Local Arts

If you write do you know your local council art office and arts officer? They vary considerably within Ireland and the UK but it's always worth making contact. Most councils have some kind of grants for artists on offer. Find out, call, checked their website. Remember it's your money they're spending. You as a tax and rate payer pay for county council money so why not ask for some of it back? They usually look for you to live, work or have roots or connection of some sort with the county. Get yourself out there.

Take this one from Wexford as an example.

The Arts Department of Wexford County Council is pleased to announce that applications are now being invited from individual artists, resident in or originally from County Wexford for the 2008 Artist Bursary Award Scheme.

Wexford County Council’s Artist Bursary Award Scheme is aimed at realising the Local Authority’s policy of supporting individual creative artists in society. The bursary awards are aimed at:
-Contributing to developing and sustaining an artist’s career
-Supporting and improving the quality of an individual artist’s existing practice
-Encouraging artists endeavouring to further develop their skills
-Assisting an artist’s development
-Acknowledging excellence in the arts
-Contributing to the growth of a cohort of skilled County Wexford artists

In addition, Wexford County Council is also offering: 2 Education / Training Awards valued at €5,000 each open to artists practicing in any artform or context

For further information and an application form, please contact: The Arts Department, Wexford County Council, County Hall, Wexford. T: 053 9176500 ext. 6441/6369 or email: arts@wexfordcoco.ie. The deadline for receipt of applications is 5pm, Thursday, 28th February, 2008

Reading in Belfast

Come and see me reading in Belfast this Friday 1st February. I've never been to the city so am very excited about visiting the city. Any tips on where to go, what to see, where to eat/drink/make merry, let me know.

Thanks

Windows Publications Invites you to the launch of Authors and Artists No 7
in the Culturlann Centre, 216 Falls Road, Belfast.

Friday 1st February at 7 pm

Readings in Irish and English, music and wine.

Aine Durkin
Kate Dempsey
Alan McGonagle
Michelle O'Sullivan
Wendy Mooney
James Lawless

Travelling

create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands
Only 14% that terrible. When I was a teenager, I vowed to travel the world.



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

31% of the US.

Heath Ledger in A Knights Tale

I am unaccountably sad about Heath Ledger's death. From Brokeback mountain, of course, from ten things I hate about you but particularly A Knight's Tale. What a loss. At 28 it's not that I grew up with him but still, he was so young and talented.

P.J. O'Connor Radio Play Competition

Have you ever considered writing for radio? There are many opportunities and a good way to break in is to try for the P.J. O'Connor competition. Here's the gen:

The RTÉ P.J. O'Connor Radio Drama Awards were established in 1983 to honour the late P. J. O'Connor, former Head of Drama in RTÉ Radio 1, who was noted for his encouragement of new talent. The aim of the competition is to encourage new writers to radio drama and to increase awareness of the possibilities and scope of radio as a medium in the field of drama.

Rules: 28 minute play (rule of thumb is one page per minute when properly formatted)
Prizes: €3,000 for first prize, €2,000 second, €3,000 third prize. All plays are planned to be recorded and broadcast. They shortlist between 12 and 20.

If you are a new writer in this medium, there is a great weekend course they offer shortlisted writers in writing for radio. And you may get lucky too. Sometimes they record and broadcast shortlisted plays and you are paid the standard RTE rates.
Deadline: March 18th 2008 - note the day after Paddy's Day. So you need to post on Friday 14th March (though I believe they are flexible about postmarked dates)

Tips: Listen to lots of radio drama. You can get the BBC afternoon play online. Remember:

• Don't use too many characters in one scene. Confusing.
  
• Use people's names for the first while so listeners know who the characters are.
  
• Don't use too many characters in the whole thing as there is a limit to the cast numbers.
  
• Start a new scene with a new voice.
  
• Remember the listener can't turn back the page to check what's going on so be clear.
  
• You can go anywhere - Bogner beach, a Bali nightclub, Outer Mongolia, outer space, underwater, Victorian Dublin, Roman Alexandria, Stone Age Kenya.
  
• Use sound effects to allow the listener to picture (if that's the right word) the setting. But don't go over board.
  
• Music is always good for mood.
  

Other guidelines are similar to short stories. Start in the action so the listener doesn't turn off. Don't use similar sounding names for multiple characters.

Dates for your diary

Anne Enright, the Booker prize winner is reading from her book The Gathering next Tuesday 29 January at 8.00pm in Pavillion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin. She will also read from her forthcoming collection of short stories Taking Pictures, to be published in March. Let's hope the BOoker win will promote sales of this as short stories are often badly promoted, displayed and, funnily enough, this is reflected in the sales. Last time I looked, there wasn't a section in Waterstones for short stories.

Admission €12

Tel: 01 2312929

Deadline for Strokestown Poetry Competition is 31st January. See previous post.

Edgeworthstown Literary festival as a poetry competition, deadline als 31st January.
Fee: €5 for 1 poem, 3 for €10. Prizes are small at €200 for first prize, €100 for 2nd €50 for 3rd. But maybe that means the competition will be smaller. They also have a short story competition at €10 for 3 stories. First Prize is no money but the Deirdre Purcell Perpetual Cup, 2nd prize is €100 for 2nd €50 for 3rd.

This sounds really good in Strangford, Co Down: Wild Geese Festival 2008

The second Write! Down Wild Geese Festival will take place in Strangford, Co Down on Saturday, 9 February. This includes free writing workshops with Ted Deppe, Kate Newmann and Damian Smyth.

The Stinging Fly is open for submissions, poetry and short stories until March 14th.

The Quiet Quarter on Lyric FM

The Quiet Quarter, a daily 5 minute thoughtful and sometimes though-provoking piece, has changed time again. I turned on the radio a couple of weeks ago to listen and there it wasn't!

Now it's on Monday to Friday at 11:45 am on Lyric Notes with Máire Nic Gearailt.
You can listen online - recommended and useful if you want to know the type of piece that works well. You can also subscribe the the podcast. It pays too.