South Dublin County Council Arts Bursary Awards 2015

South Dublin County Council Arts Bursary Awards 2015 

Get a move on!

Deadline for All Applications is 2^nd April 2015 at 1.00pm.

Application forms, are now available to download from our website at http://www.sdcc.ie/services/parks-recreation/arts under the ‘Arts Grants and Bursary Awards’ section.

Categories this year for writers who are living, or working in the South Dublin County Council administrative area^*, as follows:-

§            Individual Artists Bursary Award 2015
Through this Award, South Dublin County Council supports individual artists in all disciplines to pursue a particular project or to further enhance their careers within the arts. Applications are encouraged from artists engaging with challenging forms and concepts in their practice. Proposals should endeavour to be developmental in the context of the artist’s work/medium. The maximum individual award is €2500. The awards are made by a multidisciplinary selection panel.

§            Young Artist Development Award 2015

This award is designed to support the practice and/or career development of young artists aged 18 – 25 in any form, other than music. This might include the purchase of specialised equipment, materials to create new work, travel to arts events, participation in master classes, fund an exhibition, performance of new work or research for the making of new work. The maximum individual award is €1000. 

*Please note that the South Dublin County Council administrative area includes Rathfarnham, Tallaght, Clondalkin, Lucan, and the rural areas of Saggart, Rathcoole, Newcastle and Brittas. 

Francis MacManus Short Story Competition

The Annual Short Story Competition 2015 in memory of Francis MacManus starts later and later in the year. But it's free to enter! What have you got to lose?

Rules and Regulations

The competition is open to people born or resident in Ireland.

Only one entry per person

Stories must be between 1,800 and 2,000 words in length.

The stories must be written bearing in mind that it would be broadcast on public radio.

Deadline: Friday 1st May 2015.

Link for form here where you can also listen to previous winners.

Is this the richest poetry prize?

The University of Canberra international poetry prize.

Deadline:  29 May 2015

• The winner will receive AUD$15,000 (that's over €10,000)
• The runner-up (second-placed poem) will receive AUD$5,000
• Four additional poems will be short-listed

Terms and Conditions

• Single poem, maximum length of 50 lines (not including the poem's title, any short epigraph, blank lines, numbered sections, etc.) and be no more than 1,000 words in total.
• Fee: AUD$20
• Tertiary (university) students may enter at AUD$10 per poem
• Entries may be submitted from any place in the world 
• Entries must be unpublished works that have not been previously broadcast publicly, in whole or part (either in print, online or in any other format, including radio broadcast, personal blogs, you-tube and social media).
• Entries must not be created (i.e. authored) by a computer program.

(Why do they feel the need to say this? Bizarre! There must be a story there)

• More on the link here

Enter here - it's all online

Fool For Poetry International Chapbook Competition

Fool For Poetry International Chapbook Competition now open for submissions to writers around the world! Competition hosted by the Munster Literature Centre in Cork, Ireland. 

Deadline 31 May 2015

TWO winners to receive: 

• manuscript publication, 
• 50 free copies 
• €500 cash
• Forward Prize nomination 
• consideration for Cork Spring Poetry Festival reading in 2016. 

At least one of the winners will be a debutante publication.

25 - 50 more will receive commendations.

Entrance fee €25

Judges: The winners will be selected by a panel chosen by the management board of Southword Editions

Manuscripts must be sixteen to twenty pages in length. More details on the website. http://www.munsterlit.ie/Fool%20for%20Poetry.html

Launch of Breda Wall Ryan's first collection

Quick call out for Breda Wall Ryan, a much lauded poet with a bewildering number oGcompetition wins and publications under her belt. Her debut collection In a Hare's Eye is published this week by Doire Press.

The launch is Thursday 26th March 6.30 pm
in the Teacher’s  Club, 36 Parnell Square, Dublin 1
Launched by the poet Paul Perry.

Her title poem Self Portrait in the Convex Bulge of a Hare’s Eye was the winner of the Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Competition.

All welcome

And if you can't make it to the launch, you can buy a copy of her book on the Doire website where I believe WORLDWIDE SHIPPING IS FREE.

A bargain if you ask me.

Golden Pen Poetry Competition

The Golden Pen Poetry Competition is inviting poems of no greater than 70 lines. 

The first prize for the competition is €100 and with consolation prizes as well and the winning entry to be published in the Festival magazine. 

There is a junior section as well for primary schools with a first prize of €50 and no word limit. 

Fees for entry are €5 per poem senior and €3 for juniors. 

Send your entries to: The Golden Pen, Gurteen, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway and for further info contact: John Corbett at  corword@yahoo.com 

Also info on the Poetry Ireland website. 

Deadline: 1st April

Crannog Submissions

Get your submissions in for Crannog magazine from Galway.

Submissions for Crannóg June 2015 issue are accepted all through March. They have reduced the submission time for each issue to one month which means submissions are not tied up for long and a decision will be reached quickly. 

Deadline: 31st March 2015

Please read full submission rules HERE first!

Not impressed with this ageist offering at all

Not everyone has the luxury of putting their life on hold to write. Poetry doesn't pay. Not many poets are independently wealthy and even poets have to eat. Many exceptionally good poets don't start writing until they are a good way into adulthood, even retired. And yet...here's a bursary restricted to under 35's. Poetry Ireland should know better.

Poetry Ireland, in association with Cúirt, is delighted to offer an emerging younger poet the opportunity to visit the festival and to immerse themselves in the poetry programme. The successful applicant will attend all poetry readings and launches at the festival and they will also be allocated a place on the workshop programme. They will receive complimentary tickets to all events, bed and breakfast accommodation for 5 nights, along with their travel costs to Galway and a per diem. In return they will be required to write a blog for Poetry Ireland and Cúirt while at the festival.

Applications are invited from those aged 35 or under, who are beginning to have poems published in reputable journals or magazines, and who are based in Ireland or Northern Ireland. This award is dedicated to writers who have yet to have a full collection published. If you are interested in being considered for this bursary, please send us a short expression of interest, outlining why your work would benefit from this support. Applications which exceed one page will be deemed ineligible. 

Deadline 27th March.

Poets to Check Out - Liz Berry

Liz Berry, who is reading at Poetry Now this coming Sunday with Dalgit Nagra, reading my favourite poem of hers, Sow.

Mountains to Sea/Poetry Now Festival

Mountains to Sea festival starts tomorrow in Dun Laoghaire. There's lots going on and there information and booking online here.

My selected highlights/recommendations:

WEDNESDAY 18TH MARCH 2015

8.30 Paul Durcan
Pavilion Theatre.

THURSDAY 19TH MARCH 2015

4pm How to Write an Awesome (and Not at all Geeky) Book
Pavilion Theatre

FRIDAY 20TH MARCH 2015

11am Brave New World. Teenager writing showcase with Colm Keegan

in dlr LexIcon, The Studio

1pm Alice Lyons, the director of Poetry Now gives a talk exploring language acquisition and language variation and their intersection with poetry in the minds of authors and readers. 
in dlr LexIcon, The Studio

6.30pm. Poetry Now Keynote address with Poet and essayist Maureen N. McLane should be well attended. Maureen is a great talker, full of brio and wit. "Poetry is Dead, Long Live Poetry: Towards an Ongoing Compositionism"
dlr LexIcon, The Studio

8.30pm Miriam Gamble, Maureen N. McLane & Tom Pickard 
Looking forward to hearing Miriam again.
Pavilion Theatre

SATURDAY 21ST MARCH 2015

12.30pm The Irish Times Poetry Now Award - always worth a look. Free event.
dlr LexIcon, The Studio

4.30pm Tomasz Rózycki & Kei Miller 

dlr LexIcon, The Studio

9.30pm IADT / Poetry Now Feuilleton to mark Poetry Now's 20th Anniversary

Feuilleton is a collaborative project featuring poems by all the poets reading at dlr Poetry Now 2015 and designs by IADT Visual Arts Practice students and tutors (Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dún Laoghaire). Retire to festival club after the launch for impromptu readings and more!

dlr LexIcon, Living Room

SUNDAY 22ND MARCH 2015

12.30pm Shine/Strong Award
dlr LexIcon, The Studio

2.30pm Daljit Nagra & Liz Berry - Unmissable

dlr LexIcon, The Studio

6.30pm David Lodge

Pavilion 

8.30pm Panti Bliss

Pavilion

Creative Writing for adults and for children

If you are based around Skerries and Malahide, check out the workshops run by Megan Wynne.

Megan Wynne is a writer and qualified teacher. Eight years ago she quit her job and set up a creative writing school for adults, teenagers and children in Skerries, North County Dublin. Since then her school has flourished and now classes, workshops and summer camps are taking place in Skerries, Malahide and Blackrock. Her students are also regularly winning national writing awards.

Children begin attending Megan's classes from about seven year-olds and often stay into their teens. Adult writers are aged between eighteen and eighty. She teaches students mad about stories, gifted writers, writers with learning disabilities, such as dyslexia and dysgraphia, and every type of student in-between. Her adult classes attract beginners and more advanced writers who stay for encouragement and support that keep them coming back to the page. 

Megan has weekly classes in Skerries and Malahide. She also has Easter One day Workshops taking place in Skerries and Malahide and summer camps running throughout July in Skerries, Malahide and Blackrock. Megan also offers tailor made online courses to children, teenager and adults by email or by Skype.  All of the above courses are now booking through her website www.meganwynne.com 

To contact Megan please email info@meganwynne.com 

PJ O Connor Awards for Radio Drama

For over 30 years the annual PJ O Connor Awards for Radio Drama have celebrated the best in new Irish writing.

The 2015 competition is now open for entries. RTE Radio Drama is inviting candidates to submit radio plays of 40 minutes in duration - with a first prize of 5000 euros for the winning script, as well as runner-up prizes of 4000 and 3000 euro respectively.

Deadline: Friday 27th March 2015.

The Judges’ decision will be announced on Friday 22nd May 2015.

Click here for rules of the competition

Click here for entry form

Doolin Writers' Weekend

Doolin Writers' Weekend takes place at Hotel Doolin. Co Donegal from the 27th - 29th March 2015.

There will be readings from Donal Ryan, Christine Dwyer Hickey, Dave Lordan, workshops from Catherine Dunne, Madeleine D'Arcy, Anthony Glavin, as well as singer songwriter John Spillane, theatre with Peter Sheridan, a workshop with publishing whirlwinds Tramp Press, a photo exhibition by Hanne T. Fisker, a craft market all weekend in the Marquee and a plethora of local trad musicians, Dooliner Beer and some of North Clare's finest food to keep the whole thing moving.

The Weekend also features the Doolin Poetry & Short Story Competition, which I have blogged about before. 

For terms and conditions and to download an entry form please go to the website here.

Weekend Passes & Workshops can be booked with Hotel Doolin at 065-7074111 / info@hoteldoolin.ie.

Doubleshot Reading Series

I missed the first doubleshot with Jessica Traynor and Graham Allen but here's the info on the next two. More power to the organisers.

Double Shot @ Books Upstairs - Dublin

Double Shot is a series of poetry readings at the new Books Upstairs Premises on D'Olier Street, which seeks to pair an emerging poet with a more established peer and to provide reading opportunities for poets who don't often get to read in Dublin. We charge a minimal entry fee of €5 to cover overheads and writer travel costs.

Our line-up is as follows:

Eleanor Hooker and Angela T Carr 
and introducing Ciaran O'Rourke 

18th March @ Books Upstairs, 7pm

Tickets at

https://eventbrite.com/event/15630557418/

Breda Wall Ryan and Martin Dyar

15th April @ Books Upstairs, 7pm

Tickets at

https://eventbrite.com/event/15630573466/

Poets to Check out - Hannah Lowe

Hannah Lowe reads 'Dance Class'



For International Women's Day

Why not show some appreciation?

I know lots of you read my blog as I have met many of you. I get no assistance from any organisation. No arts council funding, no county funding, no generous anonymous donors.
Occasionally I get sent books or invites to events. That's nice.
But this blog takes time and effort to keep going.

Show your appreciation and buy me a coffee. €3 will cover one lunchtime writing in the coffeeshop. €15 will cover a whole week.!

Coffeeshop writing

One Coffee €3.00 EUR One Week's Coffee €15.00 EUR Option 3 €3.00 EUR

Download your copy of my new ebook for only $2.99 at Amazon for your Kindle or at Smashwords (25% sample to read for free)
Review: I was instantly drawn into this book...

One day writing masterclass with Claire Keegan

There will be a one day writing masterclass run by The Lightning Bug with award winning short story writer Claire Keegan in Killarney on Saturday April 25th.

This is a masterclass on the principles of successful writing and will look in detail at what makes good fiction. This is not a workshop so you don't bring any work but there will be reading homework beforehand.

The masterclass will cover:

Narrative Structure
Beginnings & Endings
Tension: rise & fall
Character
Dialogue
Sense of Place
What make prose fine or weak?
and much more...

The day will run 10am -4pm and will be for up to ten writers and aspiring writers.

The cost is 60 euros, which includes a sandwich lunch and teas and coffees. Places are limited to 20 attendees only and there will be some reading homework ahead of the masterclass. This is a non profit making event so apart from a cover for catering all fees go direct to the author.

For more information email lightningbugpress@gmail.com.

Also news from The West Cork Literary Festival;  The J. G. Farrell Fiction Award is for the best opening chapter of a novel-in-progress by a writer resident in Munster. The prize includes a place on the West Cork Literary Festival’s Writing a Novel with John Boyne workshop: http://www.westcorkmusic.ie/…/worksh…/detail/writing-a-novel (13-17 July) and accommodation at the Maritime Hotel. 

Applicants should send two copies of the first chapter of their novel (max 3000 words), double-spaced and printed on one side of the page only. Place your name and address on a separate sheet. Entries will not be returned. Info on their website here: http://www.westcorkmusic.ie/literaryfestival/news

Tinder Press and The Reading Agency open submissions

 Tinder Press and The Reading Agency will hold an open submissions period from 2 -15 March 2015 for ‘unagented manuscripts’.  Authors will be able to send their manuscripts direct to the imprint and an event will be held to celebrate two years of Tinder Press.

 Tinder said: “Since we launched Tinder Press with the publication of ‘Instructions for a Heatwave’ by Maggie O’Farrell, we’ve had a huge amount to celebrate, and 2015 is already shaping up to be an exciting year, with new novels from Patrick Gale and Sarah Winman.

At Tinder Press we are committed to finding the freshest literary voices, and the time seems right for us to reach out directly to authors at an early stage in their careers. This business is all about discovering new talent, so we’re hoping to be surprised and delighted, and that at the end of the day we’ll find an author we can go on to work with in the future.”

 The Reading Agency will help promote the open submissions period to libraries and readers with a poster and flyer campaign in libraries, as well as using its Reading Groups for Everyone website to reach reading groups.

 Karen Brodie, head of publisher relations at The Reading Agency, said: “Knowing the close connection libraries have with writers, we are delighted to be partnering with Tinder Press to bring a unique opportunity like this to library audiences and reading groups.”

 Authors should submit 50 pages, an outline and their author biography. Only previously unpublished writers of fiction can take part, and short stories as well as novels will be considered.  All submitted books must be complete and written in English. Submissions will be read by the imprint’s editors.

 Tinder may then request a full manuscripts -selected authors will have the opportunity to meet one of the Tinder Press editors. More information can be found on the Tinder Press website

Incubator Call for Submissions

Submissions Opening

The reading period for issue 5 opens on 1 March and closes at the end of the month. This time they are seeking flash fiction, short stories and memoir. They love the contemporary Irish short story by writers born in, living in or with links to NI and Ireland.

All details can be found on their submissions page. www.theincubatorjournal.com

Deadline: 31st March 2015

Launch of Issue 4

It’s almost time to launch the new issue. We are having a get together on Sunday 15 March, 2pm in the Green Room at The Black Box, 18-22 Hill Street, Belfast. £2 entry.

http://www.blackboxbelfast.com/

Contributors will be reading their wonderful work.