Residency Program at The Franciscan Friary in Multyfarnham

The third Residency Program at The Franciscan Friary in Multyfarnham, Co. Westmeath, is set to begin on Monday 19 January 2009. It will last for two weeks. The Friars are offering free accommodation and studio space to artists, writers, performers, ecologists, etc., who are willing to engage with the Franciscan community and discuss ideas and plans for their development of a 'Caring For Creation Centre'. The Friary is set on over 60 acres of land with studio space and a small theatre set in what was once an agricultural college. The invitation to participate in the residency programme is not limited to individuals from any one or gender or belief system.

For more information on the application process contact Paul Timoney at: timoneyp@yahoo.com

The First Page

You have this read this post, at Author, Author, US-biased but relevant nonetheless.

A writers' festival in which brave souls submit (anonymously) the first page of their novels, which are read out loud by a reader. During the readings, as the uncredited writers quake in their chairs, the three agents on the panel shout out “STOP!” at the point where they would cease reading the submission.

It’s definitely not for the faint of heart. And this at a conference thrown by the legendarily courteous-to-strangers Canadians.

Read the long list of reasons to stop reading and then consider your own first page.

e.g.

21. The character spots him/herself in a mirror, in order to provide an excuse for a physical description.
26. When the first lines are dialogue, the speaker is not identified.
40. The character shown is too average.
41. The stakes are not high enough for the characters.
48. The narrator speaks directly to the reader (“I should warn you…”), making the story hyper-aware of itself qua story.
52. The tag lines are more revealing than the dialogue. (The example used: “She squawked.”)

Also this post on writing to a theme and how not to lose at the first hurdle.

Meme to review 2008

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? ..Electric Picnic!

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next
year? ..nothing spectacular. Write more. Did I write more? Yes

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No

4. Did anyone close to you die? Two suicides, though not close to me. One leaving cert student, the school is traumatised. Teachers were crying. Someone at work's sister. He found her. There's a lot of it around.

5. What countries did you visit? ...Germany, England, Northern Ireland (does that count?)

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? ...A holiday. A published novel.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? ..I'm not too good at remembering dates.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? ..Writing-wise, a bursary to go to Bavaria. Workwise, a pay increase.

9. What was your biggest failure? ..Didn't win ... (pick your own competition here)

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? ..twisted my ankle really badly in August and it still hurts now when I wear high heels for long.

11. What was the best thing you bought? ..my new camera/phone

14. Where did most of your money go? ..on the mortgage

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? ..Electric Picnic

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? ..Tough one this one. Mercy by Duffy, maybe, or I Kissed a Girl (and I liked it) No, Vampire Weekend/Boston. Great in concert.

18. Compared to this time last year, are you richer or poorer? ... Poorer much.

19. What do you wish you’d done more of? ..spending one-on-one time with himself.

20. What do you wish you’d done less of? ..playing solitaire

21. How did you spend Christmas? ..with family at home, cooking, eating, clearing up, digesting, repeat.

24. What was your favourite TV program? ..Desparate Housewives/Greys Anatomy/Top Gear no Doctor Who

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? ..Life's too short.

26. What was the best book you read? ..Then We Came to the End, probably.

28. What did you want and get? ..a pay rise

29. What did you want and not get? ..a published novel

30. What was your favourite film of this year? ..In Bruges

31. What did you do on your birthday? ..Went to work, came home, ate Pizza

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? ..publication, duh!

34. What kept you sane? ..my kids

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? ..David Tennant

36. What political issue stirred you the most? ..Has to be Obama, not much competition

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008..Let it go. Don't sweat the stuff you can't change.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year..um, climb every mountain, um, don't stop til you get enough, when the going gets tough, singing in the rain, what a wonderful world.

Words of wisdom from Willesden Herald

Click here for them all but read 'em and learn. You've probably read most before but they can do with reiteration. The less standard winges below:

Thou shalt not put "The End" at the end.
Thou shalt not put pictures in the manuscript for a writing competition.
Thou shalt not include extracts of text from other sources which perplexeth the copyright lawyers mightily.
Thou shalt beware of registered trademarks which likewise troubleth the abovementioned.
Thou shalt not try to portray thine narrator as a great writer reflecting on troubles with latest world publication deal, because forsooth few readers wilt fall for that old trick.
Thou shalt not submit multiple entries under false identities, which cometh sequentially all with typography of the tribe of Myopia and transparent airs about each, which giveth unwitting mirth to the reader.
Thou shalt try to go easy on foreign language words or obscure terms which the reader hath to seek out verily in the temples of Merriam-Webster and Wikipedia, lest they be garbage of the devil.
Accursed be they who include sentences and phrases in foreign languages that the reader hath no competence in, even if thou attemptest to reassure with translations in which said poor reader can have but little faith.

Arts Council Bursary Decisions

The last round of arts council bursary decisions are announced. Here are the literary ones:

Begley, Barty Limerick City Council €14,000 (Postgraduate translation studies Leeds) He won the Aidan Higgins Competition, otherwise little information to be found.

Dorcey, Mary Wicklow County Council €14,000 Here's a poem by her.

Firetog, Emily Dublin City Council €14,000 MA in Creative Writing TCD. Short Stories.

Granier, Mark Poet Multi Annual Bursary. €45,000 awarded over 3 years:€15,000 in 2008, €15,000 in 2009 and €15,000 in 2010 South Dublin County Council. Mark's blog is here.

Groarke, Vona Multi Annual Bursary. €29,000 awarded over 2 years: €14,650 in 2008 and €14,650 in 2009 United Kingdom Poet

Harpur, James Cork County Council €9,984 Poet

Malone, Martin Kildare County Council €14,000 Novelist.

McManus, Manus Dublin City Council €5,000 poet won the Patrick Kavanagh in 1985.

Ni Bhroin, Ainin Dublin City Council €14,000 MA in creative Writing TCD. I think she's a poet.

Wyley, Enda Multi Annual Bursary. €20,000 awarded over 2 years: €10,000 in 2008 and €10,000 in 2009 Dublin City Council poet

There's quite a lot of poets here and it's a bit Dublin centric. Quite a few emerging writers too.

The Wigtown Poetry Competition

Deadline: 30th January 2009

The Wigtown Poetry Competition is the largest poetry competition in Scotland, with over 2000 entries in its first year. It is open to anyone in the UK or outside. Poems must not exceed 40 lines (not including title).

Fees: The first poem submitted costs £6.00 and three poems costs £15.00. Subsequent entries cost £6.00 each or an additional £10.00 for every additional 3.

Judge: internationally acclaimed poet, critic and playwright Douglas Dunn.
Gaelic Judge: Kevin MacNeil, winner of the prestigious Tivoli Europa Giovani International Poetry Prize.

1st Prize £2500
2nd Prize £1000
3rd Prize £500
Gaelic Prize £1000
Ten supplementary prizes of £50 each
Winning poem and runner up will be published in the Scotsman.
Winners notified by Monday 6th April 2009

Review of the Year

This is the time of year I suppose to look back on the last year and then look ahead to the new year. I'm never very good at making plans and sticking to them.

- Reading in Belfast for the Windows Publications Introductions February
- Shortlisted for the Hennessey New Irish Writing for Short Story April
- Attended a poetry workshop at the Poetry Now Festival with Jamie McKendrick
- Printed, publicised and distributed the Poetry in The Waiting Room leaflets Summer
- Performed at Electric Picnic Music and Arts Festival August
- Received the Tyrone Guthrie Exchange Bursary with Overpfälzer Kűnstlerhaus August
- Received an Arts Council Travel Grant
- Attended Poetry Workshop with Gerald Dawe September
- Led a Writing Workshop at the National Gallery September
- Poem published in Food and Wine Magazine October
- Organised a National Poetry Day Reading October
- Readings at Farmleigh and South Dublin Libraries' Readers Day
- Haiku sequence in the anthology 'Night and Day'/New Island December 2008
- Included in blog anthology Homespages
- Poem accepted with The SHOp magazine for 2009

The list of rejections is much longer (which is par for the course and no one should be focusing on the negative.)

What did I not do that I meant to?

- Finish my novel
- Get my poetry collection finished/published
- Finish my novel
- Earns lots of money so I can concentrate on finishing my novel
- Get a bursary so I can concentrate on finishing my novel
- Finish my novel