Sand Submissions

SAND is an English-language literary journal published twice annually in Berlin. It features prose and poetry, translations, art and photography. Our contributors come from all over the world and include established and emerging writers, poets, artists, and translators.

We look for work that is fresh, well-written, accessible, and diverse, as we take pride in producing a beautiful journal that can be enjoyed by a wide audience.  We’re particularly interested in writing from perspectives that are generally underserved in literature, including work by women, people of color, people from the LGBTQ+ community, and people from the wider international writing community.

There is a good Q&A on Six Questions - a great idea for a blog!

Deadline: 6th July 2018

Link http://sandjournal.com/submit-your-work/

Mslexia submissions on the theme of cooking

Note: Open to women writers only.

Themed Writing
Twice annually we ask for themed poetry and prose submissions for the Showcase (previously New Writing) section of the magazine. Winners are selected by our Guest Editors (in the past they have included Julia Blackburn, Nicci Gerrard, Pascale Petit, Rachel Cusk and Sarah Dunant) and are published in the magazine. We also make a small payment for most submissions we publish.

We look for stories of up to 2,200 words, poems of up to 40 lines, and short scripts of up to 1,000 words (including character names and stage instructions).

Please note: we only accept up to four poems, two short stories and two short scripts per entrant.

 Issue 79: COOKING
Making a meal can be an act of love and sensual pleasure – or an act of hatred and grudging resentment. It can also be source of intense anxiety. Can I afford it? Will there be enough? Will they like it? Will it be on time? CLOSING DATE: 4 June 2018

Submitting your work
Entries are judged anonymously, so please put your name on a separate cover sheet and omit your name from your poem or story.

Or online here

Cuirt New Writing

The Cúirt New Writing Prize, in memory of Lena McGuire, is now open for submissions. The categories are poetry and short stories.

There is a €500 cash prize for the winner of each category and the opportunity to read at the Cúirt/Over the Edge Showcase event next April at Cúirt 2018.

This year, poet Jane Clarke will judge poetry and one of the founders of Tramp Press, Lisa Coen will judge short stories.

The youth strand of the prize ‘Young Cúirt’ is for ages 12‐17. The winner will receive €100 cash prize and will read at the Cúirt Labs next April.

Submission Guidelines (all categories)

• Poetry entries must consist of 3 poems under 50 lines each
• short stories may be up to 2000 words. 
• Entries in both English and Irish are welcome. 
•  Writers submitting work should not have had a collection published in the category in which they enter. This does not include the publication of single poems, stories or chapbooks.
• Submissions should be sent via email to info@cuirt.ie 
• An entry fee of €10 is applicable for each separate entry. Payment can be made via the Paypal button. 
• In addition to your work we ask that you include the following contact details: Name, email address, phone number, and the name of the Paypal account holder.

Deadline: for submissions is Thursday 25 January 2018 at 5pm.

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, 2017.

The recipient of the award will be publicly announced on Saturday 7th October 2017 during the Iron Mountain Literature Festival at The Dock, Carrick on Shannon.

Link here

The Ogham Stone 2018

The Ogham Stone is a Journal of Literature and Arts produced by the MA Students of English & Creative Writing at University of Limerick.
The 2018 issue is now accepting submissions of unpublished work from both Irish and international writers and artists. They consider fiction, poetry,  creative non-fiction, and memoir, as well as visual arts/photography.

Deadline: 5pm on Thursday 31st August 2017.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• All submissions must be emailed to oghamstoneul@gmail.com. Submissions should be attached to your email.
• All written work should be submitted as a Microsoft Word document (set in Times New Roman, 12 point). The file name should be your surname and initial(s) (e.g.  Smith J).
• Please indicate in the subject line of the email what category your submission falls into (poetry, fiction, CNF etc).
• Include a 150-word biography in the body of the email, along with a contact email address. 
• Authors and artists are asked to submit pieces of work separately for each category (i.e. one email containing a poem, another for prose).
• Individuals may submit up to 4 pieces in total but may submit across all categories.
• Prose must not exceed 2,000 words in length.
• Poetry should be submitted in the format in which you wish it to appear on the page; individual poems should not exceed 50 lines.
• We cannot accept work that has been previously published (including on personal blogs) and prefer not to receive work currently being reviewed elsewhere

Link here

Stinging Fly Submissions

The Stinging Fly is a Dublin-based print magazine and small press. 

They are now publishing two issues each year instead of three. Each of our issues contains a mix of short fiction, poetry, essays and author interviews. We have a particular interest in publishing new writers and in promoting the short story. 

We accept submissions of short stories and poetry on an issue-by-issue basis. Unless otherwise clearly stated, there is no preferred theme – we're just looking for a lively mix of fresh and original new writing to share with our readers. Essays and interviews are commissioned. We pay a small fee for stories, poems and other work. Contributors also receive a free copy. 

We are now accepting fiction and poetry submissions (including work in translation) for Issue 37 of the magazine. 

Link to Submissions Guidelines and Submittable. 

Deadline: Friday 19th May 2017.

They have an extensive archive which includes a poem from me!

They are also accepting applications for our Summer Fiction workshops. Workshop applications will not be considered for publication. 

Reading At The Edge

I'm delighted to return to Cavan on Tuesday, next week for At The Edge, run by Kate Ennals. Do come and join it, it's a terrific line up and there's an open mic after too.

AT The Edge, Cavan

Cavan Literary Night

Tuesday 2 May 6.30pm Johnston Library

AT The Edge, Cavan returns to the Johnston Library on Tuesday 2 May with a reading from a poet and two fab writers.

Kate Dempsey

Colm Keegan

Helena Mulkerns

Helena Mulkerns writes short stories and her latest collection is Ferenji and Other Stories. She received a bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland to complete her fiction debut, A Child Called Peace, a themed collection of short fiction.

Colm Keegan was shortlisted four times for the Hennessy XO New Irish Writing Award and was all Ireland Poetry Slam Champion 2010. His poetry collection, Don’t Go There, was released in 2012 to critical acclaim.

Kate Dempsey’s poetry is published in many journals in Ireland and the UK. Prizes include The Plough Prize, Hennessy New Irish Writing Award shortlisting. Her debut collection, The Space Between, was published by Doire Press in 2016.

Following the Readings, will be an ‘Open Mic’ session at which everybody is welcome. Please register with Kate on the night.

AT the Edge Cavan is supported by the Cavan County Council Arts Office.

Creative Ardagh - the King at the Back of the Hill

Following on from the success of the Midir and Etain anthology two years ago, Creative Ardagh are delighted to be able to put a call out again for submissions. This year in association with Longford Arts Office and Cruthú Arts Festival they are turning our attention to the King at the Back of the Hill:

‘We hope that we will once again receive art, writing (creative or factual, poetry or prose), photography and creative responses of all kinds to the story of King Maine. Submissions last time came from all over the world and from people aged 3 to 100 year old. We would love to have that diversity again.  We will also be announcing details of our new programme for schools based on the archaeology of the site in the next few weeks.The anthology will be launched on Bilberry Sunday 30th July in Ardagh Heritage and Creativity Centre. Submissions should reach us by 5th May.

Terms and Conditions:

We are accepting poetry and writing (fact or fiction) up to a maximum of 1500 words and artworks of any media. The only restriction is that it is your own original work.

You can enter from wherever you are in the world, by post or by email.

Artworks sent by post should not exceed A4 in size.

Please send all submissions to:

Creative Ardagh,
Ardagh Heritage and Creativity Centre,
Ardagh,
Co. Longford.

Email applications to: creativeardagh@gmail.com

Closing Date for applications: 5th May 2017

Call for Submissions for Issue #5 of Banshee

I'm happy to have a poem in issue #4 of Banshee magazine, a rather .creepy poem I think. They are looking for submissions for issue #5


Closing date for submissions: 31st March 2017




Submissions for issue #5 of Banshee (autumn/winter 2017) are open.


All submissions should be previously unpublished.




Stories and essays should be 1500-5000 words. Flash fiction should be less than 1000 words, poems no more than 40 lines.


We are happy to read up to two stories, up to two essays, up to four flashes and up to six poems. However, we ask that each writer submit in only one of the above categories.


Submissions should be in one .doc or .docx format attachment, double spaced, and in a non-quirky font.




Please include a short bio (max 50 words) in the body of your email.




Email to bansheelit at gmail dot com, with the category of the work (flash/story/essay/poetry) in the subject line.




We believe in paying writers. We can offer contributors a small fee as well as two copies of the journal.




Past issues, including extracts, can be found at: http://bansheelit.tumblr.com/issues

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

Iowa Review Awards

The Iowa Review Awards accepts submissions during the month of January. Judges for the 2017 Awards are Joyelle McSweeney (poetry), Amelia Gray (fiction), and Charles D’Ambrosio (nonfiction).

Founded in 1970 and edited by faculty, students, and staff from the renowned writing and literature programs at the University of Iowa, The Iowa Review takes advantage of this rich environment for literary collaboration to create a worldwide conversation among those who read and write contemporary literature.

They publish a wide range of fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, translations, photography, and work in emerging forms by both established and emerging writers. Work from their pages has been consistently selected to appear in the anthologies Best American Essays, Best American Short Stories, Best American Poetry, The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, and The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories.

The Iowa Review publishes three issues per year (in April, August, and December) in both print and digital formats. (Subscribe here!)

About the Contest

Each January since 2003, The Iowa Review has invited submissions to The Iowa Review Awards, a writing contest in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Winners receive $1,500; first runners-up receive $750. Winners and runners-up are published in each December issue.

Contest Rules

Submit up to 25 pages of prose (double-spaced) or 10 pages of poetry (one poem or several, but no more than one poem per page). Work must be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are fine assuming you inform us of acceptance elsewhere.

To submit, visit iowareview.submittable.com during the month of January and follow these instructions:

• Select the appropriate genre category. If you’d like to purchase a discounted yearlong subscription to The Iowa Review for $10, please choose a genre marked “(subscription).” Otherwise, choose “(no subscription).”
• Include a cover letter listing your name, address, e-mail address and/or telephone number, and the title of each submitted work. (Please use the “Cover Letter” form field in Submittable; do not include the cover letter as part of your uploaded document.)
• Do not include your name on the manuscript itself.
• Upload your entry. Multiple poems or prose pieces can comprise a single entry if the total number of pages does not exceed 25 for prose or 10 for poetry. For instance, you may submit two short stories of ten pages each as a single entry; the stories would be read and judged separately. But please do not mix genres: a ten-page story and a two-page poem constitute separate entries.
• Pay the $20 entry fee using Paypal, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover.
• If you submit more than one entry, even within the same genre, you must submit the $20 entry fee with each entry.
• Submit between January 1 and January 31.

Judges will select winners from a group of finalists chosen by Iowa Review editors. All manuscripts, whether selected as finalists or not, are considered for publication.

Dublin Book Festival

Dublin Book Festival is one of Ireland’s most successful and vibrant book festivals.  This annual public Festival showcases, supports and develops Irish Publishing by programming, publicising and selling Irish published books, their authors, editors and contributors all in an entertaining, festive, friendly and accessible environment that reflect the creativity and personality of the Irish Publishing sector and its authors.

What's on link here

A delicious menu includes:
Friday, 11 November 1:10 pm - 2:00 pm
Boys' School, Smock Alley Theatre
Slake Your Thirst – The Future Always Makes Me So Thirsty: New Poets from the North of Ireland

Saturday, 12 November 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Main Theatre, Smock Alley Theatre
Dublin City Public Libraries Reader’s Day
With Mia Gallagher, Diarmuid Gavin, Mike McCormack, Deirdre Purcell and Donal Ryan in conversation with Dave Kenny

Saturday, 12 November 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Boys' School, Smock Alley Theatre
Poetry Ireland: The Rising Generation
With Jane Clarke, Christodoulos Makris, Julie Morrissy and Ciaran O’Rourke with music from Sive

Date/Time
Date(s) - Saturday, 12 November 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Boys' School, Smock Alley Theatre
Salmon Poetry Anniversary Event. Even The Daybreak: 35 Years of Salmon Poetry
With many of Salmon’s outstanding poets taking part, including Seamus Cashman, Mary Dorcey, Jean O’Brien, Mark Granier, Colm Keegan, Mary O’Donnell, Maurice Harmon, Alvy Carragher, Anne Hartigan, Phil Lynch, Alan Jude Moore, Patrick Chapman and more!

Saturday, 12 November 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Main Theatre, Smock Alley Theatre
Looking at the Stars
With Colin Barrett, Tara Flynn, Joseph O’Connor and Mary O’Donnell in conversation with Rick O’Shea

Sunday, 13 November 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Main Theatre, Smock Alley Theatre
Magazines and their Makers with Brendan Barrington, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Tony O’Dwyer, Olivia Smith and Susan Tomaselli in conversation with Paula Shields

Sunday, 13 November 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
The Workmans Club
The Magazine Social with Angela Carr, Oisín Fagan, Caelainn Hogan, Pat O’Connor, Deirdre Sullivan and Dimitra Xidous

I could go on.

The Blue Nib

www.thebluenib.com is accepting submissions of poetry, fiction, essays & short stories.

Submission URL thebluenib.com/submissions/

Poems: Please submit a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 10 pieces of work, ensure that you have
edited and formatted as you wish to see your work published

Fiction: The Blue Nib will publish new fiction of up to 10,000 words, please submit no more than one piece at a time.

Short Stories: Please submit a minimum of three and a maximum of 5 pieces of work, please ensure
the work has been edited and that spelling and grammar have been checked.

Essays: original essays of no more than 5000 words.

The following contests are also open and finalists in each category will be included in the Winter Anthology which will be published on-line and as a download in December 2016

International Original Fiction Contest. €250.00 Prize Fund
The contest is open to original fiction of no more than 12,000 words

International Essay Contest. €150.00 Prize Fund
The contest is open to original essays of no more than 2000 words

International Short Story Contest. €150.00 Prize Fund
The contest is open to original short stories of no more than 3500 words

International Poetry Contest. €150.00 Prize Fund
The contest is open to poetry in all forms other than extreme brevity

All Open to all writers over the age of 18 years as at 1st November 2016

Deadline: 31st October 2016

Entry fee for each is €5.00

The Caterpillar Story for Children Prize

Prizes: 1st prize €500 plus a 2-week stay at The Moth’s Artists’ Residence; 2nd prize €300;

3rd prize €200

For an unpublished story (of no more than 1,500 words) by an adult for children aged 7–11. The three winning stories will appear in the winter issue of The Caterpillar.

Judged by Mark Lowery, award-winning author of The Jam Doughnut that Ruined My Life, Pants are Everything and Socks are Not Enough
Entry fee €12

Deadline: 30 SEPTEMBER 2016
See: www.thecaterpillarmagazine.com/a1-page.asp?ID=7644&page=17

Boyne Berries Call for Submissions

Deadline: Sunday July 24th 2016 midnight

The submission period for Boyne Berries 20 is now open. Boyne Berries 20 will feature poetry and fiction or prose on an open theme.

Send up to 3 poems per poetry submission. Poems should be no more than 40 lines long.

Fiction and prose submissions should be no more than 1500 words.

Please use Times New Roman 12 and single spacing.
Please include a short biographical note.
Submissions should be placed in the body of the email and attached as a word document attachment. Submit to orla.a.fay@gmail.com only.

Submissions which fail to adhere to the above criteria will be ignored.

The magazine will be published in late September 2016.

Boyne Berries magazine was established by the Boyne Writers Group and is published twice a year accepting submissions of prose and poetry from all over the world.

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

West Cork Literary Festival

Have you planned any festival for the summer? I will be reading at a couple, more details later, watch this space. West Cork Literary festival didn't invite me yet (next year guys?) even with all my West Cork roots and in-laws but I'm not bitter, no. I am magnanimous.

From Sunday 17th to Saturday 23rd July, Bantry will welcome a wonderful line-up of international and Irish writers. 

Zadie Smith, John Banville, Dame Marina Warner, Michael Harding, Nick Laird, Carol Drinkwater and Louis de Bernières are just some of the high profile writers. 

This year there are readings by Caitriona Lally, Gavin McCrea, Louis de Berniéres, Theo Dorgan, Sarah Howe, Jo Shapcott, Carol Drinkwater, Aiden O'Reilly, Andrew Michael Hurley, Cónal Creedon, Afric McGlinchey, William Wall, Thomas Morris, Max Porter, Carys Davies, Paddy Bushe, Matthew Sweeney, Lia Mills, Alice Carey, Marion Coutts, Lisa McInerney, Danielle McLaughlin, Eoin McNamee, Glenn Patterson, Joanna Walsh, Mary Morrissy and many more. 

There are still some places on their workshops if you have a week.

More information can be found on their website www.westcorkliteraryfestival.ie  and booking on the website is now open. 

The Bristol Short Story Prize

The Bristol Short Story Prize

Deadline: 30th of April 2016.

Prizes: £1,000, £700, £400. There will also be 17 runner-up prizes of £100 each. 
Twenty stories will be published in the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Volume 9.

Submit stories of up to 4,000 words. Any theme, 
Entry fee is £8

Judging panel for this year’s competition, chaired by celebrated writer and short story champion, Tania Hershman. Tania is joined on the panel by acclaimed writer Niven Govinden, Simon Key, owner of the award-winning Big Green Bookshop in London, and Juliet Pickering,literary agent at Blake Friedmann. Suffice it to say, these judges know their stories.

Link here

Banshee Submissions

Banshee is a new magazine of contemporary writing which publishes twice a year. They are looking for submissions of fiction, short story length or flash or articles to their 3rd issue.

Deadline: 30th April 2016

• All submissions should be previously unpublished.
• Stories and essays should be 1500-5000 words. Flash fiction should be less than 1000 words, poems no more than 40 lines.
• We are happy to read up to two stories, up to two essays, up to four flashes and up to six poems. However, we ask that each writer submit in only one of the above categories.
• Submissions should be in one .doc or .docx format attachment, double spaced, and in a non-quirky font.
• Please include a short bio (max 50 words) in the body of your email.
• Email to bansheelit at gmail dot com, with the category of the work (flash/story/essay/poetry) in the subject line.
• We believe in paying writers. We can offer contributors a small fee as well as a copy of the journal.

Link here

Editors are Laura Jane Cassidy, Claire Hennessy and Eimear Ryan (none poets as far as I know. Ladies if you want some poetic editorial input, let me know. I have form...)

They say:

Some of our favourite themes include coming of age, sexuality, gender, mortality, complicated relationships of all shapes, the joys and frustrations of the creative life, our relationship with technology, and the extended adolescence of young adults in the 21st century. While our outlook is literary, we’re open to genre elements. 

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