The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award 2015

The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award for a first unpublished collection of poems in English is open to poets, born in the island of Ireland, or of Irish nationality, or long term resident in Ireland. 

The award is now in its 44th year.

The winner of this year’s award will receive €1,000. Closing date for entries is Friday 24^th July 2015. The Award will be presented on the evening of Friday 25^th September 2015 at the opening of the Annual Patrick Kavanagh Weekend in Inniskeen.
Rules and entry form from the Patrick Kavanagh Centre, Inniskeen: ww.patrickkavanaghcountry.com

The collection of poems in English must be original and consist of 20 poems. Individual poems should not be more than 40 lines.The collection must not be published at the time of the award but I believe individual poems may be published.The adjudicator is Brian Lynch: www.brianlynch.org. AGAIN.

The entry fee is €25/£25

Mslexia Women’s Novel Competition

From Nuala Ni Chonchuir's blog
The Mslexia Women’s Novel Competition is back. They are looking for novels of at least 50,000 words written for adults (and young adults) in any genre by previously unpublished women novelists.

The first prize is £5,000, and judging panel is made up of novelist Marina Lewycka, literary agent Juliet Mushens and Books Editor at BBC Radio & Music Di Speirs.

Mslexia has joined forces with The Literary Consultancy, who will provide free professional feedback for the winner and four other finalists – who will also be invited to meet literary agents and editors at a specialnetworking event in London.

The competition closes 21st September.

Click here for full competition details.

The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award 2015

The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award for a first unpublished collection of poems in English is open to poets, born in the island of Ireland, or of Irish nationality, or long term resident in Ireland. 

Manuscripts accepted for publication shall be eligible ONLY if the resulting collection of poems is NOT published before the judges’ decision is announced.

The award is now in its 45th year.

Deadline Friday 24th July 2015

The adjudicator is Brian Lynch - I think they should change. He's been judging this for years.

The entry fee is €25/£25

The winner of this year’s award will receive €1,000.

Rules and entry form from the Patrick Kavanagh Centre, Inniskeen:

E-mail: infoatpkc@eircom.net www.patrickkavanaghcountry.com

Newbridge June Fest Literary Miscellany Competition

The competition is open to people living or working in Kildare, from Kildare or attending a writing group in Kildare.

Any genre will be acceptable.

Prose to be no more than 750 words and poetry no more than 40 lines.

Deadline: Tuesday 5th May 2015

5 euro fee per entry to cover costs.   Two entries €8. 

Limited to two entries per person.

Cheques payable to: Junefest Newbridge

Entries can be posted or dropped in to Newbridge Library.  Please clearly mark the envelope Junefest Literary Miscellany.

All entries must be type written. 

Include a separate sheet with your name and contact details and the name of your story/ poem and your connection to Kildare if you live elsewhere. The pieces will be judged anonymously so please do not put your name on the entry itself.  

2015 WOW! Award

Submissions for the 2015 WOW! Award
Deadline: Friday October 31st.

€2100 in Prize money plus publication in the 2015 WOW! Anthology.

Judges for 2015

Poetry: Afric McGlinchey

Fiction: Danielle McLaughlin

Poems up to 100 lines
Fiction up to 3000 words

Full details, including how to enter, at www.wordsonthewaves.com

Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair

The Novel Fair is an initiative by the Irish Writers’ Centre that aims to introduce up-and-coming writers to top publishers and literary agents, giving novelists the opportunity to bypass the slush pile, pitch their ideas and place their synopsis and sample chapters directly into the hands of publishers and agents.

The 2014 Fair was attended by representatives from: Curtis Brown, Diane Banks Literary Agency, Hachette Ireland, Jonathan Williams Literary Agency, Liberties Press, Lilliput Press, Lisa Richards Agency, Marianne Gunne O’Connor Literary Agency, New Island, O’Brien Press, Penguin Ireland, Poolbeg Press, The Book Bureau and Transworld Ireland.

The Prizes
Twelve shortlisted entrants will be anonymously selected by a judging panel to take part in the Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair on 21 February, 2015. Each writer will have a stand at the Fair where they will present the synopsis of their novel, the finished novel itself and biographical material. Top Irish publishers and agents will be invited to the Irish Writers’ Centre to meet these writers in person. To fully prepare them for the day, the winners also receive a place on a seminar on ‘How to Pitch Your Novel’, two weeks in advance of the Fair (7 February, 2015).

This year they are extending the prize to those who make the longlist. Twenty-four applicants who are longlisted and who do not proceed to make the shortlist of twelve will have their work evaluated and critiqued by the judging panel.

Entry Details
The entry fee is €45 (€40 for members) and can be paid by PayPal, cheque, postal order, credit or debit card or cash (paid in person) at the Irish Writers’ Centre.

Deadline 24 October, 2014.

There is no limitation on style, genre, or target market, the only requirement being that the writer has not published a novel before.

To enter, you will need to send a synopsis and up to 10,000 words of a novel.

Before you submit your work, check the Terms and Conditions to see if you are eligible. See details and entry form on www.writerscentre.ie/novelfair.

Yeovil Literary Prize

Get your entry in by midnight (UK/Ireland time!) today, Saturday 31st May

Novel: send your opening chapter(s) and synopsis, no more than 15,000 words in total, for a chance of winning our £1000 first prize.
Short story: maximum 2000 words, first prize £500
Poem: 40 lines maximum, for a first prize of £500

Full details at
www.yeovilprize.co.uk

Hint - with only a short time left, a sense of urgency is needed, but always take time and care on your final editing! It may help to ask a friend to cast an eye over your work for a final check. It's so easy to become blinded to simple errors in punctuation, grammar, plot consistency, etc
.

Cork Literary Review Poetry Manuscript Competition 2014

Bradshaw Books of Tigh Fili is pleased to announce the launch of the Cork Literary Review Poetry Manuscript Competition 2014

The aim of this competition is to give emerging writers the opportunity to publish their first collection of poetry...and to raise funds for the publishers. They rely mainly on grants to continue.

The prize includes:
1. The publication of a first collection by the winning poet.
2. The competition winner and two runners-up will also be featured in Volume XVI of the Cork Literary Review.

This year’s judge is: Joseph Woods again.

Deadline: 21st July 2014. 

Submit 5-10 of your best poems initially.
Upon qualifying for the shortlist of 12 ,
poets will then submit a full manuscript of 50 poems minimum for
judgement.
Fee: €20
The poetry competition is open to poets of any nationality writing in English.

More info here

Caveat: I don't think Bradshaw books are very good at publicity....Have  look for former winners...Angela Carr in 2013, Annette Skade in 2012.

The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award 2014

I have entered this a few times and have been twice commended, never the bride...


The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award for a first unpublished collection of poems in English is open to poets, born in the island of Ireland, or of Irish nationality, or long term resident in Ireland. The award is now in its 43rd year. Previous winners include Eileán Ni Chuilleanáin, Paul Durcan, Thomas McCarthy, Peter Sirr, Sinead Morrissey, Conor O’Callaghan, Celia de Freine and Joseph Woods.

The winner of this year’s award will receive €1,000.

Closing date for entries is Friday 25th July 2014.

The Award will be presented on the evening of the Friday 26th September 2014 at the opening of the Annual Patrick Kavanagh Weekend in Inniskeen.

Rules and entry form from the Patrick Kavanagh Centre, Inniskeen:

Tel. 00353(0)429378560, Fax 00353(0)429378855 E-mail: infoatpkc@eircom.net

www.patrickkavanaghcountry.com

Legends/Changing Times Literary Competition

Literary Competition

Theme: Legends/Changing Times.

The overall theme of the June Fest is ‘Legends’. This theme and/or  ‘Changing Times’ can be interpreted in any way you want, just so long as your prose/poetry has some connection to the theme.

Length: Prose(fiction, essay, memoir) up to 750 words, poetry up to 40 lines.

Closing date: Friday 2nd May

5 euro entry fee to cover costs. Cheques payable to: Junefest Newbridge

Entries can be posted or dropped in to Newbridge Library.  All entries must be type written. Include a separate sheet with your name and contact details and the name of your story/ poem. The pieces will be judged anonymously so please do not put your name on the entry itself.  Please clearly mark the envelope Junefest Literary Miscellany.

Prizes: 1^st  50, 2^nd book vouchers for 30, 3^rd  book vouchers for 20 and the opportunity to read your entry at the Literary miscellany event. 

3 highly commended entries will also have an opportunity to read at the event.

Prize winners will be announced at the Literary Miscellany event on Tuesday 2^nd June. Entries will be judged by Kildare writer Martin Malone, who will also read at the event.

P J O'Connor Radio Play Competition

Have you got a good ear for dialogue? Can you tell a story? Why not try a radio play?

RTE Radio Drama is inviting radio plays of 40 minutes in duration - with a first prize of 5,000 euros for the winning script, as well as runner up prizes of 4,000 and 3,000 euro respectively.

Deadline is Friday the 17th March 2014.

Link here

They have lots of advice on layout and how to structure a radio play. The writer should be Irish or resident in Ireland.

The main advice I have is
- Listen to some radio plays and get an idea of what works and what doesn't
- Read it out loud!
- Don't have loads of characters - too confusing
- Grab your listeners early and don't let go

Free to enter. One entry only, Irish residents. 

Pighog Poetry Pamphlet

I am hesitant to suggest this as there is only one winner. There are runner up prizes of courses but they are in the UK and not much use to me.
But there aren't that many pamphlet competitions so....

FIRST PRIZE:
Publication by Pighog, and 40 complimentary copies of the pamphlet
4 Runners up:
a free place on a Poetry School activity
Judges:
Catherine Smith and Simon Barraclough
Closing date for initial entries:
31 January 2014

About
Pamphlet publishing is vital to poetry. For a second year The Poetry School and Pighog have come together to promote this pamphlet competition, encouraging poets to explore the potentials of the genre and create innovative and imaginative new work.

The competition is open to anyone aged 18 or over, writing poetry in English anywhere in the world. Initially, entrants are invited to submit ten poems (or ten sides of poetry on A4). Each entry should be a collection of exciting work that refreshes and challenges the poetry pamphlet genre. Submissions should be no more than 300 lines in total, averaging 30 lines per poem over 10 poems.
The judges will select a shortlist of up to twelve poets by 28 March 2014. Short-listed poets will be asked to submit complete pamphlet collections by 26 May 2014 for final judging. Shortlisted poets will also be invited to read at an event in Brighton on 26 June 2014, when the winner will be announced.

How to enter
Enter online via the Submittable website. Enter by post by completing the attached entry form which can also be downloaded in Word or PDF format from the Poetry School and Pighog websites.

A maximum of 10 poems should be submitted. Poems should be typed on single sides of A4. Each submission should be no more than 300 lines in total.

Entry fee
Entry costs £10 per entry for:
A) Poetry School Students who have attended a course or workshop since 1 January 2011 or who have attended or booked a course by the competition closing date (31 January 2014)
B) Anyone who has purchased a Pighog publication from the Pighog website (www.pighog.co.uk) since 1 January 2013
Entry costs £15 for anyone not in Category A or B.

Richard & Judy are looking for a new Bestseller

Richard and Judy are launching a national competition to find a new bestselling author alongside their Autumn Book Club.

The ‘Search for a Bestseller’ competition will be looking for first time authors to submit the first 10,000 to 12,000 words of a novel, of any genre, aimed at adults. Richard and Judy want something brand new and are asking entrants to submit their novel via their Book Club website along with a synopsis of the rest of the book. More information

Richard and Judy will lead the selection process, along with editors at the book’s future publisher Quercus, plus experts from literary agency Furniss Lawton. The winning writer will receive a publishing deal worth £50,000 from Quercus for the rights to sell their novel around the world.

The Richard and Judy Book Club website  which launched this summer, will continue to offer readers a forum to exchange thoughts with both Richard and Judy and the authors themselves.
To help inspire budding authors to enter their competition, Richard and Judy have also asked some of their favourite writers to share the lessons they’ve learnt over the years on the website – on the news section, for further tips and advice and follow the Book Club’s Twitter and Facebook pages for regular updates.

Deadline: 1 January 2014. For full terms and conditions please visit: www.richardandjudy.co.uk/beabestseller

Novel Fair

The Irish Writers Centre has launched the next Novel Fair. The last two have been very successful in getting novels to publishers and out there. I do wonder how many of those already published or nearly there would have been picked up anyway.

The Prize

Twelve entrants will be anonymously selected by a judging panel to take part in the Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair on February 22nd, 2014. Each writer will have a stand at the Fair where they will present the synopsis of their novel, the finished novel itself and biographical material. Top Irish publishers and agents will be invited to the Irish Writers’ Centre to meet these writers in person.

Entry Details

There is no limitation on style, genre, or target market, the only requirement being that the writer has not published a novel before.

To enter send a synopsis and up to 10,000 words of a novel.

Deadline for submissions: October 16th, 2013.

Details here

Romance novel ebook competition

Piatkus Entice, pioneers of romance digital publishing and the online home of such internationally  famous authors as Sherrilyn Kenyon, Eloisa James and Christine Feehan, have teamed up with the Festival of Romance to offer you a fantastic opportunity!

We’re giving aspiring authors the chance to win an ebook publishing contract with Piatkus Entice. The winning author will receive intensive editorial guidance, publicity and marketing support and a contract with Piatkus Entice for the publication of the novel as an ebook.

I want in! How do I enter?

Just email the first two chapters of your novel and a short, enticing synopsis of no more than 100 words to Piatkus.Entice@littlebrown.co.uk

Deadline: 2nd September.

Your submission can be any genre of romance writing you can think of, but please attach it as a Word document, with the subject line ‘Piatkus Entice competition’. All submissions will be read and considered by the Entice Team who will, after copious cups of fortifying tea, compile a shortlist of their three favourite submissions.

More details here

Firefly Children’s Book Prize, 2014

Firefly Press (not that one!) are looking for a new Children's books author.

We want: an amazing story for 7-9 year olds.
The story will be 15,000 to 20,000 words written in English, set in contemporary Wales.

The judges are: Catherine Fisher, bestselling children’s author and first Young People’s Laureate Wales, Francesca Rhydderch, novelist and editor, and Firefly publisher Penny Thomas.

First Prize is £500 plus a week’s writer’s retreat at Chawton House Library and the chance to discuss their work in person with Firefly editors Penny Thomas and Janet Thomas, with the possibility of developing their book for publication. The week at Chawton House Library (CHL) is accommodation only, dates to be agreed between CHL and the competition winner. The prize must be taken before the end of 2015.

The two runners up will receive prizes of £50 plus free editorial advice.

Entry is £10
Deadline for entry is 31 August 2013 for the first 3,000 words.
See Terms and Conditions

The Irish Children’s Prize

This is a prize for writing for children, writing in Ireland, not a prize for the best Irish child or an Irish prize for the best child....just in case you were wondering.

There aren't that many competitions for writing for children and here's one from writing.ie

The A. M. Heath literary agency have announced a Irish Children’s Prize,  looking for a new standout Irish voice in children’s fiction.

The Irish Children’s Prize will be judged by Julia Churchill, children’s book agent at A. M. Heath, and David Maybury of Brown Bag Films, Penguin Children’s Books and Inis Magazine editor.

Literary agent Julia Churchill (pictured) said “David and I love all sorts of writing for children. The winner could be a 200 word picture book, a sophisticated YA novel, a 9-12 stand-alone, or a young chapter series. I’m looking for a strong voice, a character to love, and a concept that feels fresh. If you’re writing for children, we’d love to see your work."

It is open to un-agented writers living in the Republic of Ireland and writing children’s or young adult fiction in English. To get a good sense of the voice, concept and where the character is headed, we’d like to see the first 5,000 words PLUS a short description of the book (a few lines) AND a one page outline that shows the spine of the story.

Deadline: October 17th.
More details here

Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award

Deadline: Friday 26th July 2013

The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award is for a first unpublished collection of poems in English by an Irish poet. The award is now in its 42nd year.

Open to poets, born in the island of Ireland, or of Irish nationality, or long term resident in Ireland.
 
Prize: The winner of this year’s award will receive €1,000.

There used to be prizes for second and third. Damn the recession!
 
The Award will be presented on Friday 27th September 2012 at the opening of the Annual Patrick Kavanagh Weekend in Inniskeen.

Judge is Brian Lynch again so I'd suggest that if you had a collection that got nowhere before, the exact same collection may get nowhere again. So tweak it.


The collection of poems in English must be original and consist of 20 poems.
Individual poems should not be more than 40 lines.

Click here to see the rules

Scripts - Playwriting Festival

Sunday 8 – Saturday 14 September 2013

Scripts, Ireland’s newest playwriting festival is dedicated to new Irish plays - the writing of them, the development and nurturing of them.  

Playwright's can submit original 15 Minute plays on the theme Home for selection.  Those selected will benefit from a professional development process where they will be mentored by professional playwright Eugene O' Brien in an exciting workshopping process. 

For 7 days in September the picturesque heritage town of Birr, Co. Offaly, a haven of Georgian elegance, will play host to an ensemble of playwrights, producers, actors and directors, all working towards one goal -  to produce 7 outstanding new Irish plays in 7 fun-filled days!

Submissions are now being sought for:
-      10 – 15 minute plays on the theme, Home
-      10 – 15 minute Radio Play, on the theme Home
-      OR, you can register to be part of a “Pop Up” Play in a Day Challenge

visit www.scriptsireland.com for more info 

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