Connie Roberts Collection Published.

Arlen House, Dublin are proud to announce the publication of Connie Roberts's debut volume Little Witness. 

Connie Roberts, an Offaly native, emigrated to the United States in 1983. She has won both the Patrick Kavanagh Award and the Listowel Writers’ Week Poetry Collection Award. She teaches creative writing at Hofstra University, New York.

In Little Witness, Connie Roberts interrogates memory and history. From her early-childhood with her parents to her years in an industrial school in the Irish Midlands, the 1943 Cavan orphanage fire where 35 children perished and the self-immolation of a former inmate of Letterfrack Industrial School, Roberts spins the coarse flax of poverty and abuse into the golden rope of poetry.

This is the poetry of rock-hard experience. It will skin your soul. – New York Times journalist Dan Barry.

The collection will be launched at the Listowel Writers Week on Friday 29th May 2015 at 12.30 pm in the Boys' National School Hall.

Purchase a copy here.

Moth and Caterpillar Competitions

Entries for the Moth Short Story Prize, judged by Donal Ryan, close on 30 June.

The word limit is 6,000 (no minimum length) and the story can on any subject.

The prizes: 1st €3,000; 2nd a week-long writing retreat at Circle of Misse in France (including a €250 stipend); 3rd €1,000.

The winning stories will be published in the autumn 2015 issue of The Moth.

You can enter The Moth Short Story Prize here.

There's also the new Caterpillar Short Story Prize – with a single prize of €1,000 (and publication in The Caterpillar) for the best story written by an adult for children (aged 7-11). Closing date is 30 September.

You can enter The Caterpillar Short Story Prize here.

2015 iYeats Poetry Competition

The iYeats Poetry Competition is an annual, online, international poetry competition which has won a prestigious reputation for the calibre of both entrants and judges. The competition is open to all those 16 years of age and upwards.

Prizes: General category: First Prize €500. Emerging category: €300 (aged 16 – 25 years)

The iYeats Poetry competition was launched by the Hawk's Well Theatre in 2009 to mark the 50th Yeats International Summer School and the 70th anniversary of the death of W. B Yeats. This year it joins in the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Yeats’ birth.

Closing date for entries: Wed 1 July, 2015 at 5pm. Winners will be notified by: Monday 20 July, 2015
Results publicly announced: Late July, during the Yeats International Summer School.

Judges for 2015 are Jane Clarke and Dave Lordan. Now there's a great choice of poets to put together as judges. I'd love to be a fly on the wall at their deliberations!

Jane's collection The River has been published by Bloodaxe this year and Dave's most recent published work is Lost Tribe of the Wicklow Mountains published by Salmon.

Find out more about entering here. Competition terms and conditions here. Another 40 line limit competition. Ah well, just amalgamate lines.

Wild Atlantic Words open poetry competition 2015

Entries are invited for the Wild Atlantic Words open poetry competition 2015, for poems on any theme related to coastal landscape or maritime life and heritage, broadly interpreted.. The competition will be judged by Breda Wall Ryan.

Closing date for entry is 19 July 2015. There will be a first prize of €500, a second prize of one week’s retreat accommodation at The Creativity Cabin on the Beara peninsula, and a third prize of €100.

Winning and shortlisted poems will be featured at the Wild Atlantic Words Poetry Festival in in Castletownbere, County Cork, on 5-6 September 2015, and published in a printed anthology and/or on the Hungry Hill Writing website.

Each poem must not exceed 40 lines, and should be typed single-spaced. Up to three poems may be submitted per entry. You may submit as many entries as you wish. A fee of €10 is payable per entry of up to three poems.

You can enter online or by post. Full details on the website.

Poetry Day Reading, Maguire's Tara

A very successful Boyne Writers Group Poetry Day reading at Maguire's, Hill of Tara on 7 May. A great turn out, great readers, young and old. Some favourite poems by Eliot, Belloc, Yeats, Heaney, Kavanagh and some wonderful new poems by great readers and writers.

Well done to all involved! Thanks to all the readers, members of Boyne Writers and Meath Writers Circle and other groups and to those who travelled a distance to be there.

Poetry On Tara

Poetry Day Ireland takes place on 7 May 2015 and will celebrate poetry’s vital place in our culture by making poetry both inescapable and irresistible for a day. Groups, organisations, libraries, schools, bookshops, poets and all poetry lovers are invited to get involved.

Poetry Ireland encourages everyone to become involved and has plenty of ideas on its website. There are loads of free materials available also to help celebrate the day.

The website is also adding events as they are being organized.

Boyne Writers Group has organised Poetry On Tara, a poetry reading and open mic in Maguire's Cafe on the Hill of Tara. It takes place at 7.30pm on Thursday 7 May and all are welcome. People are invited to read favourite poems and/or their own poetry and there is no admittance charge.

Prole Journal - Latest Issue and Submissions

Some news from Prole Books who publish the always interesting prose and poetry journal, Prole. The latest issue Prole 16 is now available to purchase from the website.


They are open to submissions of prose or poetry all year round. They aim for a four week turnaround – though if a piece of writing is shortlisted, a final decision can take a little longer.

They have just opened for entries for their annual prose writing competition, the Prolitzer Prize. Full details on the website. Prizes: Winner: £200, publication in Prole; two runners up: £50, possible publication in Prole 18; publication on the Prole website.

Judge: Jaki McCarrick. Entries are anonymised prior to judging. Open: April 1st 2015 and closes: October 1st 2015. Unpublished prose only. Word limit 2500. Fees: £4.00 for one entry, £3.00 each for further entries. Enter via the website.  Payment can be made by PayPal.

In Caboodle, they've put together six short poetry collections into one publication. Karina Vidler, Gill McEvoy, Russell Jones, Kate Garrett, Angela Croft and Rafael Miguel Montes have created a powerful body of work for both avid and occasional readers of great poetry.

Wendy Pratt’s Museum Pieces is also making waves and bringing a very talented writer to a wider audience. Wendy is certainly a writer to look out for.

Both Caboodle and Museum Pieces are available from the website.

Brett Evans is one of Prole's editors and his first pamphlet, The Devil’s Tattoo, has just been published by Indigo Dreams.

Poem in The Pickled Body

I'm delighted to have a poem included in the current issue of the online magazine, The Pickled Body. The editors are well-known Irish poets, Dimitra Xidous and Patrick Chapman. Dimitra's first collection was published by Doire Press and Patrick has a number of collections published by Salmon Poetry.

The theme for this issue was Quantum and it includes work by Marjorie Lofti Gill, Iggy McGovern, Eleanor Hooker, Kate Dempsey, Afric McGlinchey, Angela T Carr, Paul Casey and others. Good company!

The poem is based on a painting by the Cavan artist, Roisin Duffy, which I saw at her exhibition in Bailieborough Library last October which coincided with our LitLab Bailieborough Poetry Festival. Roisin's website is here.

The poem is called "My Fish and I" which is the title of Roisin's painting, below.

Call for Submissions

International author and editor Frank Joussen from Germany is looking for short stories (500 - 3,500 words approx.) or very creatively written non-fiction stories that focus strongly on relationships within the family.

Frank was one of the co-editors of the international anthology "Family Matters" by Indian publisher Nivasini which included a number of stories and poems by Irish authors including poems of mine..

As in that book, the aim is to string together stories from many different cultures, age groups, religions, countries. How much do we really know about family life in other countries, other cultures? How much of our cultural knowledge is based on hearsay or worn out clichés?

The stories will be translated into German, therefore the editor is only asking for first-time publication rights in the German language. All rights remain with the authors and the English original version can still be considered unpublished. Previously published pieces are also more than welcome. Frank's email address is : f_joussen@t-online.de

For reviews of the original "Family Matters" anthology please go to here and here.

The deadline is 1 July. Frank pays one complimentary copy and is willing to send you more copies at a reduced price.

Yeats Society Poetry Competition

At the 2014 summer school, the Yeats Society Poetry Competition in memory of the late Seamus Heaney was announced.

The Judge: Paula Meehan, Ireland's Professor of Poetry.
Closing date: 1st May 2015.
The Prize: €500.00
A tuition scholarship to the 2015 Yeats International Summer School 26th July - 7th August 2015.
Participation in the Summer School Poetry workshop which will be faciliated by Eavan Boland on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd August.

The list of the five short-listed entries will be published on the Yeats Society website and newsletter.

Rules:
Entrants may submit up to 3 poems.
All entries must be in PDF form and be submitted via email to yeatssummerschool@yeatssociety.com.
Poems must be a maximum of 40 lines.
All poems must be the original work of a living author and must not have been previously published, self-published, published on a website or broadcast.
The name of the entrant must not appear on the poems themselves.
No alterations may be made to poems once they have been submitted.
The decision of the judge is final and no correspondence can be entered into regarding the judge's decision.
Copyright will remain with the competitor, but the Yeats Society reserves the right to arrange first publication or broadcast of the selected poems as it sees fit.
Submission of a poem implies the competitor's acceptance of the conditions set out above.
Entries should arrive no later than 1st May 2015.
Entries must be paid by credit / debit card through PayPal. The Fee per poem is €10.00.

Enter online on the website. 

Boyne Berries 17 Launched

Boyne Berries 17 was launched last evening in the Castle Arch Hotel. A large crowd included contributors who had travelled from as far away as Galway and Cork to be present.

Boyne Writers chairperson, Caroline Carey Finn, welcomed everyone and introduced Adrienne Leavy (right) who launched the issue. Adrienne lived in Dundalk, County Louth, for the first twenty-five years of her life but immigrated to the United States and now lives in Arizona. She has a Ph.D. in English Literature from Arizona State University frequently lectures on various aspects of Irish literature.

Adrienne thanked the group for inviting her to the launch and complimented the editor, Orla Fay, on the publication. She talked about how important small magazines have been and are to Irish writers. She mentioned how importance acceptance by Boyne Berries was to her writing. She thanked Boyne Writers Group for their work in establishing and continuing to publish the magazine.

Editor, Orla Fay, (left) then introduced each reader and we were treated to a feast of wonderful poetry and prose. As usual the variety of topic and treatment was impressive and the audience enjoyed all, the humorous and the sad, the wise and the witty.

One contributor, M.J. Iuppa who lives on a small farm on the shores of Lake Ontario, had sent a sound file with a greeting and a reading of her poem and this was played.

The evening ended with a presentation to Paddy Smith to mark his retirement from the chair of Boyne Writers after six years service.

Then tea, coffee biscuits and plenty of chat.

To purchase a copy of Boyne Berries 17 please use the PayPal button top right.

Boyne Berries 17 Launch

Boyne Berries 17 will be launched on this Thursday 26 March at 8.00 pm in the Castle Arch Hotel, Trim by Adrienne Leavy.

Adrienne Leavy was born in Ireland and lived in Dundalk, County Louth, for the first twenty-five years of her life. She was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. After receiving the degree of Barrister-at-Law and being called to the Irish Bar, she immigrated to the United States.

She practiced law in Arizona for ten years before returning to post-graduate education to pursue her interest in Irish literature.

Adrienne holds a Masters Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (with a focus on Irish Studies) from Arizona State University West, and a Ph.D. in English Literature from Arizona State University.

The subject of her doctoral dissertation was the representation of women in the poetry of the Irish poet Thomas Kinsella.

Adrienne frequently lectures on various aspects of Irish literature and her poetry has been published in many Irish literary journals including A Modest Review, Boyne Berries, Crannóg, Revival and The Stony Thursday Book.

Recently she set up the Reading Ireland website which promotes Irish Literature and contemporary Irish writing.

Many of the contributors will attend and read their pieces on Thursday. All welcome, no charge, tea, coffee and biscuits.

Reading Ireland: Website and Magazine

I'm delighted to have an article and two poems included in this new E-journal published by Adrienne Leavy as part of her Reading Ireland website initiative.

Reading Ireland is a website dedicated to promoting Irish Literature and contemporary Irish writing. It has biographical and critical entries on twentieth-century and contemporary Irish writers, links to a number of Irish independent bookshops and publishing houses, along with information on Irish literary journals.

Every quarter, Reading Ireland will publish an E-Journal, Reading Ireland: The Little Magazine,  The aim of this publication is to provide essays and articles analyzing Irish literature, past and present.

Volume 1, issue 1 appeared on March 15 2015, and is being made available at no cost so that you as the reader can decide if this is a publication you would like to receive on a quarterly basis. You can download it from this page. After issue 1 the journal will be available to subscribers for an annual fee of $40.

Contents for issue one includes the following:

An essay on James Joyce’s short story collection Dubliners and the innovative ways in which scholars, readers and writers are still in conversation with Joyce’s stories one hundred years after publication.

An essay by Irish poet and historian, Michael Farry, on the 1911-1912 correspondence between Sligo men James Marren and Thomas O’ Grady, and the Irish American Joseph McGarrity (1874-1940). It provides a fascinating, factual context to some of the issues at play in Joyce’s story, “Ivy Day in the Committee Room.”

A critical appraisal of the work of Jennifer Johnston, one of the foremost Irish writers of her generation. An interview with Jennifer Johnston.

Book reviews of Thomas Kinsella’s latest poetry collection, Late Poems and of Colm Tóibín’s new novel, Nora Webster.

Spotlight on The Klaxton 1923-1924.This single issue magazine, with its confrontational and polemical style, could be considered an Irish style Blast. Published in the winter of 1923-1924 by Abraham Jacob Leventhal.

Poets Meet Politics Competition Results

The winning and shortlisted entries in the 2015 Poets Meet Politics competition were read at the Sarah Walker Gallery, The Pier, Castletownbere, County Cork, on Saturday last 14 March 2015. I was delighted to have a poem highly commended and to make the journey for the event. The readings were introduced by the competition judge, Derek Sellen.

The winner of the competition was Afric McGlinchey. with her poem I is Another. Second place went to Shirley McLure for Dad's Canvassing Card and third was Jacks for Office by Michael Casey. I was impressed by all the poems and very interested in how poets approach such an open topic.

The full results and Derek's comments are on the website. Also some photographs from the event.

I was impressed by the judge's selection. It was clear that he appreciated the breadth of the subject and the winning/commended poems include the directly topically political and the more sideways treatment of the topic. My poem, The Gun, probably belongs to the latter category.

The winning and commended poems, 23 in all, are published in the Poets meet Politics 2015 Anthology which is available from the Hungry Hill website. Well worth 4 euro!

Earlier on the day I attended a poetry workshop led by the competition judge, award-winning poet, Derek Sellen. A most enjoyable and useful session. The nine participants had submitted a poem each and these were critiqued. It was fascinating to hear the reactions of the participants to each piece.

Opinions were freely given, suggestions were offered, punctuation and syntax were examined, meanings were queried and the big questions - Where to break the line? How much to tell the reader? - were discussed. I really enjoyed the workshop, thanks to the facilitator and the participants.

Poetry Day Ireland 2015

Poetry Ireland is presenting Poetry Day Ireland on Thursday 7 May 2015. We’re on a mission to make poetry both inescapable and irresistible, and we are actively inviting individuals, groups and organisations to get involved.

We have a number of headline events planned for 7 May (at least one in each province) including Paul Durcan in conversation with Tipperary hurling manager Eamon O’Shea at the Source Arts Centre in Thurles, poets/crime fiction writers Sophie Hannah and Paul Perry reading at Green St Court, a Yeats event in Thoor Ballylee, and an event at the Verbal Arts Centre in Derry/Londonderry.

Poetry Ireland’s Writers in Schools scheme will visit an island off the northern, western and southern coasts and approximately 10,000 patients in hospitals throughout the country will receive a menu of poems on the day through the AHCI (Network of Arts and Health Coordinators in Ireland).

Third level institutions including University College Cork and University College Dublin will be taking part, and all schools will receive a specially commissioned poetry lesson plan.

We’ll also be running a Poem in Your Pocket campaign, printing thousands of elegant mini cards with poems, which will be distributed all over the country to make sure that great poetry shows up in many unexpected places from Kerry to Derry.

All Poetry Day Ireland events and activities will be listed on a dedicated webspace at www.poetryday.ie.

We are inviting all libraries, arts offices, arts venues, bookshops, poets and poetry fans to get involved with Poetry Day Ireland.

National Student Poetry Competition 2015

Windows Publications in association with Cavan Crystal announce the 23rd  National Student Poetry Competition 2015 adjudicated by Heather Brett and Noel Monahan.

€100 1st Prize in each category with several runner-up prizes and over 50 highly commended certificates
Closing date Friday 20th March 2015

Entry to this competition is free. Entrant details (name, age, school or contact number) must be clearly marked on the BACK of each entry if posting work or at the end of the work if sending by email. Poems should NOT have been published before or won a prize in any other competition, and must be the student’s OWN work.

Entries will also be accepted on line as well as by post and from individual students as well as entries sent by schools. Class poems and poems written by groups of students are acceptable but there will be only one prize given per winning poem.

For email entries please send to: heatherbrett22@hotmail.com or by post to Windows/Cavan Crystal Poetry Competition, Cavan Crystal Hotel, Dublin Rd. Cavan, Co. Cavan, Ireland  on or before FRIDAY 20th MARCH  2015, clearly stating which category you are entering.

The award ceremony will be held in Cavan Crystal Hotel on Sunday 10th May at 4pm. It is a condition of the awards that top prize winners must be present at the ceremony before a prize can be awarded.

Junior Category: Open to all students throughout Ireland and the U.K. in primary or national school education or equivalent. (8-12/13 years)
                                                                                                  
Senior Category: Open to all students throughout Ireland and the U.K. in second level education or equivalent. (12-18 years)  

Irish Language Category - Open to all students between 10–18 years old.

Fool For Poetry Chapbook Competition

This year's winners of the Fool for Poetry Chapbook Competition had their winning manuscripts published in lavish form and launched during the Cork Poetry Festival. The chapbooks have been produced in a large format size (26cm by 20cm) using 14 point Centaur font, fully exploiting the charm of plenty of white space surrounding the poems. The covers are in full colour with French flaps. The publications are limited editions and sure to be coveted by collectors, as much as for their design as their content. The winners received 50 copies each (worth €400) and €500 in cash.

The chapbooks were launched at the Cork Poetry Festival to a capacity crowd. Over 60 copies were sold on the day. The poets were treated to hotel accommodation, drinks, meals and free entry into all events at the festival and were afforded introductions to editors, publishers and literary stars.

The Curative Harp is Virginia Astley's debut poetry publication. Astley is already a very successful musician, composer and recording artist having worked with many great 80s acts such as Echo and the Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes, The Skids and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Here she is on Youtube singing a duet with David Sylvian of Japan in a song produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto. She has been acknowledged in many single poem competitions including the Bridport.

White Whale is the debut of Irish poet Victoria Kennefick, whose poems appearing in periodicals have been causing quite a stir. Her work has been acknowledged in competitions such as the Bridport and Gregory O'Donoghue Prize.

The competition is open again, closing date this year is May 31st. Full details here. The winning poets will have the opportunity to launch their chapbook at the 2016 Cork International Poetry Festival, receive 50 copies of their winning publication and €500 in cash. At least one of the two winning publications will be a debut publication. Why not buy and read last year's winning chapbooks, so you can not only read great new poetry, but creatively visualise how your own poems could look next year?

Doolin Writers' Weekend

Doolin Writers' Weekend takes place at Hotel Doolin from the 27th - 29th March 2015.

There will be readings from Donal Ryan, Christine Dwyer Hickey, Dave Lordan, workshops from Catherine Dunne, Madeleine D'Arcy, Anthony Glavin, as well as singer songwriter John Spillane, theatre with Peter Sheridan, a workshop with publishing whirlwinds Tramp Press, a photo exhibition by Hanne T. Fisker, a craft market all weekend in the Marquee and a plethora of local trad musicians, Dooliner Beer and some of North Clare's finest food to keep the whole thing moving.

The Weekend also features the Doolin Poetry & Short Story Competition, which Hotel Doolin is hosting in association with Tramp Press and Salmon Poetry

The prize fund for first place in each both competitions is €1000, while the winners will also receive a publishing consultation with Tramp Press (short story) and Salmon Poetry (poetry).

The Poetry Competition, the closing date for which is Monday 2 March, will be judged by poet Jessie Lendennie, who is the founder and Managing Editor of Salmon Poetry.  Novelist and short story writer Éilís Ní Dhuibhne is this year's Short Story judge.

For terms and conditions and to download an entry form please go to the website here.

Weekend Passes & Workshops can be booked with Hotel Doolin at 065-7074111 / info@hoteldoolin.ie.

Fingal Library Poetry Series

Cross-stream: ways of writing is a series of talks from a diverse group of outstanding contemporary poets discussing the compositional process behind one of their poems which takes place in Fingal Libraries in February and March.

Produced in partnership with Fingal Libraries, these talks / presentations offer a unique opportunity for poetry audiences, writers, students and general readers to gain an insight into the range of approaches towards writing.

These events are all free admission and start at 6.30pm. They will also include Q&A sessions.

Full details: http://yesbutisitpoetry.blogspot.com/2015/02/cross-stream-ways-of-writing.html

Tuesday 17 February 2015
Baldoyle Library
Maurice Scully & Enda Coyle-Greene

Wednesday 25 February 2015
Donabate Library
Harry Clifton & Susan Connolly

Tuesday 3 March 2015
Blanchardstown Library
Pat Boran (right) & Karl Parkinson

Tuesday 10 March 2015
Malahide Library
Máighréad Medbh & Alan Jude Moore

Trócaire and Poetry Ireland Poetry Competition

Poetry Ireland and Trócaire are proud to announce the launch of their fourth joint poetry competition. Applications are now invited from published and unpublished poets writing in English and Irish, as well as from spoken word poets.

Trócaire and Poetry Ireland Poetry Competition 2015: 'Feeling the Heat'

Extreme weather events are having a devastating effect on people in the developing world: destroying families, demolishing homes, ruining livelihoods. The people who contributed least to climate change are those most ‘feeling the heat’ from its effects. This is part of Trócaire’s ‘Climate Justice’ campaign.

Cuirtear fáilte roimh iontrálacha le haghaidh an tríú comórtas bliantúil filíochta Trócaire Éigse Éireann ar an téama 'Feeling The Heat'.

More Information here.

Last Year's Winning Poems.

Entries are invited from both published and emerging poets, in English and Irish, with special categories for younger entrants and a Spoken Word category for performance poetry. Poets can submit up to THREE poems each, and entry is free.

The closing date for entries is Friday 13 March 2015, and winners will be notified by Friday 8 May 2015. Entries will be judged by Mary Shine Thompson, former Dean of St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra (Dublin City University), by poet Theo Dorgan, and by Trócaire's Trish Groves.

Prizes for adults include choices such as a stay at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig, a year's subscription to Poetry Ireland Review, or professional feedback on your poetry through Poetry Ireland's Critical Assessment Service. Younger entrants can win a Kindle or book tokens, and a visit to your school by a writer.

The winning poems are also published in booklet form, and winners and runners up are invited to read at our lunchtime awards ceremony at the National Library of Ireland in Dublin. Many past winners have gone on to read at events around Ireland, including Culture Night, and the Mountains to Sea Book Festival in Dun Laoghaire.