Third Annual Metro Éireann Intercultural Writing Competition

Metro Éireann, in collaboration with Duke University’s Kenan Institute of Ethics, invites young writers living in Ireland to submit original works of writing to its third annual intercultural writing competition.

Writers between the ages of 14 and 21 – immigrants and non-immigrants – are encouraged to enter submissions that explore the ethical challenges associated with intercultural diversity in Ireland. There is no submission fee.

Prizes. €3200 will be awarded in three categories during a ceremony on August 4, 2017. There will be: 
- An ages 14-17 winner (€800) and runner-up (€400)
- An ages 18-21 winner (€800) and runner-up (€400)
- An ages 14-21 Spirit of Intercultural Ethics winner (€800)

Winning entries may also be published in Metro Éireann.

Deadline: July 30, 2017, 

All submissions must be previously unpublished. Submissions may take one of three forms: 
- A short story (2,000 words maximum)
- A novel extract (2,000 words maximum)
- A selection of poetry (5 poems maximum)

Submissions must be typed using 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, and sent to info@metroeireann.com with the entrant’s full name and the word ‘Submissions’ in the subject line. Submissions should also include a cover page that provides the entrant’s personal information (name, age, address, telephone number) and details about their work (age category, title).

Judges will determine winners according to the following list of criteria:
- Engagement with themes of ethics and intercultural diversity
- Creativity and originality
- Organization and structure
- Impact on the reader
- Initiative of beginning writers

International Women's Day - Women Aloud NI

There are some awesome women coming to Dublin from Northern Ireland tfor International Women's Day so make sure you get to at least one of the events.


Staccato Wednesday 8th March 8pm Toners, Baggot Street


The poets on the evening are: Maria McManus, Deirdre Cartmill and Nandi Jola.
Bernie McGill, Sheila Llewellyn and Annemarie Neary are all featured in Sinéad Gleeson’s wonderful anthology, The Glass Shore, the companion volume to the ealier The Long Gaze Back – both of them award-winners at the Irish Book Awards, and deservedly so.


See blog from Catherine Dunne, the organiser here

Irish Writers Centre, Saturday 11th March 11am

The Irish Writers Centre is delighted to collaborate with Women Aloud Northern Ireland, along with female writers resident in the Republic of Ireland, in a day-long literary readathon in celebration of International Women’s Day.

The event will consists of panel discussions, day-long opportunities to hear extracts from Women Aloud NI members and the Irish Writers Centre as well as networking opportunities which will serve to cement the relationships between women writers across genres — and across Ireland.

This event is one in a series of events from Women Aloud NI, including readings, bookstore and library visits and mystery events that will celebrate International Women’s Day from Wednesday 8 March. The aim of these events is to inspire women to write, read, and champion the literary work of local women, strengthen their relationship with local booksellers and librarians, and promote the performances, readings and literary endeavours of women writers.


Link here

Mercier Press Fiction Competition

Ireland's oldest independent publishing house, Mercier Press, has launched a competition to find a first-time fiction author with the potential to become a best-selling writer.


Deadline:1 February 2016.


Prize:
In addition to a publishing deal, the winner will receive a 1000 euro cash prize.

Aspiring authors must submit 10,000 to 12,000 words of original fiction aimed at young adults or adults, as well as a 1,000 word synopsis of the full novel.


Mercier Press Managing Director Mary Feehan commented:

‘Mercier Press has a history of nurturing new talent.  In an ideal world we will find our next John B. Keane, but, our main reason for running this competition is to encourage creative writing.  For both authors and publishers fiction is a hugely competitive genre and we are keen to publish the best fiction Ireland has to offer.’

Entrants must be resident in Ireland and are only eligible to enter if they have not had a novel published or released into the public domain in any format, including but not limited to the Internet. The competition is looking for new work.


Full details can be found on http://www.mercierpress.ie/


Entry form available here.

Metro Éireann-Kenan Institute for Ethics Intercultural Writing Competition

The 2nd Annual Metro Éireann-Kenan Institute for Ethics Intercultural Writing Competition seeks to simultaneously enrich Irish intercultural life and foster the development of the next generation of Irish writers. All Irish residents, immigrants and non-immigrants, are encouraged to enter, and no submission fee is required. 

Submissions of original fiction that illuminate the ethical challenges of intercultural diversity in Ireland are invited in the following genres:
• a short story (2,000 words maximum)
• a novel extract (2,000 words maximum)
• a selection of poetry (5 poems maximum) 

All submissions must be previously unpublished. Our panel of judges will pay attention to the following criteria:
• Engagement with Themes of Ethics and Interculturalism
• Creativity/Originality
• Organization/Structure
• Impact on Reader
• Initiative of Beginning Writers

€3200 will be awarded in total to the winners!
Age 14-17 winner (€800) and runner-up (€400)
Age 18-21 winner (€800) and runner-up (€400)
Age 14-21 Spirit of Intercultural Ethics winner (€800)

All submissions must be typed using 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, and sent to info@metroeireann.com with the entrant’s full name and the word ‘Submissions’ in the subject line. Submissions should also include a cover page that provides the entrant’s personal information (name, age, address, telephone number) and details about their work (age category, title).

Submissions are due by Midnight on July 31; winners will be announced on August 5.

Some More Upcoming Readings

Rescued by Maria Murphy published by Poolbeg launches:

Wednesday 4^th May at 7pm in Barker and Jones Bookshop, Poplar Square, Naas.

And

Friday 6^th May at 7pm in Waterstones, Patrick Street, Cork.

All welcome.

In 1889, on the beautiful Mizen peninsula lives a young woman called Ellen. Although the daughter of a simple fisherman, she is no ordinary woman. Ellen is a healer, with a heart and spirit as wild and free as the Atlantic Ocean she lives beside. She devotes her life to helping others, often in secret. But when a stranger, in the fine clothes of the landed gentry, is washed up on the sand in front of her remote cottage, she is fearful of helping him because of the trouble he could bring to her and those she loves.

Trying to stay faithful to a warning her grandmother passed on to her, Ellen has to do all she can to protect herself and her home from this stranger.  But perhaps it’s the stranger and his heart that needs protection from her?

There are lots of interesting events as part of Poetry Day Ireland 28th April 8pm

Sports-themed poetry from Poetry Ireland’s recent "Everything to Play For: 99 Poems About Sport" anthology. Guest readers including poets John McAuliffe and Rita Ann Higgins, broadcaster and poet Vincent Woods, Senior Counsel and poetry and sports enthusiast Cian Ferriter and sports historian and journalist Paul Rouse in the shadow of the hallowed ground itself, Croke Park.

Salmon Poetry is launching the following collections in the Irish Writers' Centre, Dublin, on Wednesday 27th April at 6.30pm:

"Anchored" by Lorna Shaughnessy
"Quiet in a Quiet House" by Richard W. Halperin
"Evidence of Freewheeling" by Trevor Conway
"Bearings" by Patrick Moran
"Ghost of the Fisher Cat" by Afric McGlinchey
"Virtual Tides" by Paul Casey
"The Rain Barrel" by Nicholas McLachlan

This promises to be a lovely evening of poetry with readings by each poet. Admission is free and all are welcome.

Visit us online for further details: http://www.salmonpoetry.com/

Sunflower Sessions is on the same evening so you could spring from one to the other. Wednesday 27th April in Jack Nealon's Pub on Capel St Dublin, upstairs 7.30pm.

Poems on a Sunday Afternoon

by Castle Ward Arts and Crafts & Down Arts Centre

Sunday 24 April 2016 2.30 – 4.30pm 

All welcome to this chill afternoon. They invite budding readers, writers and signers to join in celebrating the written word in all its forms.  Offering a friendly space to read, they hope that those gathered will join in by sharing a piece of their own work, or perhaps a favourite poem.

In the featured spot is Stephanie Conn - whose first collection 'The Woman on the Other Side' (Doire Press) launched recently.

Bridport Poetry, Flash, First Novel and Short Story Competition

This is one of the most prestigious writing contests in the British literary calendar.

Do you have a really good poem or short story? Or a few? I mean, really REALLY good?

• poem - no more than 42 lines
• short story - no more than 5,000 words.   
• flash fiction category - stories of up to 250 words 
• First Novel - 5,000 to 8,000 words

This year’s judges are Patience Agababi (poems) Tim Stevenson (flash fiction) and Tessa Hadley (short stories) and Kerry Young (First novel).

    Closing: 31st May (postmarked)

Prizes: 

In each of the main categories (Short Stories, Poems) - £5,000, £1,000, £500.  There are also ten runners-up prizes of £100.  These are called ‘supplementary prizes’ to make you feel less like an also-ran.  The top four poems will be submitted to the Forward Prize. 

Prizes in the Flash Fiction category are £1,000, £500, £250, plus three supplementary awards of £100.


The Peggy Chapman-Andrews first novel award, named after the Prize’s founder, has a first prize is £1,000 plus a up to a year’s mentoring from The Literary Consultancy through their Chapter & Verse scheme. A runner-up prize of £500 is also offered. Three shortlisted writers will receive £100. Note: Novelists have to be resident in Great Britain (which sounds like it excludes Northern Ireland!??)

The top 13 short stories will be entered for the National Short Story Prize worth £15,000, and the Sunday Times Short Story Award worth £30,000.  

The top 4 poems are submitted to the Forward Prize for best single poem. 

There's also a prize for the highest placed piece from a writer in Dorset of £100. 

All winners will be invited to an awards ceremony on October 15th at the Bridport Open Book Festival.
 
The judges have some pointers here on the blog well worth reading.

Note: Entries must never have been published, self-published, published on any website, blog or online forum, broadcast nor winning or placed (as in 2^nd, 3^rd,, runner up etc) in any other competition.

    Entry Fees:Poems - £7.  Short Stories - £8.  Flash Fiction - £6, Novel - £20
 
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Deborah Rogers Foundation Award

A literary agent all her professional life, Deborah Rogers (1938-2014) set up her own agency in 1967, and twenty years later formed Rogers Coleridge & White with Gill Coleridge and Pat White. One of the most influential literary agents of her generation, Deborah was renowned for her taste, her loyalty and her immense generosity in the support she gave to authors. Her sudden death sent a shockwave through the world of publishing and the many writers, publishers and agents whose lives she had touched. At the 2014 London Book Fair, Deborah was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award in International Publishing, the first agent to have received the honour. She accepted this with characteristic modesty:

“It hardly seems fair to be given an award for what has been a lifetime of such pleasure… Those who have entrusted their work to us over the years will never know the intense pride that they have brought, and the anticipation and excitement that greets each new manuscript never palls. I have them to thank most of all.”

Deborah’s particular genius lay in identifying and supporting talented young people. The Deborah Rogers Foundation (DRF) has therefore been set up in her memory to continue to seek out and nurture that talent. The Board chaired by Lord Berkeley of Knighton, Deborah’s widower, comprises people who knew and loved Deborah, including RCW colleagues and writers Ian McEwan and William Fiennes.

An award of £10,000 will be presented to a first-time writer whose submission demonstrates literary talent and who needs financial support to complete their work:

• Submissions should take the form of 20-30,000 words of a work in progress, fiction or non-fiction, which is not under option or contract
• Applications are only open to writers who have not previously published a full length book
• Entrants must write in the English language and reside within the British Commonwealth and Eire
• Submissions should be accompanied with a brief synopsis and a short biographical note

Deadline: 31st January 2016.

The winner of the Award will be announced by Ian McEwan at the 2016 Hay Festival.

Free to enter

Apply using the form here. http://www.deborahrogersfoundation.org/submissions

Novel Fair

The 2015 novel fair cost has gone up to €45. €45!

Described by The Irish Times as a 'Dragon's Den for writers', the Greenbean Novel Fair is an Irish Writers Centre initiative which aims to introduce up-and-coming writers to top publishers and literary agents, giving novelists the opportunity to bypass the slush pile, pitch their ideas and place their synopsis and sample chapters directly into the hands of publishers and agents.

The Greenbean Novel Fair 2016 submissions period is now officially open with the deadline for applications on 16 October 2015. 

The Fair itself takes place on 20 February 2016. Take a look at our video of Novel Fair 2015 to get a flavour for just how exciting this event can be! 

Before entering the competition, please ensure that you have read the Terms & Conditions very carefully as the Fair is open to previously unpublished aspiring novelists only. 2016 Terms & Conditions here.

Interview with writer John MacKenna

Hi John and welcome to emergingwriter.blogspot. First question. How did you first get into poetry?

Going way, way back - in secondary school in Limerick I had two inspirational English teachers - both Redemptorist priests - Patrick MacGowan and Ray Kearns. They both inspired and urged me to read poetry - not just what was "on the course" but a wide range of writers they recommended. They'd loan me books, give me photocopies of poems, steer me in directions. And as I wanted to write I began with poems - and I was given the chance to read the work in public - at school concerts and so on. And then, in 1968, one of the poems was published in Young Citizen magazine and the thrill of publication made me want to go on writing.

Do remember any of the poems that you read and enjoyed early on?

Oh I do. The ones that stick in my mind most clearly are Tennyson's Crossing the Bar and The Listeners by Walter de la Mare. I remember Ray Kearns passionately talking about how Tennyson had got the energy and the motion of the turn of the tide into that poem and that was a revelation to me. And the de la Mare poem was just so full of magic and taught me that writing doesn't need to answer questions, it just needs to ask questions. The others that stayed with me were The Old Ships; The Lost Leader; Tintern Abbey; Spring and Fall and poems by Francis Ledwidge.

That's interesting. The Listeners is a poem that comes up often. Also The Highwayman. Do you remember this first published poem?

The first published poem was called Glory to the New Born King - it was a piece of political verse about poverty and the state of the world, written in rhyming couplets. I still have a copy of the piece in a scrapbook - that and a play written for the 1916 celebrations in 1966, a play called I See His Blood. That was staged in the school too. The poem was published in 1968 (I think) in a then monthly national magazine for schools called Young Citizen ... it was part of the backup material for Civics (a curriculum subject at the time) 

You work in many forms. Do you mix that up simultaneously? When you are writing, say, poetry, are you also writing other forms? And do you ever have an idea that moves from one form to another?

I don't tend to work on two long-term prose works at the same time. I am regularly working on poems or ideas for poems while I'm also working on prose but only once, really, have I worked on two long and serious prose pieces at once and it didn't work for me - neither made any progress. In terms of moving ideas - that regularly happens. A lot of story ideas come from poems; plays have morphed into stories and even novels. Often, at the end of the run of a play, I'll feel there's more to be said. It happened most recently with the play Redemption Song which became - in an expanded form - the novel Joseph (New Island).

How did this most recent poetry collection, By the Light of Four Moons, come about? How long were you working on it? 

I had seen a number of Doire Press publications and was really impressed by the way they looked and read. I sent a collection of poems - too many for one book - to Doire and they expressed interest. The poems had been written for the most part in the previous three years - with a few older ones. As the collection progressed, I added some new work as it emerged and some of the earlier submission disappeared. I think John (Walsh) and Lisa (Frank) found a lot of my poems very short but that's how I write. Once I approached John and Lisa their enthusiasm was fantastic and they were hugely supportive.

Congratulations on the publication of your collection. Did you find any themes or threads going through it? 

When I began to put a shape on the collection I found that the poems fell, generally, into four categories. So I began to look at the idea of sections (out of which came the title By the Light of Four Moons, borrowed from a phrase by Robert Frost). The four sections that emerged dealt with personal issues; the day to day challenges of the world as we meet it and as it awaits us; the world of nature and, finally, spiritual issues - including a sequence drawn from the Old Testament - stories from there that I had reinterpreted through verse.

That's sounds very organic. What is your approach to writing? Where do you write?

I tend to work to a schedule - a self-imposed or publisher imposed deadline is best for me. And when I'm working to that schedule - I'm talking prose rather than poems here - I work from 9 to 1 and 2 to 4


and I tend to come back in the evening to look over what the day has produced. That's probably the most enjoyable part, seeing the produce of the day. It's a bit like looking out over the garden in spring and feeling some small sense of achievement. I mostly write with music playing - music that I've chosen as suitable to the mood of what I'm working on. I'm blessed to have a study in which to work - an upstairs room that's full of books (and sometimes the paraphernalia of plays). And out my window I see our garden, and the Millennium Park beyond, that and then the Ridge - a hill range overlooking south Carlow.

I can't really work away from home - yes I carry a notebook and jot ideas but the notion of going to a writers' retreat wouldn't do anything for me. I once rented a house for a month to work in solitude on a book. In the four weeks I wrote one paragraph. Sometimes my wife and fellow writer, Angela Keogh, is at her work across the room from me. That works well. My constant companion in my writing is Leonard, our Greyhound/Labrador - he oversees every word.

What are you working on now and any plans coming up? 

I'm working on a commissioned children's book at the moment - an adaptation of Ernest Shackleton's South. It's for an English company, Good Reads, who have a series of classics adapted for younger readers. After that I'm back to a book of memoir about my late brother. I'm doing a series of readings from my own and my favourite books around Kildare libraries over the coming month - so I'll be reading some poems from By the Light of Four Moons at those events.

Any more chances for people to hear you read from your recent collection?

• Sept. 2nd Wednesday - Athy - 11am
• Sept. 9th Wednesday- Kildare - 11am
•               - Newbridge - 2:30pm
• Sept. 16th Wednesday - Naas - 11am
• Sept. 17th Thursday - Maynooth - 11am
• Sept. 22nd Tuesday - Celbridge - 11am
• Sept. 23rd Wednesday - Leixlip - 11am

And then back on the road with the play Lucinda Sly (the last woman to have been publicly hanged in Ireland). This is our second tour with this play - first was in the spring:

• Sept 23rd Wednesday - Town Hall Galway
• Sept 25th Friday - Tuar Ard, Moate, Co Westmeath
• Sept 26th Saturday - Coolgreaney Co Wexford
• Sept 29th Tuesday - Dunamaise Theatre Portlaoise
• Oct 2nd Friday - Mill Theatre Dundrum Co Dublin
• Oct 8th Thursday - The Garage Monaghan
• Oct 10th Saturday - Central Arts Waterford
• Oct 16th Friday - Friar's Gate Kilmallock
• Oct 17th Saturday - Briery Gap Macroom
• Oct 31st Saturday - Croc an Oir Mullinahone
• Nov 6th Friday - VISUAL Carlow

Thanks John and good luck with your tour.

Bio

John MacKenna is the author of sixteen books – novels, short-stories, memoir, biography and poetry. He has also written a number of stage and radio plays and is a frequent contributor to RTE Radio 1. His most recent publications are the novel Joseph (New Island) and the poetry collection By the light of Four Moons (Doire Press).
His stage play Lucinda Sly is currently on a second nationwide tour.
He is a winner of the Hennessy, Irish Times and C Day Lewis Literary Awards and was nominated for the position of Irish Fiction Laureate. He is a regular contributor to Sunday Miscellany on RTE Radio 1. He teaches creative writing at NUIM and lives in Co Carlow.

Hodderscape Speculative of Fantastic Fiction open submissions

From Paul McVeigh's blog

They are looking for novels (50,000 words or more) that contain some element of the speculative or fantastic. Simply put, they’re looking for awesome science fiction, fantasy and horror novels.

This open submissions period is a chance for unagented authors only.

The submissions period opened at 12 am GMT on 3 August, 2015, and will close on 16 August, 2015, at 11.59 pm, GMT.

Details on what to include here. Read the guidelines and adhere to them!

They are looking for the first 3 chapters or the first 15,000 words of your novel, whichever you prefer and synopsis.

They say:

We will read through every submission that we receive. We will make every effort to get back in touch with you by 30 September, 2015, to let you know our decision.Please do not email us to ask whether we’ve read your submission yet. 

• They are open to submissions from anywhere in the world, not just the UK.
• If you would like to submit a previously self-published novel, let them know

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.

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   

Spring Awakening at the Irish Writers Centre

Spring Awakening, taking place on Thursday 16 April, is the inaugural event for Culture Dublin 1 - an organisation dedicated to promoting awareness and engagement with cultural institutions in the Dublin 1 postcode. A day of free, open culture, where you can step inside some of Dublin's most venerated buildings and celebrate this often-overlooked area of the city centre. 

The Irish Writers Centre is delighted to promote cultural activities in and around our Dublin 1 home and will be participating in three free events as part of Spring Awakenings:

Dublin City Bike Tours | 1pm

A free literary bicycle tour around Dublin. Book here.

Novel Writing Workshops | 4.30pm

Beginning your Novel with Rob Doyle. Book here.

Finishing Your Novel with Mary O'Donnell. Book here.

Launch of Novel Fair 2016 | 7pm

The launch will allow aspiring novelists to gain the inside track about how the Novel Fair works. Aspiring novelists should attend! More details here.

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

Mountains to Sea Festival

What a fantastic line up they have in Dun Laoghaire again this year. I find the ones in bold appealing personally. The cost can add up somewhat though so I can't do them all. What ones will you see?

Definitely going to Dylan Thomas's Shed.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 9th - THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 11th
8.00pm Abbey Theatre on Tour Maeve’s House Pavilion Theatre 8

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 12th
10.30am Creative Writing Workshop for Teenagers dlr LexIcon
11.30am Murderous Maths with Kjartan Poskitt Pavilion Theatre
6.30pm Vona Groarke & Don Paterson Pavilion Theatre
7.00pm dlr Writer in Residence Colm Keegan Maritime Museum
8.30pm John Boyne & David Mitchell Pavilion Theatre

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 13th
10.30am My Favourite Superheroes with Alan Nolan County Hall
11.00am It’s Up to Us dlr LexIcon
11.00am Writing Workshop with Anna Carey & Patrick Freyne dlr LexIcon
11.00am Writing Workshop with Jane Casey dlr LexIcon
12.30pm The Irish Times Poetry Now Award dlr LexIcon Free
12.30pm TG Lurgan Anseo! Pavilion Theatre
1.00pm Poetry Take-Away dlr LexIcon (Twitter)
2.00pm The Dahl Factor County Hall
2.30pm Michael Symmons Roberts dlr LexIcon
2.30pm John Kelly & Paul Lynch Pavilion Theatre
4.30pm Going Too Far? Panel on YA Books dlr LexIcon 324.30pm Lynn Barber Pavilion Theatre
5.00pm Menna Elfyn & Nessa O’Mahony County Hall
6.30pm Sinéad Morrissey Maritime Museum
6.30pm Kamila Shamsie & Xiaolu Guo Pavilion Theatre
7.00pm The Great Teddy Bear Library Sleepover dlr LexIcon
8.30pm Letters Live Pavilion Theatre

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 14th
10.00am Haiku-Writing Ginko Meet at East Pier
10.30am Writing Workshop with Mia Gallagher dlr LexIcon
11.00am Where’s Wally Library Hunt dlr LexIcon
11.00am Picture Book Picnic (session 1) dlr LexIcon
11.30am Sunday Miscellany Pavilion Theatre
12.00pm Picture Book Picnic (session 2) dlr LexIcon
12.30pm Shine/Strong Poetry Award Reading dlr LexIcon
12.30pm Eoin Colfer & Aneirin Karadog dlr LexIcon
1.00pm Poetry Take-Away dlr LexIcon (Twitter)
2.00pm Teen Creative Writing Workshop dlr LexIcon
2.30pm David Park & Sinéad Morrissey Pavilion Theatre
2.30pm Jane Casey & Liz Nugent dlr LexIcon
3.00pm Yasmeen Ismail Illustration Masterclass dlr LexIcon
3.45pm Pop-up Poetry Soapbox dlr LexIcon at Shed
4.45pm The Legacy of Dylan Thomas dlr LexIcon
4.30pm Lee Child Pavilion Theatre
6.30pm Karen Perry & Sinéad Crowley dlr LexIcon
6.30pm Making a Scene with Jed Mercurio & Michael Hirst Pavilion Theatre
8.30pm RMS Titanic – Anthony Cronin & Dónal Lunny Pavilion Theatre

Link and booking here

Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair

The Novel Fair is an initiative by the Irish Writers’ Centre that aims to introduce up-and-coming writers to top publishers and literary agents, giving novelists the opportunity to bypass the slush pile, pitch their ideas and place their synopsis and sample chapters directly into the hands of publishers and agents.

The 2014 Fair was attended by representatives from: Curtis Brown, Diane Banks Literary Agency, Hachette Ireland, Jonathan Williams Literary Agency, Liberties Press, Lilliput Press, Lisa Richards Agency, Marianne Gunne O’Connor Literary Agency, New Island, O’Brien Press, Penguin Ireland, Poolbeg Press, The Book Bureau and Transworld Ireland.

The Prizes
Twelve shortlisted entrants will be anonymously selected by a judging panel to take part in the Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair on 21 February, 2015. Each writer will have a stand at the Fair where they will present the synopsis of their novel, the finished novel itself and biographical material. Top Irish publishers and agents will be invited to the Irish Writers’ Centre to meet these writers in person. To fully prepare them for the day, the winners also receive a place on a seminar on ‘How to Pitch Your Novel’, two weeks in advance of the Fair (7 February, 2015).

This year they are extending the prize to those who make the longlist. Twenty-four applicants who are longlisted and who do not proceed to make the shortlist of twelve will have their work evaluated and critiqued by the judging panel.

Entry Details
The entry fee is €45 (€40 for members) and can be paid by PayPal, cheque, postal order, credit or debit card or cash (paid in person) at the Irish Writers’ Centre.

Deadline 24 October, 2014.

There is no limitation on style, genre, or target market, the only requirement being that the writer has not published a novel before.

To enter, you will need to send a synopsis and up to 10,000 words of a novel.

Before you submit your work, check the Terms and Conditions to see if you are eligible. See details and entry form on www.writerscentre.ie/novelfair.

Cape Open Submissions

From 1-30 June, 2014, Jonathan Cape will be open for fiction submissions from new writers of high calibre and imagination. 

Submissions should be an initial 50 pages of prose fiction. These can be part of a novel or novella, or short stories. The pages can be finished work or a work in progress. 

For graphic-novel submissions, please contact the editors through www.capegraphicnovels.co.uk

Submissions should be emailed as attachments to capesubmissions@randomhouse.co.uk. 

For more details go to http://www.vintage-books.co.uk/capesubmissions/

The Today Show RTE's "Publish your Novel" competition in conjunction with New Island

We are looking for works of fiction, any genre including Literary Fiction, Crime Fiction, Short Stories, children’s and YA. Please do NOT submit non-fiction, Drama or Poetry.

We ONLY accept submissions if they adhere to the following guidelines:

1) Submissions are sent by email to: editor[AT]newisland.ie with “competition submission” in the subject line

2) Attach the first 50 pages of your novel, PLUS a synopsis of the novel (no longer than 500 words) as two separate Word documents (.doc or .docx)

3) Printed manuscripts will not be accepted, nor will manuscripts contained on CDs or other storage devices sent by post

4) Entries will only be accepted between 16:00hrs on Friday 10th January and Midnight Sunday 25th January 2014

5) Shortlisted authors will be contacted before Friday 21st February 2014.

Dublin Book Festival

Dublin Book Festival has been running since 2005. This year it is in the lovely Smock Alley Theatre from Thursday 14th to 17th November.

Here are some events that appeal but full details here

Friday 15th November at 6pm in The Black Box.

PRESENTED BY IRISH PEN AND FRONT LINE DEFENDERS

Every year, around the world, the Day of the Imprisoned Writer celebrates and supports writers who resist repression of the basic human right to freedom of expression and who stand up to attacks made against their right to impart information and insight. On 15th November Theo Dorgan, poet and prose writer, and Shona Murray (Broadcaster) will read from the work of writers based around the world who have been targeted because they had the courage to speak their minds, challenging injustice and confronting governments and oppressive regimes far afield and closer to home.

Friday, 15th November at 6:45-8:00pm
RTÉ Arena @ DBF: Sarah Griffin, Shaun Dunne, Elizabeth Reapy and Lucy Montague-Moffatt, Colm Keegan  
Cost:  €7/€5 Concession
 

Saturday 16th November at 3pm in The Boys' School

In a special collaboration with the Dublin Writers Festival, we welcome three of the new generation of Irish poets. 

Sinéad Morrissey, Leanne O’Sullivan and Sarah Clancy

Tickets are free with a nominal booking charge.

Saturday, 16 November at 4:00pm-5:00pm  
Emerging Authors Making a Stir: Ciaran Carty, Niamh Boyce, Gavin Corbett, Janet Cameron  
Irish Writers’ Centre, Parnell Square
Free

Saturday,16 November at 4:30-5:30pm

The Anti Room @ DBF With Sinéad Gleeson, Anna Carey, Christine Dwyer Hickey, Jennifer Ridyard, Nuala Ní Chonchúir
Free

Sunday, 17 November at 12:00pm-1:30 pm
The Myth of the Perfect Woman: Róisín Ingle in conversation with Emily Hourican and Emma Hannigan
Cost:  €10

Sunday, 17 November at 2:00pm-3:00pm
Making Us Laugh: Damian Corless with Paul Howard and Pauline McLynn  
Free