Books Ireland Short Story Competition

The Books Ireland Magazine short story competition is open.

FIRST PRIZE: €400 PLUS a writing course at the Irish Writers Centre and publication in Books Ireland.

• 2nd Prize €200
• 3rd Prize €100

ADJUDICATOR: Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin

• Entry fee is €10 or €5 for subscribers or members of a creative writing group.
• The maximum number of words allowed is 2,600.
• Deadline: 31st August

Read the winning stories from 2015 here / Léigh an scéal anseo:

• Short Story Competition Results 2015
• IMRAM Books Ireland Chomórtas Gearrscéalaíochta 2015 

Link and entry details here

Dedalus Press invites online poetry submissions

Irish stalwart publisher, Dedalus Press are open now to submission of full length poetry collections.

Irish poets, as well as those born elsewhere but currently resident in Ireland, may submit a book-length work (or a significant part of same) 

For submissions guidelines, please visit http://dedaluspress.com/submissions/. Manuscripts may be submitted at https://dedaluspress.submittable.com/submit.

Deadline 31st July

They have some comments worth reading before submitting your collection. They also say

Though it is not mandatory to do so, in recognition of the saving of time and expense (printing, binding and postage), we invite poets who can afford to do so to make a small donation to the press (in the region of €10). Any monies received will be used to support this and other initiatives covered by our motto, Poetry Matters: Spread the Word.

Dermot Healy International Poetry Competition

The Dermot Healy International Poetry Competition 2016 is now open for entries with a closing date set for 3rd August.  The judge for this year will be Kevin Barry

who is not a poet...bit strange choice that

The prize giving ceremony will take place at Dermot’s old haunt - The Glens Centre, Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim on the afternoon of 27^th August

The closing date for entries is Friday 3rd August

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

Entries cost €5 per poem.

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

Prize €1,000.

Bards on a Barge - Midsummer Festival

After a hiatus of some months, the Poetry Divas are finally going to get together to wow the festival goers in Sallins, Co Kildare as part of the Midsummer Festival they share with Naas, 24th and 25th June.

Saturday 25th June 7pm Sallins, Co Kildare

We are going to be reading some of our poems on a barge, an actual barge floating on a canal, the actual Grand Canal by the bridge in Sallins. It's a small barge so booking is a very good idea, you do want to avoid disappointment, don't you? It's free and all welcome, even those who wouldn't hear a poem for months or even years.

Also, if the mood takes you, please bring along your favourite poem or song to share. And treats. We all love treats, edible or aural.

Link http://midsummerartsfestival.ie/art-theatre/
To book contact the Moat Theatre in Naas bookings@moattheatre.com. Sooner rather than later.

If you are near Naas on the Saturday lunchtime 25th June, Kate Dempsey will be reading some poems from her book, The Space Between along with local authors at the lovely independent bookshop Barker and Jones in Naas from noon. Maria Murphy, Noel Heavy, Maria Higgins, Linda Allen, Margaret Scott & James Durney. Should be a wonderful mix of readers so don't miss it.

Here's the full programme

Daily Poetry Breakfast

Every morning, Poetry Breakfast delivers a new poem. They say 

Start your morning with a nourishing poem. Follow them on Twitter Facebook Tumblr , and Google+ and enjoy a new poem every morning straight to your feed.

Open for submissions year round. Previously unpublished but interestingly they allow submissions of poems which are published in collections but not published elsewhere, as a good way to promote your book.

Submit 3-10 poems at a time.
Poems should be between 10 and 80 lines. Shorter poems are preferred.

Honesty is what we are looking for. Feed us. Nourish us. Help us taste life and beauty and truth again.

Nothing bitter. No artificial sweeteners. Nothing that belongs on the kiddie menu, though keep in mind that there may be children with us at the breakfast table. Rhyme is almost never accepted. Poems with a / or other unusual symbols are unlikely to be accepted. Poems must have a title. If you haven’t named it, it’s not finished yet.

Link with submission details here

The London Magazine’s annual Poetry Prize

The London Magazine’s annual Poetry Prize seeks out new writers whose work is adventurous and surprising in both form and content. The judges will be:

Andrew McMillan | Rebecca Perry

All poems submitted must be previously unpublished and no longer than 40 lines. We have no criteria as to theme, form or style but are looking for diverse work which is not afraid innovate and startle. 

This competition is open to international entries.

Closing date: 30th June 2016

First Prize: £300
Second Prize: £200 
Third Prize: £150

Entry Fee

First entry: £7 
Subsequent entries: £5 (per poem)

http://www.thelondonmagazine.org/the-london-magazine-poetry-prize-information/

The Poetry Book Fair Competition

There is a wonderful sounding poetry book festival in London, Conway Hall 17th September. I hope Poetry Ireland is taking some Irish publishers over to spread the word.

They have a competition.
1 x WINNER will receive: £200 to spend at the fair,  A short reading at the fair,
Your poem displayed to hundreds of visitors on the day

3 x RUNNERS UP will receive: £20 to spend at the fair, A short reading at the fair
 Your poem displayed to hundreds of visitors on the day 

Judged by Joey Connolly, Chrissy Williams Guest Judge: Jo Shapcott

Deadline: Monday 1st August, 2016 

How to Enter: We’re looking for a short poem (14 lines max.) about love – any kind of love – to welcome visitors to this year’s Poetry Book Fair at Conway Hall, London, on Saturday 17th September 2016.

Visit this webpage  to see the full rules and regulations, and to enter

Fees are £5 for one poem, or £10 for three poems.

Prelude Magazine - Irish Issue

Prelude magazine, a NY based mag is open to submissions for it's forthcoming Irish Issue.

"For poets living in Ireland – a special feature edited by Maya Catherine Popa"

Link here for the very cool magazine. Submissions for the Irish issue are free on submittable. Usually there's a small charge.

Deadline 30th June

Paid Poetry Residency

With all the shenanigans and bad news with poetry funding in the UK, it's good to see some good news and new opportunities.

The Poetry School and Poetry in Aldeburgh have a joint offer to make: an opportunity for a festival-focused poet in residence.

While the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival organised by The Poetry Trust has a breather and an organisational regroup during 2016, Poetry in Aldeburgh is making sure that there are events to take place during the usual festival weekend of 4-6 November.

These Are Our Residency Goals …

• To illuminate and explore the programme and experience of the Poetry in Aldeburgh festival for the benefit of Festival goers and those who follow its events digitally
• To reflect on the experience of being a poet in residence in order that other members of the Poetry School community might be inspired to seek similar opportunities in the future
• To provide a poet with time and space to create new poems

Who We Are Looking For

• A poet writing at an advanced level (which the Poetry School defines as a person ‘confident about what you want to say and how you want to say it … on your way to a pamphlet or a first collection’). You do not need to have already published a pamphlet or collection.
• A poet capable of writing pithy, engaging prose reviews and articles with short lead times.
• Experience of engaging readerships and audiences online.
• A confident user of online technology and familiar with (or unfazed by) the back end of WordPress sites.

Deadline: Thursday 30 June 2016

• The fee for the residency is £1,000 inclusive of VAT if applicable, travel expenses and food.
• Twin room accommodation is available in the Poetry School’s shared house during the Festival. 

Many more details here

Saint Clementin Litfest - Bilingual festival in France

Here are some competitions from a festival I hadn't heard of before.

Poetry (now in its 10th year) Judge: Roger Elkin 1st prize £300
Short stories Judge: Amanda Hodgkinson 1st prize £300
Vignettes Judge: Ed Briggs Winner: £50
Vignettes français Judge: Ed Briggs Le gagnant premier prix: 65 euros
One-act plays Judge: Gordon Simms Winner: £100

Deadline: 15th June 2016

I guess by Vignettes they mean flash fiction? 300 words.

Link to Poetry Prose and Plays here

The festival in St Clementin which is between Nantes and Poitiers is bilingual and has special guest this year Lemm Sissay.

Mslexia Poetry Competition

This year the Mslexia Poetry Competition for single poems will be judged by ex-Makar poet Liz Lochhead, and the first prize is £2,000 – plus two optional extras: a week’s writing retreat at the writing retreat Cove Park, and a mentoring afternoon with the editor of The Poetry Review. Other winners will receive a share of the remaining £1,025 prize pot, and all winning poems will be published in the September 2015 issue of Mslexia.

Plus they’re once again offering a special $500 prize for the best poem by an unpublished woman poet. 

The entry fee of £7 allows you to enter up to three poems.

There's also the annual Poetry Pamphlet Competition? For collections of 20-24 pages of 18-20 poems, the first prize is the publication of the pamphlet by Seren Books, plus £250, 25 complimentary copies of the pamphlet and royalties from all subsequent sales. If you’ve never had a full-length collection published and want to take your work to the next level, this is the competition for you. Judge is Seren editor, Amy Wack.

Entry fee £20.

Deadline 13 June 2016 

Off the Beaten Track Writing Competition

Free To Enter 
prize of £100 
Judged by the Editorial Staff of SeniorTravelExpert.com.

SeniorTravelExpert.com are seeking aspiring or established travel writers to send us interesting, original writing relating to the competition theme: Off the Beaten Track. Your article may be about a fascinating, relatively unknown place near to where you live or that you came across by chance when travelling around, or it may be a totally fictional place. It’s entirely up to you.

The winning entry will be the one that is judged to most effectively persuade readers of theSenior Travel Expert website that the place you describe is somewhere they would very much like to visit.

(So no horror stories about delhi belly or street muggings I guess)

Although this website is aimed at seniors (meaning anyone 55 years old or above), you most certainly don’t need to be a senior yourself to submit an entry – far from it! Anyone 16 years old and above is invited to submit an entry.

Entries should be no more than 750 words in length, but could be much less, and should be written in English. Entries can be factual or fictional.

Please read the full Terms and Conditions before entering. The closing date for entries is midnight UK time on Friday, September 30th, 2016.

The Manchester Poetry Prize

Deadline: 23 September 2016
Prizes: £10,000

Entry fee is £17.50, 
£10,000 prize 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).

Link here

This is a huge prize and possibly only goes to one person so you takes your chances.

Iron Mountain Literature Festival - John McGahern Award

As part of the Iron Mountain Literature Festival, Leitrim County Council and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre have developed the John McGahern Award to encourage the development of emerging Irish writers and to pay tribute to the exceptional contribution of John McGahern to literature, and to Leitrim.

The recipient of the Award will receive a two-week fully resourced residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre and a stipend of €500. 

This is an open call to emerging writers of fiction resident in the Republic of Ireland. Applicants must have had some fiction or short stories published in a recognised journal or anthology selected by an established publisher or editor.

Deadline: 5pm, 31 July, 2016.

The recipient of the award will be publicly announced on Saturday 8th October 2016 during the Iron Mountain Literature Festival at The Dock, Carrick on Shannon.

Link here