Books Ireland Short Story Competition

Books Ireland invite you to enter their inaugural short story competition.

It is open to all writers of any nationality writing in English, with no restriction on style or theme.

The maximum number of words allowed is 2,600. The winning story will be published in a future issue of Books Ireland.

Adjudicator: Niall Williams

• 1st Prize: €400 and a place on the Kiltumper Writing Workshop facilitated by author Niall Williams. The winning story will be published in Books Ireland magazine.
• 2nd Prize €200
• 3rd Prize €100

Closing date: 30 June 2015

Fee for each entry is €18 but only €8 for subscribers to Books Ireland magazine and Concession rate of €8 available for creative writing groups and book clubs. Please include name of group on entry form.

To enter, simply click on the following link >> DOWNLOAD THE COMPETITION FORM HERE

Moth Short Story Prize

Donal Ryan judges this year's Moth Short Story Prize, with prizes of €3,000, a week-long writing retreat at Circle of Misse in France (including a €250 travel stipend) and €1,000.

(Oooo, lovely)

There's a word limit of 6,000, and an entry fee of €12.

Closing date 30 June 2015.

You can find more details or enter online here.

Mslexia Poetry and Pamphlet Competitions

This year the Mslexia Poetry Competition for single poems will be judged by renowned poet and critic Deryn Rees-Jones, and the first prize is £2,000 – plus two optional extras: a week’s writing retreat at the idyllic Cove Park, and a mentoring afternoon with the editor of The Poetry Review. Other winners will receive a share of the remaining £1,025 prize pot, and all winning poems will be published in the September 2015 issue of Mslexia.

Plus they’re once again offering a special prize for the best poem by an unpublished woman poet. So if you’re an early-career writer who’s looking to see their work in print and pocket a tidy £500, this prize is especially for you.

There's also the annual Poetry Pamphlet Competition? For collections of 20-24 pages of 18-20 poems, the first prize is the publication of the pamphlet by Seren Books, plus £250, 25 complimentary copies of the pamphlet and royalties from all subsequent sales. If you’ve never had a full-length collection published and want to take your work to the next level, this is the competition for you.

Deadline 15 June 2015, 

Rewiring History Project

The Rewiring History Project is about the dynamic ways that living poets respond to and reshape the way we see the past. We are seeking submissions for an anthology Other Countries to be published in October 2014.

We want the best of today’s writing about history: any period in any country, any theme, any style, any form. We want to see your unique takes on the past that challenge the way that we see the world today. We want to hear about what the official version left out and are particularly keen to hear from underrepresented voices.

Deadline: 30th June 2014. 
Take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions to find out more; 
visit our Tumblr site for inspiration;  
click here to submit a poem.

edited by claire trévien and gareth prior 
 

Gareth Prior says

we’re interested in how today’s poets respond to any version of history: any period, any theme, any viewpoint, any style. Poets engage with the past in endlessly creative ways (it’s somewhere between a necessity and an occupational hazard) and we want to showcase the best of this in fresh and challenging ways. In particular we want the voices that got lost or silenced; the truths the official version left out; alternative viewpoints that challenge and rewire all our yesterdays.

Boyle Arts Festival Poetry Competition

Late notice but here's the info:

Prizes: €500- First Prize and 4 x €50 highly commended

Closing Date June 20th

Shortlisted poems will be notified ahead of the awards, which will be held on Sunday 27th July 2014 in King House, Boyle at 7:30pm.

Entry: €5 per poem. - An Entry form must accompany the poems

Poems will be judged by Michael O’Dea

Link here

And they also have some literature events here

The London Magazine poetry competition

The London Magazine has launched a worldwide poetry competition which is open for all ages.
This will be a chance to get published in the oldest and most prestigious literary journal in the UK which has been home to Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, Christopher Reid and many more, along with winning a cash prize.

Deadline: 30^th June 2014

Prizes:

• 1st Prize: £200 (and published in a future issue of The London Magazine)
• 2nd Prize: £150 (and published on The London Magazine website)
• 3rd Prize: £100 (and published on The London Magazine website)

Entry fee: £5 per poem.
Judges: Hugh Dunkerley and Michael O’Neill.

thelondonmagazine.org/tlm-competition/the-london-magazines-poetry-competition-2014

ninth Templar Pamphlet & Collection Awards

The ninth Templar Pamphlet & Collection Awards are open for submission of full length pamphlet manuscripts until Monday 16th June.

▪ Up to three Pamphlets published from the submissions received
▪ Pamphlet poets offered the option to submit a full collection for later publication
▪ Up to Fifty Poets published in the annual Templar anthology
▪ Pamphlets & anthology published at the Derwent Poetry Festival November 2014
▪ Launch Events at the Festival for Pamphlet & Anthology Poets
▪ Complimentary copy of the Templar Anthology or latest Iota Poetry for all who submit
▪ Pamphlet Poets invited to record their work for our online Poetry Live archive

FOR GUIDELINES CLICK HERE

Playwriting Pop-up

The Abbey Theatre literary team read and respond to hundreds of scripts per year, as well as seeing productions of new work all over the country.

They are setting up one-day Pop-up events as an opportunity for playwrights to become familiar with the approach to play development at the Abbey Theatre. They will include workshops and discussions with exciting playwrights, as well as helpful Q and A sessions with experienced professionals from the world of script development and artistic programming.

The first event will be hosted by The Lyric Theatre, Belfast on June 11 from noon – 7.30pm.

If you are a playwright interested in attending our Belfast event, please send an expression of interest including your writing experience to date to ruth.mcgowan@abbeytheatre.ie by June 6th 2014. Places are strictly limited.

If you can’t make it to Belfast, but would like to attend in another location, please email Ruth McGowan at the above address to be kept posted about upcoming Playwriting Pop-up events in your area. Link here

Fifth Japan-EU English Haiku Contest

The Embassy of Japan is pleased to inform you of the Fifth Japan-EU English Haiku Contest, organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and the Delegation of the European Union to Japan, and sponsored by Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, Japan.

710 haiku poets submitted entries on the theme Rainbow for last year's fourth contest. For this year's contest, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and the EU Delegation to Japan are pleased to call on contestants to share their haiku related to the theme of Wonderful Encounter.

The organisers have set up a Fan Page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/haikucontest) and selected haiku will be uploaded. The aim of the contest is to deepen the relationship between Japan and the EU and encourage people to enjoy both writing and reading English haiku.

• The deadline for applications is Friday, 27 June 2014 (2.00am, Brussels time).

• Applications should be submitted by e-mail to japaneuhaiku-contest@mofa.go.jp using the official entry form available to download from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website www.mofa.go.jp/press/release/press4e_000280.html. 
• Only one original and previously unpublished haiku may be submitted per applicant

• The contest is open to nationals of EU member states and Japan who are currently residing in the EU or Japan. It is open to all ages.

• One winner each from Japan and the EU will be announced in due course. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the EU Delegation to Japan will offer the winners a round-trip to Matsuyama City, the birthplace of modern haiku in Japan. The contest winners will be notified by e-mail and given further details of the prize.

Website: www.ie.emb-japan.go.jp/

Cape Open Submissions

From 1-30 June, 2014, Jonathan Cape will be open for fiction submissions from new writers of high calibre and imagination. 

Submissions should be an initial 50 pages of prose fiction. These can be part of a novel or novella, or short stories. The pages can be finished work or a work in progress. 

For graphic-novel submissions, please contact the editors through www.capegraphicnovels.co.uk

Submissions should be emailed as attachments to capesubmissions@randomhouse.co.uk. 

For more details go to http://www.vintage-books.co.uk/capesubmissions/

The Moth International Short Story Competition

The Prize is open to everyone, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished.  There is a 6,000 word limit. The entry fee is €9 per story and you can enter as many stories as you like. 

You can enter online or simply send your story or stories along with a cheque or postal order made payable to The Moth Magazine Ltd. and an entry form (downloadable here) or a cover letter with your name and contact details and the title of story attached to: The Moth, 81 Church Street, Cavan, Co. Cavan, Ireland. 

This year’s competition will be judged by Mike McCormack, a recipient of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature whose debut short story collection was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His novel Notes from a Coma was shortlisted for the Irish Book of the Year Award and was described in the Irish Times as ‘the greatest Irish novel of the decade just ended’. 

CLOSING DATE 30 JUNE 2014

  

The three winning stories will feature in the autumn 2014 issue of The Moth and the winners will be invited to read at a special event at the Winding Stair Bookshop in Dublin in September 2014. 

READ THE RULES HERE

ENTER ONLINE

PRINT AN ENTRY FORM

Gladstone Library residence

Writer in Residence? This sounds wonderful.

Gladstone Library are looking for a Writer in Residence. A full month's residency in wonderful creative surroundings offered in return for two blogs, one day-long workshop, and an event at which you'll discuss your writing life.

Submit a one page CV/blog and a copy of your latest book.

More info online. Deadline: 30 Jun

Mslexia Women's Poetry Competition

Mslexia welcome poems of any length, on all subjects - as long as they're written by women.

1st prize: £2,000

(plus two optional extras*: a week's writing retreat at Cove Park and a mentoring session with the Editor of premier magazine Poetry Review.

2nd prize: £400
3rd prize £200

17 other finalists will each win £25

SPECIAL NEW PRIZE: £1,000 for the best poem by a previously unpublished woman poet.

Judge: Wendy Cope

Closing date: 16 June 2014 

All winning poems will be published in Mslexia.
Please read the competition rules before entering.
Enter the competition here

Poetry Pamphlet competition

For the second year, and in conjunction with Seren Books, we are running a pamphlet competition for short collections of 20-24 pages of 18-20 poems, open to any woman poet who has not previously had a full-length collection published. The prize is publication of the pamphlet by Seren Books plus £250.

More information »
Last year's winning pamphlet, Shadow Dispatches by Polly Atkin (right), is available to buy for just £5.
Click here »

McLellan Poetry Prize

The McLellan Poetry Prize is awarded in memory of Robert McLellan the poet, playwright and short story writer who spent his working life in High Corrie on the Isle of Arran.

Once again we will be offering a first prize of £1000 (along with 11 other prizes and commendations). 

Poems will be judged by Peter and Ann Sansom, who will present the prizes in person at a special festival event on 30th August. 

Deadline: 30th June 2013 

Poems should:

• be no more than 80 lines  
• Have a title
• be in English, 
• be previously unpublished 
• must not have won a prize in any other competition.

This is an international competition, open to all.
Fee: £5 per poem and £4 each for three or more poems. Cheques drawn on a UK bank

or Pay Online

Full details can be found at http://www.arranart.com/atat/poetry.html

Stinging Fly Submissions

For the Spring 2014 issue, the Stinging Fly are accepting submissions in June only.

Nuala Ní Chonchúir is the guest fiction editor for this issue.

As part of her guest editorship Nuala will include a flash fiction showcase. Submissions for the showcase (stories up to 500 words, only one story to be submitted per writer) will be accepted by e-mail only and on one day only: Saturday June 22nd, which is international flash fiction day. We will give further instructions on how to make your submission closer to the time.

All other submissions — poetry, short stories — must be submitted by post in the usual way, following the guidelines below. Please read them.
No more than one story and/or four poems should be submitted during any one submission period.

Writers may submit a story for the flash fiction showcase and submit a second longer story by post.

See link here

And see what rocks Nuala's boat here and what doesn't!

RTÉ Guide / Puffin Children’s Short Story Competition 2013

There are four categories to enter and the story can be about whatever they want to write about: funny, serious, scary or an adventure.

* 10 yrs old and younger – up to 300 words (with an illustration or picture, if you want!)
* 11-13 yrs old – up to 500 words
* 14-16 yrs old– up to 750 words
* 17 yrs old+ – up to 1000 words

There are some great prizes to be won for the Winners and Runners up!

• Each category winner will have their story published in and issue of the RTÉ Guide
• The winners will also receive a Kindle E- Reader and a hamper of books worth €50.
• And as an added bonus, the Winner of the under-10 category will be recorded by a TRTÉ presenter for broadcast!
• The two runners Up in each category will receive their own hamper of books worth €50.
• The winners and runners up, along with their parents, will be invited to attend an awards ceremony in RTÉ, getting to meet some of the RTÉjr and TRTÉ presenters and take a tour of some of our sets!  

Closing date for all entries is 5.00pm on Friday, June 7, 2013
 
There's a link here to the RTE Guide Facebook page

KBC Dalkey Book Festival Four Forty Story Competition

Competition for up and coming young writers

We urgently need some good stories, so we’re launching a terrific new short story competition in association with KBC. To celebrate 40 years of KBC in Ireland and 4 years of the Dalkey Book Festival, your story must be 440 words or less. If you are 13 or under (the best age for writers, we think) we desperately want you to enter. Please, please, enter as soon as you can; by next week we might be reduced to reading phone books and junk mail.

A prizewinner will be selected in each category (9 and under and 10-13yrs).
Each prizewinner will win book tokens to the value of €250, Dalkey Book Festival tickets, a festival lunch (with a chance to meet some of our children’s authors) and a two night family stay with dinner in the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel, Killiney. Get writing!

Deadline: Monday 3rd June 2013 at 10.30am.

• Entry to this competition is open to children aged 13 years and under on 3 June 2013 who are living in Ireland
• Entrants must write a fictional short story (no more than 440 words in length) Entry is via an online entry form available here

Dalkey Festival is

Poets Meet Painters writing competition

The Poets Meet Painters competition 2013 is open for entries.

This also incorporates a new Mill Cove Poetry Award.

As always, this is a competition for poems inspired by works of art exhibited or sponsored by Mill Cove Gallery and Sculpture Garden.

For a sample slideshow click here

Additionally, the highest placed poem inspired by a ceramic work will receive the Mill Cove Poetry Award. If the overall winning poem relates to a ceramic work, the next eligible poem will receive the Mill Cove Poetry Award.

Check eligible illustrations in Irish Ceramics: the best of Irish ceramic sculpture (available for purchase here ).

The competition will be judged by Leanne O'Sullivan.

There will be a first prize of €200, and in addition there will be a Mill Cove Gallery award for a poem inspired by a ceramic work.

Deadline: 17 June 2013

Each poem must not exceed 40 lines
Up to three poems may be submitted per entry.
A fee of €8 per entry is payable via PayPal or cheque

For full details of the competition and how to enter, visit http://hungryhillwriting.com/section682226.html. 

Boyle Arts Festival Poetry Competition 2013

From Michael Farry's blog (honorary Poetry Divo)

Prizes:  €500 first prize plus 4 x €50 highly commended.

Deadline: 15 June.

Shortlisted poems will be notified ahead of the awards which will be held on Sunday 28 July 2013  in King House, Boyle at 7pm.

Rules:
Entry Fee €5 per poem
Entry form must accompany poems. (from the website)

Judge
Poems will be judged by Geraldine Mills who has published two collections of short stories and four collections of poetry.


Workshop
Geraldine will also be hosting a poetry workshop, "Wordstitching" on Sunday 28th July between 11.30 and 1pm, €20.
This workshop is aimed at writers who wish to explore the elements that are necessary to produce a good poem. Using a series of short writing exercises, participants will engage with weaving words together to create a poem that is a primary experience for writer and reader.

More information and entry forms from the website
Keep an eye on it for the festival programme.

Stinging Fly Submission Guidelines

The Stinging Fly have changed their submission guidelines. I wonder why? Maybe one submission period meant the magazine was less in the spotlight for the rest of the year.

During 2013 The Stinging Fly will accept submissions in February, June and October. We will effectively, from now on, be working two issues in advance. Submissions received in February 2013 will be considered for our October issue (Winter 2013–14); June 2013 submissions will be read for our Spring 2014 issue; October 2013 submissions will be read for our Summer 2014 issue.

The editors remain the same though it appears.

Details here