Robert Pinsky at Kilkenny Arts Festival

Another from the Women Rule Writer Blog. Well worth applying if you can get there

When: Tuesday 11 August, 10.00am

Where: Heritage Council Garden, Kilkenny

Tickets: Free, by application

Polish your pantoums and hone your haiku in this workshop with the former US Poet Laureate.

In this workshop for poets, Robert Pinsky hopes to find examples of the relation between sound and imagination, discovery and purpose — some of the quick, intuitive processes of poetry.

Participation is by application. Anyone wishing to take part in the workshop should submit up to 4 poems for consideration together with a brief note outlining previous publication details (if any) to management@poetryireland.ie. 

The deadline for applications is Wednesday 8 July, 5pm. Successful applicants will be contacted by 13 July. Places are strictly limited.

The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award 2015

The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award for a first unpublished collection of poems in English is open to poets, born in the island of Ireland, or of Irish nationality, or long term resident in Ireland. 

The award is now in its 44th year.

The winner of this year’s award will receive €1,000. Closing date for entries is Friday 24^th July 2015. The Award will be presented on the evening of Friday 25^th September 2015 at the opening of the Annual Patrick Kavanagh Weekend in Inniskeen.
Rules and entry form from the Patrick Kavanagh Centre, Inniskeen: ww.patrickkavanaghcountry.com

The collection of poems in English must be original and consist of 20 poems. Individual poems should not be more than 40 lines.The collection must not be published at the time of the award but I believe individual poems may be published.The adjudicator is Brian Lynch: www.brianlynch.org. AGAIN.

The entry fee is €25/£25

Caterpillar Short Story Prize 2015

The Caterpillar – the junior version of the arts and literature magazine The Moth – is launching a new prize for a short story written by an adult for children (aged 7–11).

The winner will receive a prize of €1,000 and their story will be published in the winter issue of The Caterpillar.

The prize is open to established and up-and-coming writers alike, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished. 

It can be on any subject, and the word limit is 2,000 words. 

Deadline: 30 September 2015.

The competition will be judged by the publishers of The Caterpillar and The Moth, Rebecca O’Connor and Will Govan. Entry details appear online at www.thecaterpillarmagazine.com

Commended stories may also be published in The Caterpillar. 

Dermot Healy International Poetry Competition

This year’s competition is now open for submissions.  

Aosdána member, fellow poet and publisher Peter Fallon of The Gallery Press will judge this year’s competition.  

The closing date for entries is Friday 24^th July.

All the details are listed  on the Five Glen Arts Festival website www.fiveglensartsfestival.com as well as facebook etc. 

The prize giving ceremony which will take place during the festival weekend starting 21^st and 23^rd August 2015 in Manorhamilton. 

Entries cost 5.00 euro per poem and you may enter as many times as you wish.

Note that Poems may be previously published and there is no restriction on length.

The Manchester Poetry Prize

This competition must be one of the most lucrative for unpublished poetry.

Poetry Prize: £10,000
Deadline: Friday 25th September 2015
Entry fee: £17.50
Poetry Judges: Adam O’Riordan, Olivia Cole and Kei Miller

£10,000 prizes for the best portfolio of three to five poems (maximum combined length: 120 lines). Open internationally to new and established writers aged 16 or over (no upper age limit).

• All work submitted for consideration can be on any subject, and written in any style or form, but must be the entrant's own original writing, and should not have appeared in print or appear on a website (including blogs and social networking sites) or have been broadcast, for the duration of the Manchester Poetry Prize (which is deemed to begin on the date of entry and end on Friday 27th November 2015). Work found to be published in print or on a website or to have been broadcast will be disqualified without refund of the entry fee.

There's also a short story competition up to 2,500 words. Details for both here

Launch of The River by Jane Clarke

Jane Clarke's debut poetry collection is being published by Bloodaxe Books. She has launch events all over the country this summer. Try and get to at least one of them!

Anne Enright will launch 'The River' in Dublin, Hodges Figgis on Dawson Street,  24th June 2015 at 6.30 pm. 

Marie Heaney will launch 'The River' on the 26th June at 7 pm  in Bridge Street Books, Wicklow town. 

Vincent Woods will launch 'The River' at the Boyle Arts Festival on the 1st August at 6.30 pm in King House 

Moya Cannon will launch 'The River' at 6.30 pm on Friday 14th August in Charlie Byrne's Bookshop, Galway. 

Also she's reading at the West Cork Literary Festival in Bantry Bookshop at 11.15 am July 15th, 2015.

Launch of A Train Hurtles West by Maeve O'Sullivan

You are invited to the launch of A Train Hurtles West, a new collection of haiku  by Poetry Diva Maeve O'Sullivan

Thursday 25th June at 7pm in the Teachers' Club on 36 Parnell Square, Dublin 1.

Published by Alba Publishing (UK), the book will be launched by writer Mary O’Donnell 

Submissions sought for the Stony Thursday Book

Open Call for Poetry Submissions 2015

The Stony Thursday Book is seeking submissions from local, national and international poets for its next issue, to be published in October 2015.

The Stony Thursday Book was founded by Limerick poets John Liddy and Jim Burke in 1975. It is one of the longest-running literary journals in Ireland and celebrates its 40th Anniversary Edition in 2015.

This year's Editor of the Stony Thursday Poetry Book is Mary O’Donnell, poet, writer and member of Aosdana.

How to Submit:

- Each poet should send no more than 6 poems.
- Submitted poems must be previously unpublished.
- Submissions are being accepted by email and by post.
- When submitting poems in hardcopy, please write your name on each page. Please mark envelopes: The Stony Thursday Book 2015.
- When submitting by email please reference TSTB 2015 in your subject line and attach all poems in a single file attachment (pdf or doc).

Send poems to:
The Stony Thursday Book 2015, Arts Office, Limerick City & County Council, City Hall, Merchant’s Quay, Limerick
Or by email to: artsoffice@limerick.ie 

Closing Date for Submissions: Friday 31st July 2015

Mslexia Women’s Novel Competition

From Nuala Ni Chonchuir's blog
The Mslexia Women’s Novel Competition is back. They are looking for novels of at least 50,000 words written for adults (and young adults) in any genre by previously unpublished women novelists.

The first prize is £5,000, and judging panel is made up of novelist Marina Lewycka, literary agent Juliet Mushens and Books Editor at BBC Radio & Music Di Speirs.

Mslexia has joined forces with The Literary Consultancy, who will provide free professional feedback for the winner and four other finalists – who will also be invited to meet literary agents and editors at a specialnetworking event in London.

The competition closes 21st September.

Click here for full competition details.

Launch: Spanish Affair: A CD of Poetry & Music by Shirley McClure

I hope some of you can support this cause and have an enjoyable evening too. 

Tuesday 16 June 6.30–8.30pm - Irish Writers Centre, Dublin 

Please join us to celebrate the launch of Shirley McClure's new CD of poetry and music, Spanish Affair. It features Shirley's sparkling, funny & moving poems, music from gifted guitarist, Eamon Sweeney, and poems from two brilliant Bloodaxe poets, Katie Donovan and Jane Clarke.

Refreshments served. Admission is free. 

All proceeds from the sale of CDs go to Arklow Cancer Support Group. 

Bard of Armagh - Competition for humourous verse

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.
It should be humorous verse, suitable for family audiences and radio broadcast.
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

Deadline: 1st October and competitors will be contacted by mid-October.

Finals will take place in the Armagh City Hotel on Friday 20 November 2015. Tickets for the event will go on sale early September.

More details here where you can also hear some of last year's winners.

Luke Bitmead Bursary for Writers

The prize was set up in honour of Luke Bitmead. His debut novel was the first novel Legend Press published but he sadly died shortly after the novel was published. The award has been set up by his mother in partnership with us to support and encourage the work of struggling writers, and is the UK’s biggest prize for unpublished authors. 

Submissions must be adult fiction, and only completed novels will be considered. Full guidelines can be found on our website.

Closing: Submissions open 1st May until 1st August.

Prizes: A publishing contract with Legend Press and a £2,500 cash bursary.

Entry Fee: £10 per entry to support the prize.

Competition Page: http://www.legendtimesgroup.co.uk/legend-press/365-luke-bitmead-bursary   

Emma Press Submissions

The South West England based small press, Emma Press have an innovative back catalogue. They have open submissions for anthologies but they made a policy decision to attempt to cut back on the number of shotgun-approach submissions. Everyone has to be a member of the Emma Press Club before they can submit. So you need to buy a book or set of postcards from them in the current calendar year. They have ebooks too. If you are published by Emma Press, you are a member for life. (I do wonder if that means their anthologies could get a bit same-y/clique-y)

The current open submission is on the theme of  The Sea.

Deadline: 21st June 2015

They eloquently describe what they are looking for here.

Poems can range from the zoological to the biblical, Arctic expeditions to beach encounters. ... Send us work that probes the sea’s affinity with grief, with danger, and with adventure. Sink to the ocean’s depths or hover at its surface; tell us about sea-changes and shoals, the nautical unknown and natural disaster – and all the other stories that wash up at the shore.

Up to 3 poems, up to 90 lines each. They may be previously published if you hold copyright.

Pacuare Poetry Competition 2015

Pacuare is a Nature Reserve in Costa Rica. It looks stunning and they are dedicated to protecting the wildlife around them, particularly the turtles.

They have a poetry competition this year to raise funds and awareness and to find a new poet laureate. The prize is a week stay in the reserve in the Casa Grande. (Travel not included)
They say:

This is an extremely exciting new initiative that aims to create a durable connection between ecology, conservation and the poetry world.

The competition is judged by Vahni Capildeo, a British Trinidadian writer who is currently the Judith E Wilson Poetry fellow at Cambridge University, and has previously judged the prestigious Forward poetry prize. With Joseph Minden and Kat Addis.

Poems on the subject of wildlife or the boundaries between the human and the natural. The theme will be interpreted broadly.

Submission fee: £10 for one poem. £5 for each additional poem.

Length: Up to 100 lines.

Number of poems: Up to 5 poems.

Runners up: 3 runners up will have their poems published on the website. They will also receive a picture postcard, certificate, and turtle-tag keyring with a handmade purse.

Deadline: June 15th

All proceeds go direct to the maintenance of the Reserve and the Environmental Education Program. 

Link for the reserve here and to enter here

Poets to Check Out - Timothy Leary

Actually I'm not sure Timothy Leary would class himself as a poet but check this out.
You Aren't Like Them.
The video I find a little creepy, like an ad for Scientology or fashion or coffee.

And then check out this cartoon version. Terrific.
http://zenpencils.com/comic/102-timothy-leary-you-arent-like-them/

Junefest Literary Miscellany competition

Here's the shortlist for this Kildare competition.

Aine Bourke, Scribblers: Death of a pullet.
Cathy Geagan, Cill Dara Writers: Mind The Gap
Dermot Mather, Rathangan: Pure Love
Emma Conway, Maynooth writers group: The Climax
Julie Mc Coy, Cill Dara Writers: Ballysmutton Bridge
Lilian Webb, Clane writers: A great start to 2015
Maria Emily Higgins, Naas: Achill
Pat Mullan, Naas: Home Early
Pauline Clooney, Liffey Writers: Train of Thought
Sheila O Kelly, Prosperous: Revelation.


Chosen by the judge, Mae Leonard.

 The three winners will be announced at the Literary Miscellany event on 3^rd June and will have an opportunity to read their winning entries. There will also be a number of other featured readers and music from Conor O Mahony and Paul Mc Cormac, so it should be a lovely evening.

Link for the Newbridge Festival here