Launch: Spanish Affair: A CD of Poetry & Music by Shirley McClure

I hope some of you can support this cause and have an enjoyable evening too. 

Tuesday 16 June 6.30–8.30pm - Irish Writers Centre, Dublin 

Please join us to celebrate the launch of Shirley McClure's new CD of poetry and music, Spanish Affair. It features Shirley's sparkling, funny & moving poems, music from gifted guitarist, Eamon Sweeney, and poems from two brilliant Bloodaxe poets, Katie Donovan and Jane Clarke.

Refreshments served. Admission is free. 

All proceeds from the sale of CDs go to Arklow Cancer Support Group. 

Bard of Armagh - Competition for humourous verse

Over £3000 in prizes

Visit www.bardofarmagh.com

The poem should be no more than 650 words and should not exceed 9 minutes performance time.
It should be humorous verse, suitable for family audiences and radio broadcast.
Entry fee of £2.00 for each poem.

Entries should be sent to: Mr John Makem, 34 Fergort Rd, Derrynoose, Co Armagh, N. Ireland. BT60 3DN

Deadline: 1st October and competitors will be contacted by mid-October.

Finals will take place in the Armagh City Hotel on Friday 20 November 2015. Tickets for the event will go on sale early September.

More details here where you can also hear some of last year's winners.

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in partnership with us to support and encourage the work of struggling writers, and is the UK’s biggest prize for unpublished authors.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   

Emma Press Submissions

The South West England based small press, Emma Press have an innovative back catalogue. They have open submissions for anthologies but they made a policy decision to attempt to cut back on the number of shotgun-approach submissions. Everyone has to be a member of the Emma Press Club before they can submit. So you need to buy a book or set of postcards from them in the current calendar year. They have ebooks too. If you are published by Emma Press, you are a member for life. (I do wonder if that means their anthologies could get a bit same-y/clique-y)

The current open submission is on the theme of  The Sea.

Deadline: 21st June 2015

They eloquently describe what they are looking for here.

Poems can range from the zoological to the biblical, Arctic expeditions to beach encounters. ... Send us work that probes the sea’s affinity with grief, with danger, and with adventure. Sink to the ocean’s depths or hover at its surface; tell us about sea-changes and shoals, the nautical unknown and natural disaster – and all the other stories that wash up at the shore.

Up to 3 poems, up to 90 lines each. They may be previously published if you hold copyright.

Pacuare Poetry Competition 2015

Pacuare is a Nature Reserve in Costa Rica. It looks stunning and they are dedicated to protecting the wildlife around them, particularly the turtles.

They have a poetry competition this year to raise funds and awareness and to find a new poet laureate. The prize is a week stay in the reserve in the Casa Grande. (Travel not included)
They say:

This is an extremely exciting new initiative that aims to create a durable connection between ecology, conservation and the poetry world.

The competition is judged by Vahni Capildeo, a British Trinidadian writer who is currently the Judith E Wilson Poetry fellow at Cambridge University, and has previously judged the prestigious Forward poetry prize. With Joseph Minden and Kat Addis.

Poems on the subject of wildlife or the boundaries between the human and the natural. The theme will be interpreted broadly.

Submission fee: £10 for one poem. £5 for each additional poem.

Length: Up to 100 lines.

Number of poems: Up to 5 poems.

Runners up: 3 runners up will have their poems published on the website. They will also receive a picture postcard, certificate, and turtle-tag keyring with a handmade purse.

Deadline: June 15th

All proceeds go direct to the maintenance of the Reserve and the Environmental Education Program. 

Link for the reserve here and to enter here

Poets to Check Out - Timothy Leary

Actually I'm not sure Timothy Leary would class himself as a poet but check this out.
You Aren't Like Them.
The video I find a little creepy, like an ad for Scientology or fashion or coffee.

And then check out this cartoon version. Terrific.
http://zenpencils.com/comic/102-timothy-leary-you-arent-like-them/

Junefest Literary Miscellany competition

Here's the shortlist for this Kildare competition.

Aine Bourke, Scribblers: Death of a pullet.
Cathy Geagan, Cill Dara Writers: Mind The Gap
Dermot Mather, Rathangan: Pure Love
Emma Conway, Maynooth writers group: The Climax
Julie Mc Coy, Cill Dara Writers: Ballysmutton Bridge
Lilian Webb, Clane writers: A great start to 2015
Maria Emily Higgins, Naas: Achill
Pat Mullan, Naas: Home Early
Pauline Clooney, Liffey Writers: Train of Thought
Sheila O Kelly, Prosperous: Revelation.


Chosen by the judge, Mae Leonard.

 The three winners will be announced at the Literary Miscellany event on 3^rd June and will have an opportunity to read their winning entries. There will also be a number of other featured readers and music from Conor O Mahony and Paul Mc Cormac, so it should be a lovely evening.

Link for the Newbridge Festival here