Holocaust Memorial Day Anthology

27 January is the day for everyone to remember the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, and the millions of people killed by Nazi Persecution and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. 

27 January marks the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. 

Poetry NI marked Holocaust Memorial Day 2016 with the release of a free online anthology of work by poets throughout the whole of Ireland, reflecting on issues that remain as poignant and as relevant today as ever.

I'm delighted to have a poem of mine included, When I Returned, from my collection Asking for Directions (Doghouse, 2012).

Other poets appearing in the anthology are: Trevor Conway, Karen J. McDonnell, Paul Jeffcutt, Shane Vaughan, Stephanie Conn, Colin Dardis, Brendan McCormack, Alice Kinsella, Therese Kieran, Michael Conaghan, Ciarán O’Rourke, James Meredith, Geraldine O’Kane, Glen Wilson, Peter O’Neill, Moya Roddy, Emma McKervey, Raisea Dé Murchú and Yvonne Boyle.

You can download the PDF version of the booklet for free from the website: 

WOW Awards 2016 Shortlists

I'm delighted to have my poem, Brain Scan, included among the shortlisted poems for this award. Some well-known names there both in the prose and poetry.

Looking forward to the Awards evening and the launch of the 2016 WOW! Anthology on February 26th in Galway.

WOW! Award 2016 Shortlist 

Kate Dempsey Poetry Collection Launch

Kate Dempsey's poetry collection, The Space Between, will be launched in the Irish Writers Centre, Parnell Square, Dublin 1, on Monday 23 November at 6.30pm.

The collection will be officially launched by well-known writer and journalist Gerard Smyth. The publisher is Doire Press.

Kate’s poetry is widely published in Ireland and the UK including Poetry Ireland Review,The Shop, Orbis and Magma. She won The Plough Prize and has been shortlisted for the Hennessy Award for both poetry and fiction. She was selected to read for Poetry Ireland Introductions and Windows Publications Introductions.

She runs the Poetry Divas, a collective of women poets who blur the wobbly boundary between page and stage at events and festivals all over Ireland.

Kate was guest editor for Boyne Berries 14 and conducted a great poetry workshop at this year's Bailieborough Poetry Festival.

The book may be ordered on the Doire Press website here. Free P&P worldwide for all Doire Press books. And Christmas is just around the corner...

Boyne Berries 1916 Issue Submission Details

'Freedom' Jack B. Yeats

 

From Orla Fay, the editor of Boyne Berries:

The submission period for Boyne Berries 19, which will be a special issue commemorating the centenary of the 1916 Rising, will open on Sunday, 15th November 2015 and close on Sunday, 03rd January, 2016. The magazine will  be published in late March of 2016.

 

What does 1916 mean to you now? Can you picture life one hundred years ago? Is romantic Ireland dead and gone? What would those figures, those celebrated heroes of our past make of Ireland today if they could step out from the shadows? Is this a time to truly reflect? I don't want to put words in your mouth but I'd love to know what you think, what you feel, what you imagine...

 

I am keen to read work from writers in the Meath area but national and international submissions are also welcome.

 

Send up to 3 poems per poetry submission. Poems should be no more than 40 lines long. Fiction and prose submissions should be no more than 1500 words. Please use Times New Roman 12 and single spacing. Please include a short biographical note about yourself. Submissions should be placed in the body of the email and attached as a word document attachment. Submit to orla.a.fay@gmail.com only.

 

Submissions which fail to adhere to the above criteria will be ignored.

World War One Anthology - Behind the Lines

To mark the decade of commemoration and the importance of the Great War members of LitLab Writers Group, including myself, set ourselves the task of reading the Anglo-Celt newspaper for 1915 and finding items which sparked their creativity. The volume of poetry and prose, Behind the Lines, is the result.

The collection will be officially launched by Myles Dungan on this Friday evening at 6.30 in Bailieborough as part of the Bailieborough Poetry Festival.

The book contains copies of the original items, news reports, advertisements, alongside the poem or prose which resulted. The collection is edited by Julia Rice O’Dea and there is a foreword by writer and broadcaster, Myles Dungan.

Copies can be purchased online on the Behind the Lines page on the festival website.

Bailieborough Poetry Festival 2015

Bailieborough Poetry Festival 2015 – Programme of events

Friday 9th October: (Murtagh’s Lounge, Main St.)

18.30 Official launch of “Behind the Lines” Anthology by LitLab. Introduced by Myles Dungan and Julia Rice O’Dea.
19.45 A Wilde Night by Patrick Walsh.
20.00 Poetry reading by Niamh Boyce.
21.00 Open mic.

Saturday 10th October:

10.00 Poetry workshop* – Niamh Boyce. (Bailieborough Library)
14.00 Competition prize giving – Michael Farry & Honor Duff (Bailieborough Library)
14.00 – 17.00 Special poetry-themed afternoon tea in Bailie Hotel on Main Street.
16.00 Literary walking tour of Bailieborough with John Ed Sheanon- (starts at Bailieborough Library)
19.00 Open Mic. Featuring writing/ arts groups. – (Murtagh’s Lounge)
20.00 Poems and stories by Patsy McDermott – (Murtagh’s Lounge)
21.00 Poetry reading by Tony Curtis.

Sligo Gaol Talk

Hawk’s Well Theatre and County Sligo Heritage and Genealogy Centre: Sligo Gaol. Wed 23 Sept, 7.30pm, €8

We invite you to discover stories of past lives; which vary from heart-breaking to audacious.

Join historian Micheal Farry and a team of expert speakers and learn about the public executions, pillorying and transportation. Relive the Jail escape that made headlines across the world.

Chat to representatives from Friends of Sligo Gaol, Sligo Heritage and Genealogy Centre and view items from Sligo Gaol in our foyer from 6:30 pm.

Cafe Writers Open Poetry Competition 2015

PRIZES: 1st  £1000; 2nd £300; 3rd £200; Six Commended Prizes of £50; Funniest Poem not winning another prize £100.

SOLE JUDGE Tiffany Atkinson, poet, literary critic, and long-time creative writing teacher in universities, schools and community writing groups. Her poetry is published widely in journals and anthologies, and her first collection Kink and Particle (Seren, 2006) was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and winner of the Jerwood Aldeburgh First Collection Prize.

Her second book, Catulla et al (Bloodaxe, 2011) was shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year. Her third, So Many Moving Parts (Bloodaxe 2014), a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, was winner of the 2015 Roland Mathias Poetry Prize.

Her current work explores experiences of illness and healthcare, for which she won the Medicine Unboxed Creative Prize in 2014. She is a Professor of Poetry at the University of East Anglia and lives in Norwich.

Closing date for receipt of entries: 30th November 2015

Maximum of 40 lines (excluding title) on one side of A4.
Entry Fee: £4 per poem; or £10 for 3 poems and £2.00 per poem thereafter.

Prizewinners will be notified in writing by 31st January 2016. The list of prizewinners will be displayed on the website after the prize-giving ceremony at Café Writers on 8th February 2016.

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

Wild Atlantic Words Poetry Festival,

The Wild Atlantic Words Poetry Festival will be held in Castletownbere, County Cork on 5-6 September 2015. The festival will include poetry readings, creative writing workshops, and the awards event and publication for Hungry Hill Writing’s international summer poetry competitions.

There will also be a workshop for school students. The festival will be themed (though not exclusively) to celebrate coastal landscape and maritime life and heritage.

Saturday 5 September 2015

10.45am-1pm: Spoken Word Competition at whiteRoom, The Square, Castletownbere, with a first prize of €100 and a second prize of €50.

2pm – 4.30pm: Poetry workshop at The Sarah Walker Gallery, The Pier, Castletownbere, led by Afric McGlinchey.

2pm – 4.00pm: Poetry workshop for school students at The Library, The Square, Castletownbere, led by Annette Skade. Free admission.

6.00pm:  Readings and awards from the Wild Atlantic Words open and school students’ poetry competitions, at The Sarah Walker Gallery, Castletownbere. Free admission.

9.00pm: Open mic poetry readings — venue to be announced. Free admission — all welcome.

Sunday 6 September

11am – 1.30pm: Poetry workshop at The Sarah Walker Gallery, The Pier, Castletownbere, led by Breda Wall Ryan.

2.30pm: Poetry readings by Afric McGlinchey, Annette Skade, and Breda Wall Ryan at whiteRoom, The Square, Castletownbere. Free admission.

Full details on website.

Bailieborough Poetry Festival

The third Bailieborough Poetry Festival will take place over the weekend of 9 & 10 October 2015.

The LitLab group of writers are again organizing a weekend of readings, workshops, open mic session, book launch, etc. Visiting poets will include Niamh Boyce, Tony Curtis and Patsy McDermott.

A volume of exciting new writing by LitLab members based on a project they have been involved in for the past eight months will be launched by Myles Dungan during the festival. More details later!

One of the highlights of the weekend in past years has been the live adjudication and announcement of the winners of The Bailieborough Poetry Competition.

The Bailieborough Poetry Prize competition has a closing date of Friday 25th September 2015. The first prize is €250 and there will be a second and third prize.  There will also be a prize for a writer resident in Cavan or Meath.

Full details, including online entry are available on the website www.bailieboroughpoetry.com .

AT The Edge Reading, Cavan

AT The Edge, Cavan, Tuesday 25 August 6.30pm Johnston Library

AT The Edge, Cavan returns to the Johnston Library on Tuesday 25 August with a reading from two fab poets and a great writer: Nicki Griffin, Harry Browne and Catherine Ann Cullen

Nicki Griffin is a poet and writer. Her first collection of poetry, Unbelonging, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2013. Her poems have appeared in various publications including The Sunday Tribune, The Stinging Fly, Crannóg, The SHOp and Orbis (UK).

Harry Browne is the author of two books: The Frontman: Bono (In the Name of Power) (Verso, 2013) and Hammered by the Irish (Counterpunch/AK Press, 2008). His journalism has appeared in numerous publications, including the Irish Times, Village magazine, the Sunday Times, Irish Daily Mail, Evening Herald, Sunday Tribune, Sunday Business Post and The Dubliner.

Catherine Ann Cullen has published two collections of poetry with Doghouse Books in Kerry, Strange Familiar (2013) and A Bone in My Throat (2007), and two children's books with Little, Brown, Thirsty Baby (2003) and The Magical, Mystical, Marvellous Coat (2001).

Following the Readings, will be an ‘Open Mic’ session at which everybody is welcome. Please register with Kate on the night.

AT the Edge Cavan is supported by the Cavan County Council Arts Office.

Curtain Call- Theatre Production Workshop

Meath County Council Arts Office is delighted to present Curtain Call, a one day theatre production workshop that is part of the FEACH professional arts development training programme.

Curtain Call, facilitated by Delphine Coudray is designed for Meath Drama Groups, Musical Societies, clubs and individuals will explore the issues involved in producing and staging a show. This one day workshop will be held on Saturday September 12th from 11am – 4pm in the Ardboyne Hotel, Navan.

Over the course of the workshop the group will discover or re-discover the basics about production. Each participant will be given documentation and practical tools to ensure each project undertaken runs smoothly and successfully.

Participants will share past experiences, what worked and what didn’t for them on past productions, brain-storm ideas for future projects and work in smaller groups on specific cases. The facilitator will provide advice as part of a “stage clinic” session.

Delphine Coudray is the Director of local company Oulala Productions. She has more than 20 years experience in Theatre, both on and off stage. She trained in France, Denmark and Ireland (SFX City Theatre Dublin, Gaiety School of Acting, National Association for Youth Drama, Fishamble and the Association of Theatre Directors Ireland). She has directed a number of professional and community plays as well as short films and coach actors for feature films.

Places are free of charge but limited and booking is essential. All booking enquiries are to Meath County Council Arts Office at artsoffice@meathcoco.ie or 046 9097414

Dromineer Literary Festival Competitions

I was lucky to win the poetry competition at Dromineer last year. A great festival, friendly welcome and a beautiful location.

This year's Festival will take place on 1-4 October.

Details of this year's Dromineer Literary Festival Competitions.

2015 Poetry Competition
Judge: Thomas McCarthy. Maximum number of lines per poem: 40

Prizes: 1st. Prize €500.00: 2nd. Prize €350.00: 3rd. Prize €150.00

Entry Fee: €5 per poem
Closing date: August 25 2015

2015 Flash Fiction Competition
Judge: Sarah Davis-Goff and Lisa Cohen (Tramp Press)
Maximum Number of words per story: 500

Prizes: 1st. Prize €500.00: 2nd. Prize €350.00: 3rd. Prize €150.00

Entry Fee: €10 per entry
Closing date: August 25 2015.

Full details and online entry on website.

Allingham Festival Competitions

Allingham 2015 Festival takes place in Ballyshannon, County Donegal 5 - 8 November.

In connection with the Festival they are holding Flash Fiction and Poetry competitions.

The prize in each category is €300.

The winners and runners up will be invited to read their work at the Allingham Festival on Saturday, 7 November, 2015, and will also receive free entry to all events in the festival.

The deadline for each entry is 14 September 2015.

Shortlists will be published in early October.

The winners and runners up will be informed of the judge's decision by 23 October.

Flash Fiction must not exceed 800 words. Poems must not exceed 40 lines.

Full details and online entry on the Festival Webpage.

Boyle Arts Festival Readings

Boyle Arts Festival event on Saturday next 1st August at 5.30pm in King House, Boyle, Co Roscommon. Entry: €5.

Join the Moylurg Writers as they give selected readings of poetry and prose.

The results of the Boyle Arts Festival 2015 Poetry Competition will also be announced. Winners' poems will be read and judge, Joseph Woods, will be reading from his own work. This will be followed at 6.30pm by the launch by Geraldine Mitchell of Jane Clarke’s debut poetry collection, The River.

Joseph Woods is a poet and  former director of Poetry Ireland who lives in Rangoon, Burma with his wife and daughter. He has published three collections of poetry and his first, Sailing to Hokkaido (2001), won the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award.

Dublin-born Geraldine Mitchell lives on the Co. Mayo coast. She has published two collections: World Without Maps (Arlen House, 2011) and Of Birds and Bones (Arlen House, 2014).

Jane Clarke was born in Roscommon and now lives in Wicklow. Her debut poetry collection, ‘The River’ is published by Bloodaxe Books.

Writers Gerry Boland and John Mulligan will also be hosting workshops earlier on Saturday 1st August.

Full details on the Festival Website.

Hanna Greally Literary Awards

The SiarScéal Festival is held every year in Roscommon, Ireland. The 2015 festival will take place 5, 6, 7 November.

SiarScéal celebrates the lives and history of the people of Roscommon, both nationally and globally, through the medium of poetry, prose, short stories, music and dance.

Included in the Festival's proceedings are the annual Hanna Greally Literary Awards. I was lucky enough to win a prize here a couple of years ago.

The competition theme this year is: Centenary in Reflection. Submissions of poetry, prose, short stories on this theme are invited.

The Overall Prize Winner will receive a cash prize of €200. Runners-Up prizes will also be awarded in categories that include: International Poetry; International Prose/Short Stories; National Poetry; National Prose/Short-Story; Local Winner in both Poetry and Prose/Short Stories categories; Prizes for Highly Commended and National Schools.

The winner of the Ger Hanly Memorial Cup will also be selected from among the entries received.

Selected entries from this year and past submissions will be published in the new SiarScéal / Hanna Greally Literary Journal, to be launched in April 2016.

Full Competition Rules on the Website.

Enter online or by post. Entry Fees: €5 per entry; €10 for three entries

Dromineer Poetry and Flash Fiction Competitions

Details of the 2015 Dromineer Literary Festival competitions. The festival will take place 1 to 4 October, 2015.


2015 POETRY COMPETITION
(Entrants over 18)
Judge: Thomas McCarthy (picture right).
Number of entries: Unlimited. Maximum Number of lines per poem: 40

Prizes: 1st. Prize €500.00; 2nd. Prize €350.00; 3rd. Prize €150.00
Entry Fee: €5 per poem. Closing date: August 25 2015
Last year's prizewinning poems (including mine!) are here.

2015 FLASH FICTION COMPETITION
(Entrants over 18)
Judges: SARAH DAVIS-GOFF and LISA COEN (Tramp Press)
Number of entries: Unlimited. Maximum Number of words per story: 500
Prizes: 1st. Prize €500.00; 2nd. Prize €350.00; 3rd. Prize €150.00
Entry Fee: €10 per entry. Closing date: August 25 2015

Aesthetica Creative Writing Award and Art Prize

The Aesthetica Creative Writing Award is open for entries. Now in its eighth year, the award is internationally renowned and judged by industry experts including Arifa Akbar, literary editor of The Independent.

Prizes include: £500 prize money – Poetry winner. £500 prize money – Short Fiction winner. Publication in the Creative Writing Annual. A selection of books from Vintage and Bloodaxe. Subscription to Granta. A complimentary copy of next year's Creative Writing Annual

The Aesthetica Art Prize is now open for entries! Submit your work for an opportunity to win £5,000 courtesy of Hiscox, group exhibition, publication in an anthology of 100 top international artists and other great prizes that will get your work noticed by industry, galleries and thousands of art lovers.

Prizes include: £5,000 Main Prize courtesy of Hiscox. £1,000 Student Prize courtesy of Hiscox. Group exhibition in partnership with York Museums Trust. Publication in the Aesthetica Art Prize Anthology. Editorial in Aesthetica Magazine (186,000 readership worldwide)

Early Bird Entry Offer: To save 25% CLICK HERE and enter discount code SAVE5

OFFER ENDS FRIDAY 10 JULY

Boyne Berries Submissions

The submission period for Boyne Berries 18 will close on Saturday 11 July 2015. Boyne Berries 18 will be published in September 2015.

Submit no more than three poems at a time. Fiction should be 1500 words or less. Times New Roman 12 and single spacing are preferred.

Please include your submission in the body of the email and as a single word document attachment and include a short bio.

Send your work via email to orla.a.fay@gmail.com with the subject line 'Boyne Berries 18 Submission Poetry/Prose' or via post to Orla Fay, Editor, Retaine, Dunderry, Navan, Co. Meath.

Copies of Boyne Berries 17 can be ordered online here

The Stony Thursday Book 2015

The Stony Thursday Book is seeking submissions from local, national and international poets for its next issue, to be published in October 2015.

The Stony Thursday Book was founded by Limerick poets John Liddy and Jim Burke in 1975 and is one of the longest-running literary journals in Ireland and celebrates its 40th Anniversary Edition in 2015.

This year's Editor of the Stony Thursday Poetry Book is Mary O’Donnell, poet, writer and member of Aosdana. About the Editor

How to Submit:
Each poet should send no more than six poems.
Submitted poems must be previously unpublished.
Submissions are being accepted by email and by post.
When submitting poems in hardcopy please write your name on each page. Please mark envelopes: The Stony Thursday Book 2015.
When submitting by email please reference TSTB 2015 in your subject line and attach all poems in a single file attachment (pdf or doc).

Send poems to: The Stony Thursday Book 2015, Arts Office, Limerick City and County Council, City Hall, Merchant’s Quay, Limerick or by email to: artsoffice@limerick.ie

Closing Date for Submissions: Friday 31st July 2015