Independently Minded - In support of AWARE!!!

I’m incredibly delighted to be a judge as part of this terrific initiative, set up by Carolann Copland of Carousel Writers’ Centre.

Earlier this month, the CAROUSEL AWARE PRIZE for Independently Published Authors was launched. All money raised from this completion will go to Aware. (A charity which assists those directly affected by the illness of depression.)

These awards aim to provide a platform to showcase the cream of Irish Self-Published authors, bringing them to the attention of book shops, distributors and the media in Ireland and abroad.

There will be six categories of awards:

• Best Novel to be judged by International Bestselling Author Jax Miller.
• Best Short Story Anthology to be judged by Bord Gáis Award Winning Author Louise Phillips.
• Best Non-Fiction Book to be judged by Books Ireland Magazine Editor Tony Canavan
• Best Poetry Anthology to be judged by Award Winning Poet and Writer Eileen Casey.
• Best Young Adult Book to be judged by Bestselling Young Adult Novelist Claire Hennessy.
• Best Junior Book to be judged by Novelist Carolann Copland in conjunction with St. Comcille’s Junior National School, Knocklyon.

Submissions are now invited from all Independently Published, Self-Published and Assisted Published Authors from Ireland’s 32 counties. Closing date is Monday the 11^th of April.

Books must have an ISBN number or equivalent. 

Long lists will be notified on Mon 13^th of June 2016

Short lists will be notified on Mon 12^th September 2016

The overall winners will be announced at The CAP for Indie Awards Evening

on Wednesday the 26^th of October 2016

For all other details and to enter, click here

The Ruth Rendell Short Story Competition now open for entries!

Monday 22nd June sees the launch of the fifth Ruth Rendell Short Story Competition.

The challenge for writers is to write a piece in any genre in no more than 1000 words. The winner of the competition will receive £1000 and will be commissioned to write four further stories for InterAct over the course of one year. The closing date for submissions is Thursday 29 October 2015, World Stroke Awareness Day. The winner will be chosen by Lynda La Plante, who will present the award to the winner at a ceremony to be held in 2016.

Terms and conditions of entry:
1. The length of each story must not exceed 1000 words.
2. Entrants can write in any genre.
3. Entrants can submit multiple stories.
4. The winner of the Ruth Rendell Short Story Competition will receive £1,000 and will be commissioned to write four further short stories for InterAct Stroke Support over the course of one year.
5. The closing date for all entries is 5pm, Thursday 29th October (World Stroke Day).
6. A £15.00 entry fee is applicable to each story entered. Payment by paypal with online entry or cheques and postal orders payable to: InterAct Stroke Support with postal entries.
7. The competition is open to anyone, including non-UK applicants, over 16 years.
8. Stories must be entirely the work of the entrant and must never have been published, self-published, published on any website or public online forum or broadcast.
9. While the copyright of any story submitted to the Ruth Rendell Short Story Competition will remain with the author, the submission of a story is done with the understanding that InterAct has the right to copy, distribute and publish the story to support the charity’s work.
10. Writers should be aware that if stories are to be read on hospital wards they will have to be sensitive to such a ward enviroment, and shortlisted stories will be judged on their abiliity to be effectively read on a hospital ward.
Disclaimer: Due to the expected volume of entries, the charity is unable to offer individual feedback to entrants. The decision of the judges is final.

How to Enter:

a) Online entries will receive an ID number on submittion of your entry form and this must be entered with the paypal payment of £15.00 per entry. The filename of online entries must be the title of the story and it must be either a .doc .docx or .pdf file. The entrants name and contact details must not appear anywhere on the manuscript of the submitted story. Online entries are confirmed by the email receipt of your payment to paypal. Alternatively you can pay by cheque, quoting your unique ID number on the reverse of the cheque. Any online entry will not be complete until payment has been received.

b). Postal entries must be typed, single sided, with pages numbered and unstapled, with payment by cheque for £15.00 per entry.
Please include a covering letter including the entrant’s name, contact details and word count of the story. The entrants name and contact details must not appear anywhere on the manuscript of the submitted story. Send postal entries to:

Short Story Competition,
InterAct Stroke Support,
Victoria Charity Centre,
11 Belgrave Road,
London, SW1V 1RB.
Please enclose a stamped addressed postcard marked ‘ACKNOWLEDGEMENT’ if you require acknowledgement of receipt of your postal entry.

Emailed entries will not be accepted. It is not possible to confirm receipt of entries by phone or email.

Online Entry Form: HERE

Francis MacManus Short Story Competition 2015!

This year marks the 28th anniversary of the RTÉ Radio 1 Short Story Competition, which over the years has proved to be the launching pad for many renowned Irish writers.

Submissions are now being accepted for this year's Francis MacManus Short Story Competition 2015.  You can download an entry form here or send a stamped addressed envelope to:

RTÉ Radio 1 Short Story Competition
RTÉ Radio Centre
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4

About The Annual Short Story Series:

Since its establishment in 1986 the competition has been the launching pad, as well as a great source of support and inspiration, for several new and emerging writers. Previous winners include Claire Keegan, Ciarán Folan, Ivy Bannister, Nuala Ní Chonchúir and Martin Malone. The competition was founded in memory of Francis Mac Manus: the Kilkenny-born novelist, short story writer, biographer and former Head of Talks and Features at Radió Éireann.

The 2014 short-listed entries can be heard on the RTÉ Player at www.rte.ie/radio1/francis-macmanus-short-story/

FLASH 500 - Winners!!!

I was delighted to be a judge for the Flash 500 competition - and after hundreds of entries, the winners can now be revealed!! 

Congrats to each one of them and to everyone who made the short list and long list.

First: Bit by Bit by Pauline Brown

Second: Tie Die by Steve Startup

Third: Nothing to Do But His Laces by Russell Reader

Click on the titles to read the three winning stories

Highly Commended: On the Tissue Paper Wings of Angels by Rachael Smart

Read Judge’s Report for the third quarter’s competition 2014 from  Louise Phillips HERE

Flash Fiction 500!

I have been blown away by the standard of entries for the Flash Fiction 500 Competition!  We are now down to 25 stories at this point which I will be rereading and rereading over the coming week. Thanks to everyone who submitted work!

The Jonathan Swift Award 2014!

Closing date 30th of September 2014.

Entries may be in Irish or English with three poems for €10 or €4 for a single poem, so well worth the effort. 

There is a prose section restricted to one entry with an entry fee of €5 and a maximum length of 1500 words. 

Poems should not exceed 45 lines and fees made payable to "Jonathan Swift Creative Writing Awards".

The judge is the award winning Catalan/Tallaght author Maria Wallace and her decision is final. 

Winners will be notified seven days in advance and must be prepared to read their work if possible at the award ceremony on Saturday the 1st of November at the Heritage centre in Saggart Co. Dublin. 

Entries should not have been previously published or broadcast and they must be typed in plain font Times Roman point 12 single spacing, without decoration or illustration. 

The entrants name must not appear on the typescript but only on the entry form. 

Must be the author's original work.

Send to : Margaret Ennis "Teach Guise",

              Boherboy, Saggart, Co. Dublin. 

The Moth International Short Story Competition

Closing Date 30th June 2014 - See HERE for details

James Plunkett Short Story Award 2014

Following the great success of the 2013 competition,the Irish Writers’ Union, in association with the Irish Writers’ Centre, are very pleased to announce the launch of the 2014 James Plunkett Short Story Award.

The Irish Writers’ Union is delighted to continue celebrating the legacy of Plunkett, one of their founder members, through this competition.

There is no restriction on theme or genre. Entrants are simply asked to recall Plunkett’s skill as a social commentator when writing.

The judge for the 2014 competition will be Booker and IMPAC nominee Donal Ryan.

First Prize: €2000
Second Prize: €1000
Third Prize: €500

Closing Date for Entries: Friday, September 12th 2014

Entries should be between 1000 and 3000 words and should be sent to:

The Irish Writers’ Union
19 Parnell Square
Dublin 1

There is no limit on the number of submissions an entrant can make. Entry costs €10 per submission (please make cheques payable to the Irish Writers’ Union).

A Long List of 30 entries will be published on the website of the Irish Writers’ Union before the winning entrants will be selected.
For more details, please visit www.ireland-writers.com

BBC National Short Story Award 2013

BBC National Short Story Award returns for 2013

13 December 2012

After a year spanning the globe for the finest international talent, the BBC National Short Story Award returns for 2013 to celebrate the best in homegrown short fiction

Submissions for the Award, now in its eighth year, are open from today. Mariella Frostrup will chair the judging panel for the Award, one of the most prestigious for a single short story, with the winning author receiving £15,000. The runner-up receives £3,000 and three further shortlisted authors £500 each.

We are now accepting entries for the 2013 prize

The Award is now open for submissions from publishers, agents and published authors from the UK. The closing date for entries is 11 March 2013 at 10am.

Read the terms and conditions and entry guidelines carefully and submit your story in a Word document, along with a completed entry form. The maximum length for the short story is 8,000 words.

Download the BBC National Short Story Award 2013 entry form

Download the BBC National Short Story Award 2013 terms and conditions/entry guidelines

READ MORE HERE

Bridport Now Open for Submissions

Bridport Prize 

The 2013 competition is now open for submissions.  

The closing date is 31st May 2013

submit online   |   submit by post   |   rules   |   results   |   dorset award

prizegiving   |   frequently asked questions

Over £15,000 in prize money

One of the richest writing competitions in the UK, the Bridport Prize is open to all nationalities aged 16 years and over.

The poem and short story categories each have a first prize of £5,000, second prize £1,000 and third prize £500. An additional 10 supplementary prizes (for each category) of £50 each are awarded.

A new category for flash fiction with a prize of £1,000 was launched in 2010. There is a second prize of £500, 3rd prize of £250 and 3 supplementary prizes of £25.

The Dorset Award is a prize specifically for Dorset writers. Thanks to the sponsorship of The Book Shop of Bridport, £100 is awarded to the highest placed Dorset writer in the Bridport Prize each year.