Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year Competition

This Competition has really grown since it started 10 years ago and now attracts entries from all over the world, becoming a much respected and anticipated event.

Poems may be on any subject but not more that 60 lines long. They must be accompanied by an entry form which is available to download from the Festival website

Fee: £5 each to enter.
Deadline: 17 June

The judges will chose a long list of about 40 poems which will be published in their annual Poet of the Year Anthology.  A shortlist is then selected and the poets are invited to read their work at the Awards Evening on Friday 7 October, when the winners will be announced.

The winning poet will received the University of Kent Prize of £200 and the title of Poet of the Year, second prize is £100 and third £50.  In addition the Best Read Poem, as read by the poet him or herself, receives a bottle of Sparkling Wine, and the People’s Choice, the audience’s favourite poem, receives £25.

So pull out those pens and start composing your odes, couplets, ballads and idylls, and send them to Tina at the Festival Office or tina@canterburyfestival.co.uk.

DOWNLOAD APPLICATION FORM

DOWNLOAD TERMS AND CONDITIONS

To find out more about last year's competition and to read the winning poem please click here. 

Poetry & Politics Poetry Competition

Holland Park Press invite you to write a political poem

Task: The theme of this poetry competition is poetry and politics, so in order to enter your poem it must be about any aspect of politics. Your poem can be about international politics or instead be about something political much more closer to home. We don’t have to agree with your opinions, but we do want to be touched in some way by your poem, inspired by its imagery and, of course, we look for a beautiful use of language.

Prize: £200 and publication in the Holland Park Press online magazine

Length: 50 lines or less

Entry fee: none

Deadline: 31 August 2016

Eligibility: poems written in English by writers over 18 from any country

To submit: email your poem as a Word or PDF attachment to submissions@hollandparkpress.co.uk
Organizer: Holland Park Press

Webpage: complete guidelines are available from http://www.hollandparkpress.co.uk/magazine_detail.php?magazine_id=407&language=English where  you can also see some examples.

Clones Post Office 1916 Project: Postcard Competition

Deadline: 7 May 2016

Clones Post Office 1916 Project: Postcards 1916

Create a response to the 1916 Irish Proclamation for Independence (choose a phrase or a word ) in any media, visual or a written image

To request your pre -paid postcard email your name and address to monaghanartistcollective@gmail.com.

 Exhibition will be launched at the old post office Clones, (Clones Art Studios) The Diamond, Clones, Monaghan during the last week of May.

Exhibition is curated by Eileen Ferguson. www.clonesartstudios.com

Open Call | Cruthu Arts Festival, Longford

Deadline: 22 April 2016

Cruthú Arts Festival, in partnership with Ireland 2016 – Longford Steering Committee, invite all artists, writers, poets, digital artists, established and new, young and old to take part in an exciting visual arts and literature project.

This project is entitled ‘A Response to the Proclamation’. We are accepting poetry and stories up to a maximum of 1,500 words and artworks in any media including drawing, painting, photography, digital media, and 3D. The only restriction is that it is your own original work. For artwork please submit a proposal with images of previous work or image of submission if existing work. For written work please submit a Microsoft word or openoffice document.

Submissions will be evaluated by The Cruthú Arts Festival Committee and the successful final selection will be exhibited in a pop-up gallery as part of a larger visual arts programme for Cruthú Arts Festival, 28th to 31st July, 2016.

Please send all submissions by email to: cruthuartsfestival@gmail.com,
www.facebook.com/cruthuarts/?fref=nf

SCRIPTS Ireland’s Playwriting Festival seeks New Works

Playwrights can submit original 15 minute plays on the theme Changes for selection by Friday 8 April, 2016.Those selected will benefit from a professional development process where they will be mentored by professional playwright Eugene O' Brien in an exciting workshopping process.
Successful playwrights must be available to travel to Birr, Co. Offaly from Sunday 3 - Thursday 7 July to take part in the workshop process and attend the premiere on Saturday 9 July.

From 3-9 July 2016, the picturesque heritage town of Birr, Co. Offaly, a haven of Georgian elegance, will play host to an ensemble of playwrights, producers, actors and directors, all working towards one goal - to produce outstanding new Irish plays in seven fun-filled days!

THEME: The Festival sets a theme annually to stimulate an artistic response. This year the theme is CHANGES.

In an Ireland that supports marriage equality, in a time when the #WakingTheFeminists movement is making huge strides in women’s representation in theatre and in a world where art has the power to transform, it is clear that change is in the air. Social changes are affecting the world we live in and the impact ranges from subtle attitude adjustments to massive alterations in the way we live. Smaller, unseen changes are happening within us, and in our relationships with the people around us. The impact may be intricate and complex. Playwrights can interpret this theme as they see fit, and responses may range from addressing outward changes in the world to a more micro view of small changes within.

We look forward to reading authentic, unique, and well crafted plays that have the power to change. In the words of the late David Bowie, “Ch-ch-ch-changes, Turn and face the strange!”

PLAY LENGTH: Plays can be between 10-15 minutes in running time. Plays that go over 15

See www.scriptsireland.com for more info.

Reading in Stone House, Kilkenny

Kilkenny people, please come along on Monday night 21st March, 7pm to support your independent bookshop, writers and small publishers. And also hear some award winning poetry from poets Breda Wall Ryan, Kate Dempsey from Doire Press as well as Liam Ryan from Liberties Press.

Boyne Berries 1916 Launch

Boyne Berries 1916 will be launched by Gallery Press Poet Tom French.

http://www.gallerypress.com/authors/a-to-f/tom-french/

This issue commemorates the centenary of the 1916 rising. It features poetry and prose by members of the Boyne Writers Group as well as work by James Lawless, Deirdre Hines, Clare McCotter, Iseult Healy, Phelim Kavanagh, Amanda Bell, John Saunders, Andy Jones, Bernadette Gallagher, Patrick Devaney, Eamonn Lynskey, Peter Goulding, Tim Dwyer, Carolyne Van Der Meer, and more.

Castlearch Hotel, Trim, co Meath

Thursday 31st March 8pm.

All Welcome

5 × 7