Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award 2016

Deadline: 29 July 2016

Prize: €10,000


Details: The award is for an unpublished collection of poems in English and is open to poets, born in the island of Ireland, or of Irish nationality, or long term resident in Ireland. 

The collection of poems in English must be original and consist of 20 poems. Individual poems should not be more than 40 lines

The only works eligible are unpublished or magazine published work. Entrants should not list the magazines where poems have been published or the prizes they have won as this might allow an entrant to be identified.

(interesting! Hard to stay anonymous)

The adjudicator is Brian Lynch again. Time for fresh blood? 

The entry fee is €25/£25

Link here

Reading at O'Bheal, Cork

This Bank Holiday Monday evening, 6th June, you will find me reading some poems from my book, The Space Between from Doire Press, in Cork city at the long running, highly regarded O Bheal run by the poet Paul Casey.

The Long Valley, Winthrop St, Cork. [here’s a map]

Starts at 9:30pm

Please come along and spread the word, it would be great to see lots of friendly faces and to catch up with my Cork buddies. Entrance is free and there is a bar. What better way to round off a bank holiday weekend?

Link here

iYeats Poetry Competition 2016

The competition is an annual online international poetry competition which has won a prestigious reputation for the calibre of both entrants and judges. 

Open to all those 16 years of age and upwards. 

Files with entries must be in Word format and attached to the online entry form. Word Limit of 40 lines.

Prizes: 

• General category: First Prize €500
  Emerging category: €300 (aged 16 – 25 years)
  Deadline: Friday 1 July
  • Winners will be notified by Monday 18 July
  • Results Publicly Announced: Wednesday 27th July

Judges for 2016 are Colin Dardis and Moya Cannon.

Link here

The RTÉ Guide/Penguin Ireland Short Story Competition

Want to get published in Ireland’s biggest selling magazine?

Deadline: 6pm 10 June 2016

All entries for the RTÉ Guide/Penguin Ireland Short Story Competition 2016 should be original, unpublished and previously not broadcast short stories in English.

• 2,000 words or fewer 
• Entrant's name and contact details (address, phone and/or email) should be on a separate page. 
• No fee 
• One entry per person.

Paper manuscripts must be typed and cannot be returned. 
Send your entries to: RTÉ Guide/Penguin Ireland Short Story Competition 2016, PO Box 1480, RTÉ, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 

or 

email to: rtegpenguinss16@gmail.com, 

Subject: RTÉ Guide/Penguin Ireland Short Story Competition 2016

Wild Words Children's Literature Festival

There's a competition for young writers,   ages 14-18.

Wild Words Children's Literature Festival - Calling All Young Writershttp://wildwords.ie/

Deadline: 3 June 2016

Prizes: Publication and a free two-day writing master class at the festival in Carrick-on-Shannon, Leitrim on Sat 13 & Sun 14 August 2016.

Email your short story or poem to books@wildwords.ie. There is no entry fee or limit to the number of entries. 

Festival programme is still pending on the website here

Cill Rialaig residency

Cill Rialaig arts centre in Co Kerry is more aimed at visual artists but some writers do visit. There is a call currently from the Irish Writers Centre but I do believe you can apply separately, for instance if the dates don't suit. It's very beautiful, by all accounts, but pretty remote.

The Irish Writers residencies are now open for applications to seven writers for a ten-day period from 21–31 October. The seven residencies are offered all-inclusively free of charge (the IWC will cover the utility charge for each of the seven houses). Expenses incurred by the selected writers will be food and travel. In addition, the writers are requested to put aside approximately 2 hours at the start and the end of the residency to come together in the Seannachai's house to meet and discuss a programming or development idea that the IWC might undertake in the future. Details to be finalised in due course.

To see the beautiful and inspiring landscape of Cill Rialaig click here 

At present, this residency is open only to professional members of the Irish Writers Centre which costs €50.

Deadline Wednesday 1 June at 5pm.

Link here

Residency in Florence

The Irish Writers Centre is continuing to develop its links with Italy and are offering the chance for a one-week residency with St Mark's English Church in Florence this autumn from 1–8 October.

While the successful applicant must cover their own transport and living expenses, they will have the chance to reside in a beautiful apartment adjoining St Mark's English Church in the heart of Florence. During their stay they will be expected take part in a public reading, as well as meeting with the local writing community. 

At present, this residency is open only to professional members of the Irish Writers Centre which costs €50. 

Deadline Wednesday 1 June at 5pm. 

Link here

Note: You may be able to apply for a Arts Council travel grant to cover some of the costs.