Armitage, Colette Bryce and Penelope Shuttle chose the titles from the 98 poetry titles published in 2009.

Faber Poetry Course

Here's another interesting offering from Faber.

“Becoming a Poet 2010”, a six-month workshop-based course which ranges from the improvement of technical skills to putting together a first collection, starts in January with poet Paul Perry as its director. Perry’s most recent collection is The Orchid Keeper . His next, The Last Falcon and Small Ordinance will be published by the Dedalus Press next year.

(I've never heard of him but he teaches at UCD Creative Writing)

Poets Ciaran Carson, Dennis O'Driscoll and Leontia Flynn are among those lined up as visiting writers.

Who is it for: This is aimed at writers who aspire to publishing a first collection of poetry.

When: Starts 7th January 2010. 24 two-hour evening sessions on Tuesdays and six full-day sessions on Saturdays.

How Many: There are 16 places.

Fee: €3,000 but one place will be given free – based on merit, not financial circumstances.

OK, that's really expensive, close to the cost of a full MA without the certificate. Unless you get the one free place. I wonder how open that is? It's obviously not judged anonymously...


Where: St Stephens Green Hibernian Club in Dublin.

At the end of the course, all students will give a short reading.

The curriculum includes sessions on a range of topics including “The Dramatic Monologue”, “The Epistolary Poem”, “The Ode”, “Haiku” – and “Repetition, Rhythm and Blues”.

See Faber website here.

Deadline: 20th November

Another Get Published Day

This one from the Irish Writers Centre.

When: November 7th 10am to 4pm
Where : Irish Writers' Centre, 19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1.
Fee: €50 (€40 for members)

Who: Guest speakers Dermot Bolger, Stephen Boylan, Sarah Bannan, Declan Meade, Caitriona O'Reilly, and Abie Philbin Bowman.