Tuesday, December 16, 2014

THE WC&C SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION

Hello! Please spread the word that the WC&C Scholarship Competition, is now open. We'll be accepting submissions of poetry, fiction--and, for the first time, creative nonfiction--now through the end of March.

Three winners will receive $500 each to attend a WC&C member conference, center, festival, retreat, or residency. 6 finalists will also receive from memberships in AWP. We'll be promoting this contest heavily in AWP's social media this season, so watch for posts and please re-post on your sites!

The details can be found on the attached flyer, which I hope you will distribute widely.

Best Wishes,
Diane

Diane Zinna | Director of Membership Services | t 703-993-4396 | f 703-993-4302 | diane@awpwriter.org

2015 WORKSHOP RETREAT SCHEDULE SET!

All nine of the 2015 Week-long Workshop Retreats can be seen at
http://www.anamcararetreat.com/workshops.html.

I hope that you'll find one that meets your needs or that you will decide that 2015 is the year you will go on retreat to work on your own creative project.

Either would make a much-appreciated gift for a creative loved
one...or for your creative self!

Sunday, December 7, 2014

AND ANOTHER!!!

Poetry for the Soul
A Week-long Residential Workshop Retreat
Led by James Harpur (www.jamesharpur.com)
Arrival: Saturday, 9 May 2015
Departure: Saturday 16 May 2015

"My week at Anam Cara will explore the world of poetry with a spiritual tinge to it. In a friendly but focused atmosphere, sometimes contemplative, sometimes fun, we shall explore some of life’s deeper issues and observe how poetry honours them with the “best words in the best order”. The backdrop of the peninsula will help to direct our thoughts to creation and the creative process.
"Our morning sessions will include relaxed warm-up exercises, discussions on particular themes, reading classic and contemporary poems, and above all getting down to some writing. Afternoons will focus on personal study and one-to-one sessions with James.
"The course is open to all abilities, from experienced writers to those beginning their poetic journey, and is suitable to all believers, non-believers and part-time believers of all creeds, or no creeds. The most important thing is an open mind and heart, enthusiasm and a willingness to have a go and share.’"
Our themes will be:
• Life as Journey
• The Poetry of Now
• Spirit of Nature
• Talking to the Dead
• Dreamtime

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Another Workshop Retreat Added to 2015 Schedule

ONCE UPON A TIME... REDISCOVER YOUR CREATIVE FREEDOM
A Week-long Residential Workshop Retreat
Led by Vanessa Gebbie (www.vanessagebbie.com)
Arrival: Saturday, 1 August 2015
Departure: Saturday, 8 August 2015

An reinvigorating workout for writers -- especially established writers who are feeling hemmed in.

The writing industry loves to put writers in boxes, pushing them to create similar work over and over. Let’s break those boxes open and remind ourselves how broad this gift of writing really is? Remember how it used to be when you started out?

Spend a week shamelessly experimenting at the glorious retreat that is Anam Cara. Take a step outside your comfort zone, try out new forms, new themes, with the support of an experienced tutor whose text book is recommended reading for creative writing courses across the UK and beyond, and whose published works span the novel, short stories, flash and micro-fictions, poetry and prose poetry.

Monday, November 24, 2014

5 Days Until Closing.....

of the Fish Publishing Short Story Competition. See www.fishpublishing.com for details. Good luck!

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

2015 Workshop Retreat Schedule in Process

I am in the midst of putting together the residential workshop retreats at Anam Cara Writer's and Artist's Retreat (the rest of the year people are retreating to work on their own projects). Let me know if you would like more information on any of these; I'll have the complete schedule ready in the next few days:

‘‘What do I Mean by Creativity?" A Proprioceptive Writing Retreat
Led by Ginny Keegan, http://www.ginnykeeganwatercolors.com/mbr_statement.php
Arrival: Saturday, 18 April 2015
Departure: 25 April 2015

Painting The Beautiful Beara Peninsula of Ireland: A Watercolor Painter's Idea of Heaven
Led by: Evelyn Dunphy, www.evelyndunphy.com
Arrival: Saturday, 30 May 2015
Departure: Saturday, 6 June 2015

Lining Our Thoughts: A Poetry Writing Workshop
Led by: Leanne O’Sullivan (http://www.munsterlit.ie/Writer%20pages/O'Sullivan,%20Leanne.html)
Arrival: Saturday, 11 July 2015
Departure: Saturday, 17 July 2015

Loosening the Bonds - A Silent, Guided, Elements
Retreat Leader: Kim Richardson
Arrival: Saturday, 15th August 2015
Departure: Saturday 22nd August 2015

Singing Over the Bones
Retreat Leader: Sharon Blackie (http://reenchantingtheearth.com/courses/singing-over-the-bones/
Arrival: Sunday, 11 October 2015
Departure: Friday, 16 October 2015

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

FISH SHORT STORY COMPETITION DEADLINE: 30 NOVEMBER

The Fish Publishing Short Story First Prize is €3,000; second prize: A week in residence at Anam Cara Writer's and Artist's Retreat in Eyeries, Beara, West Cork.

The ten best stories will be published in the 2015 Fish Anthology.

This year's judge, Jennifer Johnston, has been described by Roddy Doyle as "Ireland's greatest writer." She is the recipient of many awards, including The Whitbread Award for The Old Jest, and a Lifetime Achievement from the Irish Book Awards, and has been short-listed for the Booker Prize. She has published 16 novels and five plays.

Closing Date: 30 November 2014
Word Limit: 5,000
Results: 17 March 2015
Anthology Published: July 2015
Submission Fee: €20 for first, €10 thereafter.
Critique of your story (optional): €45, available year round.
See www.fishpublishing.com for more details.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

10 Tips for Being a Successful Poet


Sir Andrew Motion is an English poet and novelist who was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009.
He has been awarded several poetry awards, including the Arvon Prize, the John Llewelyn Rhys Prize and the Dylan Thomas Prize. He was knighted for his services to literature in 2009.

Here are his top 10 tips for being a successful poet:

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-29538180

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Munster Lilterature Centre Call for Poetry Submissions

An international poetry competition run by the Munster Literature Centre in Cork, Ireland, (http://www.munsterlit.ie) is currently open for submissions.

Facebook: The Gregory O'Donoghue International Poetry Prize is now open for submissions! 1st Prize includes 1000 Euro, publication in Southword Journal, a trip to Cork to read your work at the Cork Spring Poetry festival AND a week-long writer’s retreat at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre! 2nd Prize: 500 Euro + Southword publication. 10 runners up receive Southword Journal publication and standard fee of 30 Euro. Deadline 30 November. Judge: Matthew Sweeney. For more submission guidelines, terms, and conditions, please visit http://www.munsterlit.ie/Gregory%20ODonoghue%20International%20Poetry%20Competition.html

Twitter: O’Donoghue Poetry Comp now open! 1st prize E1000, journal publication, festival reading & writer’s retreat! http://tinyurl.com/6xwt8yb

Newsletter/mailshot text:
The Gregory O'Donoghue International Poetry Prize is now open for submissions! This is a prize for single poem, named in honour of a late Irish poet long associated with the Munster Literature Centre. First prize is 1,000 Euro (on 7 October 2014 approx. USD 1263 or GBP 784), a week-long writer’s retreat at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre and publication in Southword Literary Journal. The MLC will subvent travel costs for the winner up to 600 Euro and provide hotel accommodation and meals for three days during the Cork Spring Poetry Festival. The author who takes first prize will have the chance to read the winning poem at the Cork Spring Poetry Festival in February 2014. There will be a second prize of E500, third prize of E250, and ten runners-up will each have their poems published and receive Southword’’s standard fee of E30. Southword Journal has previously published Billy Collins, Sinéad Morrissey, Martín Espada, Greg Delanty, Tess Gallagher, Matthew Sweeney and Brian Turner amongst many other respected literary figures. (http://www.munsterlit.ie/Southword/issues_index.html)

The deadline is 30 November 2014 and this year's judge is poet Matthew Sweeney. ( http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poet/item/11102 )

More information, including submission guidelines, may be found on our website: http://www.munsterlit.ie/Gregory%20ODonoghue%20International%20Poetry%20Competition.html

or via our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/odonoghue.poetry.competition

Friday, October 3, 2014

The Stinging Fly is seeking submissions for a special issue!

We are currently seeking submissions for our Summer 2015 issue which will have a special theme and focus: London.

Similar to how we did the New York issue in 2011, a good share of the work will be specially commissioned. We want to gather stories, poems and essays that reflect London life and that explore some of the manifold relationships and connections that exist between Ireland and this major world city. We have published many London-based writers in the magazine down through the years and we hope to get new work from some of these writers for this special issue. As ever, we also want to discover new voices.


How to Submit:

Rather than follow our usual guidelines below, we'd ask you to send us an email with a brief introduction and proposal for what you wish to submit.

If it is poetry, please send us no more than two poems (previously unpublished) — pasted into the email or into one attached document.

If it is a short story or novel extract, please send us a brief outline and an attachment with the first two pages of the story (double spaced).

If it is an essay, please send a brief outline that includes proposed word count.

Send submissions to london.stingingfly@gmail.com and use SUBMISSION and POEM, STORY or ESSAY in the subject line.

All submissions/expressions of interest must be received by October 31st 2014. We will seek to respond to all submission emails by the end of November.

We would also be very happy to hear from you at this email address if you have any suggestions for writers we might want to feature in the issue — or topics we might want to cover.

Fish Short Story Competition Deadline, 30 November

Short Story Prize: €3,000

The ten best stories will be published in the 2015 Fish Anthology.

This year's judge, Jennifer Johnston, has been described by Roddy Doyle as "Ireland's greatest writer." She is the recipient of many awards, including The Whitbread Award for The Old Jest, and a Lifetime Acheivement from the Irish Book Awards, and has been short-listed for the Booker Prize. She has published 16 novels and five plays. Read more


Closing Date: 30 November 2014

Results: 17 March 2015

Anthology Published: July 2015

Word Limit: 5,000

Submission Fee: €20 for first, €10 thereafter.

First Prize: €3,000

Second Prize: A week in residence at Anam Cara Writers and Artists Retreat in West Cork.

Please read the Full Details before entering. (www.fishpublishing.com)

Deadline Looming for Poetry Competition

Dear Poets

Just twenty-five days to go & five great reasons for entering the 8th annual Troubadour International Poetry Prize

£5000 top prize (sponsored by Cegin Productions) with twenty-two more prizes totalling £2,000 plus Troubadour season tickets;
quickest turnaround - just 5 wks from deadline (Oct 20th) to contacting winners (Nov 24th), tying up your best poems for the shortest possible time
fairest judging - every poem is read by both our distinguished poetry-editor judges, Neil Astley & Amy Wack, no sifters, no shortlisters
prize-winners reading - the chance to read your prize-winning poem at the Troubadour alongside Neil, Amy & your fellow prize-winner poets at our (Dec 1st) prize-celebration;
going forward - the top three poems are forwarded annualy to 'the Forward': Tim Nolan, our 2012 3rd-prize-winner, is now on the five-poet shortlist for 2014 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem
Enter by e-mail or post, full details below & on website.

Best of luck!

Anne-Marie Fyfe
coffee-house poetry at the troubadour

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Troubadour Coffee House Poetry Competition!

"We are suddenly slipping into September, & it's time for a timely reminder of this year's £5,000 top award in the 8th annual Troubadour International Poetry Prize making one of the most prestigious annual poetry 'titles' also one of the most rewarding!

"2nd & 3rd placed poets will see increased prizes & they, & twenty others, will also receive Coffee-House Poetry season tickets, join this year's prize judges, Neil Astley & Amy Wack, in reading at a prizewinners' Troubadour event, & join the prizewinners 'roll-of-honour' on our poems page.

"Last year's 1st-prize poem was by Hideko Sueoka from Tokyo; & Minnesotan Tim Nolan's 2013 3rd-prize poem is now shortlisted for the 2014 Forward Best Single Poem Prize. Tim will read here at the Troubadour on 6th October.

"The £5,000 first prize is donated by sponsors, Cegin Productions, as part of our 2014 Troubadour-60 celebrations of the Troubadour Coffee-House & its famous cellar-club's role in London's poetry scene for the past 60 years.

"Submit as many poems as you like: I'm looking forward to hearing, as always, some great poems on prize-night, Monday 1st December..."

Anne-Marie Fyfe
coffee-house poetry at the troubadour

Saturday, August 30, 2014

THE MISSOURI REVIEW COMPETITION

The Missouri Review’s 24th Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction is now open for submissions. First-place winners in each category receive a prize of $5,000, plus a feature in their spring issue and paid travel to their gala reading and reception in Columbia, Missouri. Contest finalists will receive cash prizes and have their work considered for publication as well.

This opportunity is open to both emerging and established writers—we are most of all concerned with finding strong work. All writers submitting to our contest receive a one-year subscription to The Missouri Review.

They accept submissions online or by mail. The postmark deadline is October 1st, and winners will be announced in January of 2015.

You can find more information about the contest through their website: http://www.missourireview.com/tmrsubmissions/editors-prize-contest/.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Short Story Competition Deadline!!!

Glimmer Train's
Short Story Award for New Writers

Deadline: August 31, 2014

Prizes:

1st place wins $1,500 and, of course, publication in Glimmer Train Stories.

2nd place wins $500, or, if chosen for publication, $700.

3rd place wins $300, or, if chosen for publication, $700.

Make a Submission

Other considerations:
Open only to writers whose fiction has not appeared in any print publication with a circulation over 5,000. (Writing Guidelines)
Reading fee is $15 per story. Please, no more than 3 submissions per category.
Winners and finalists will be officially announced in the November 1 bulletin, and contacted directly the previous week.
Simultaneous submissions are okay. Please notify immediately if your submission is accepted elsewhere.

Friday, August 15, 2014

ARTS JOB OPPORTUNITY IN IRELAND

DIRECTOR
The Dock
Carrick on Shannon
(Three-year, fixed-term contract)

As it approaches its 10th anniversary, The Dock, a dynamic multidisciplinary arts centre in Carrick on Shannon, is seeking to recruit a new Director to lead the organisation in its next stage of development.

The Dock comprises a 117-seat performance space, exhibition spaces, workshops and artists’ studios.

As well as developing and implementing a strategic vision, the Director will have final responsibility for programming, financial management, marketing and audience development, management and recruitment of staff and building management.

Salary €47,000 p.a.

For further information see www.leitrimarts.ie or contact +353 71 96 50460.

Deadline for receipt of applications: Friday 5th September, 2014.

Shortlisting may apply. Leitrim Arts Development Ltd, the employer in respect of this position, is an equal opportunities employer.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

THE IRISH GOLDEN FLEECE AWARD ANNOUNCED!

Call for Applications for the 2015 Award

The Golden Fleece Award aims to support and promote the diversity of contemporary Irish creativity in the arts and crafts. Its mission is to help artists of innovative talent, needing support at strategic stages of their careers.

Applicants will normally have been born on the island of Ireland and must maintain a strong connection with Ireland. They should be artists or researchers working in the area of figurative visual art or of the traditional crafts.

Closing date for applications: Friday, 21 November 2014

Full details of submission requirements and procedures can be found on their website at www.goldenfleeceaward.com.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Competition News from The Missouri Review

From Anne Barngrover, Contest Editor:

The Missouri Review is holding its annual Editor's Prize Competition for which we offer over $15,000 in prizes. We accept submissions in fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, and first-place winners in each category receive a prize of €5000, plus a feature in our spring issue and paid travel to our gala reading and reception. Contest finalists will receive cash prizes and have their work considered for publication as well, and all entrants receive a subscription to the magazine for their submission fee.

The postmark deadline is October 1, 2014; you can find more information about the contest through our website:
http://www.missourireview.com/tmrsubmissions/editors-prize-contest.

We encourage early submissions!

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Troubadour Anne Lister Releases First Novel!

Writer-in-Residence Anne Lister's (Newport, UK, www.annelister.com) first novel, Slipping Through the Cracks, blends folktales, legends, and myths with 21st century London. A songwriter, a botanist, a teacher, an artistic child, and a well-meaning blunderer find their way through to another reality. Each of them have to face their own set of challenges until they work together with new allies in the final confrontation.

Anne is best known as a songwriter and a performer, and many of her songs have travelled around the world in the repertoire of other performers. She is also a storyteller, working with children and adults. A sequel to this novel is already in preparation.

Cover designed by Steve Purbrick

Thursday, April 24, 2014

PATTI MARXSEN ANNOUNCES NEW BIOGRAPHY RELEASE DATE!

EARLY BIRD ANNOUNCEMENT: Because I wanted you to be among the first to hear the good news, my latest book Helene Schweitzer – A Life of Her Own will be published in the USA by Syracuse University Press in 2015.

Congratulations, Patti!

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

VANESSA GEBBIE WINS THE 2013/14 SUSSEX POETS' COMPETITION!

Vanessa Gebbie (Rigmer, East Sussex, UK) has won the Wellesley Wealth Advisory prize of £750 with her poem, "Graffiti." She is a Welsh writer, living and working in East Sussex. Winner of the 2012 Troubadour Poetry Prize, her debut poetry collection was published by Pighog in 2013. She has also written the novel The Coward’s Tale (Bloomsbury) and two collections of short stories with Salt Modern Fiction. Vanessa is a contributing editor of Short Circuit, Guide to the Art of the Short Story (Salt).

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Artist-in-Residence Evelyn Dunphy Has Wonderful News!

From Evelyn Dunphy, who is conducting a watercolour workshop retreat at Anam Cara at the end of May, just sent this wonderful news. Many congratulations, Evelyn!

Dear Sue:

When I opened my email from the Art of Watercolour magazine,
I could hardly believe what I was reading; both paintings that I submitted ["Exuberance" and "Tea and Sushi"] were juried into the third stage of the World Watercolour Competition!


It's hard to take in, really. It's such a thrill; I keep reading the announcement over again just to see the words! When I read about the competition in the French watercolor magazine, The Art of Watercolour and thought "my goodness, what are the chances of ever making it even to the first selection with competition like this?" But my attitude is always "nothing ventured, nothing gained" and so I filled out the submission form, attached the photos of my paintings and hit "send."

I do know that reaching this level of a world-wide competition has the potential to open up opportunities for my painting career that I would not have dreamed of. Many of you know my story and can appreciate what it means to have started painting after being a "stay at home Mom" for many years, then working full time before finally taking the plunge to begin painting.

Thank you for being part of my journey.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Maeve O'Sullivan's Latest Book of Poetry

The following is the incredible address that Damian Smyth* gave to launch Maeve O'Sullivan's latest book of poetry, Vocal Chords**. Maeve lives in Dublin and has led a number of haiku workshop retreats at Anam Cara with Kim Richardson.

I want to thank Kim [Richardson***] and Alba Publishing for the hospitality this evening and, of course, for the events to unfold a little later. I want to thank Maeve and Kim for inviting me to say a few words to launch this significant volume of poetry. It’s an honour and it is a pleasure and, in return, my gift to you is my intention not to delay you long.

But sometimes it's hard to keep faith with poetry. All that archness and posture, the rune and the chant, averted head and evil eye that John Montague talked about. Stiff and mannered and off-putting and a bit fusty and a bit full of yourself and more than a bit fey and more than a bit difficult.

All my life I think there's hardly been a waking hour when some version of poetry hasn't preoccupied me and sometimes I think it's like fly fishing or embroidery or an obsession with bus timetables from services that no longer run; imaginary journeys through fanciful landscapes ushered in by a language of odd syntax and odder grammar.

And it appears as counter-intuitive like being able to remember people's names but not their faces. Some peculiar ailment.

It's not fanciful. This disquiet, this unease, this assumption that it somehow matters that such a peculiar register of the voice is reached and sustained. Does it matter? Can we account for all the hours of reflection on this little thing, our life? And the lives of others?

And then, out of nowhere, when you least expect it, something is overheard on a bus or stumbled across in a letter or newspaper or something falls out of a book that looks like a book of poems, which has exactly that ease and grace and poise which makes the heart secretly inflate ...

‘Our round window looks out
onto the lush garden.
The place is warm, and well-run
But it’s not my home.’


How simple is that? How much love and commitment and companionship and how much abandonment? Suddenly, all the toil and bother and interrogation vanishes and is replaced by that unique power and quality of poetry to deliver what only it can, simply, directly, but not without magic.

‘All week herons have been appearing:
on the page, on water, in the air’;

'This is how I would like my three sisters to be:
close, relaxed, hanging out happily'

'She takes a notion to defrost the fridge-freezer:
attacking the ice with steam and a blunt scissors';

'And I thought I knew something
about rhythm, and the west';

'He is from County Leitrim, and proud of it.
'Lowest birth rate in the country', he says,
'but I'm going to change all that'.

That drop into poetry is exhilarating to me, so clearly effective in setting up mood for a change of tone or emphasis, such a self-confidence in the strength of the poetic voice which is already on its way. For me, that is a mark of real poetry at work. Unforced, relaxed, self-assured, engaging, lulling. This poetry has a lovely character.


Though not quite overheard on a bus or stumbled across in a letter or newspaper, Maeve O’Sullivan’s poetry arrived with me through the shorter form of poems in a few journals and magazines and then, in full volume, through the miracle of social media. Or, rather, the miracle of my engagement with social media, Twitter to be precise, a medium I fought against and resisted for years but was finally forced into by my employers. Happily, unexpectedly, through the simple confluence of interest and comment, I grew more familiar with Maeve’s work, her thinking, her writing, her – if I may use this word, and I think I may – her art. Now in two volumes, first Initial Response, her exquisite haikus; and in Vocal Chords, she has come in and come out as a writer, as a poet, as an artist.

Too often, writers shy away from that word. It is left to the visual artists – who carry the word in their very degree – and often the classical musician. Writers can talk about the artform or the artistry of certain passages; but describing themselves as ‘artists’ can seem an uncomfortable category, one at odds with the fake democracy of writers and with the apparent ubiquity of words themselves. Art might make us look and sound as if we thought ourselves prophets of old, Magi of a kind, a priesthood.

Writers aren’t that, of course. But they are artists; in the sense that the effects aspired to are best achieved through the deployment of artistic skills, hard won, honed, practiced and polished.

This isn’t about formal trickery.

Because poetry is about itself. It declares itself in the first words, in rhythm and perspective and insight; it is engaging and friendly and subtle and full of mischief. Something nerveless also; something candid and merciless:

And when at last I’m put into the ground,
Or else cremated, ashes back to Gaia,
Book by book, my library will burn down,
Consuming, then, my memory, my sensorium.

All of which is, quite honestly, simply to say that all the form in the world does not make a poem. The poem is elsewhere than in the form though it is invisible and inaudible without the form. This is a very long winded way of saying that the poems in Maeve O’Sullivan’s collection which employ certain forms, especially the villanelles, are true, true, true poems. Their character is lifted, amplified, shaped, moulded, delivered uniquely by the form chosen, elegantly executed, beautifully apt.

Sweet as a nut - exact, perfect, full to its particular edges, from the inside out. There is a satisfaction to be derived from poems as ‘New Time Waltz’ and ‘Snowdonian’ which cannot be achieved in any other way than formal dexterity embracing genuine delicacy and precision of thought.

Of course, the sections define themselves. Gorgeous attention to colour and water and stone and the resonances of 'human hurt'. (The poems engage, in their moods and challenges, some of which are quite vexing and difficult to tolerate.) There are poems which just work and move profoundly because they work. The set-piece sojourns in the care home are strenuous ethically. Extremely difficult matter, calling for extremely cautious judgements delivered again and again, line by line, clear-eyed, cool, restrained, measured, loaded, but charming in the best sense.
The poems are beyond balladry - though there is a ballade mood; it is beyond song as such, though songs and music are threaded through the book; it is beyond minstrelsy, though a fugitive soul is alive in the poems and in the work as a whole.

The whole collection drifts through a life and exposes quietly the life of the poet, in diverse detail in a variety of locations through the poetry, poem by poem, and this particular poem evokes and pro-vokes poems to come.

Song is the legacy certainly but the poems are vigorous and confrontational (in that they face in to big themes, especially loss and erasure and death and the dramatic poses those things strike in a life.)

Hits? As I go through the book there is so much that is good and in different varieties of good. Everyone wants hits - Sunday, Women Drying Their Hair; Objet d'Art, Snowdonian, Your Shangri La, New Drumbeat, Fathomless, Ruffled (extraordinary, memorable), every item in the third section (its nail ready to scratch), Heartwood (my word!), Drumshanbo, Vocal Chords itself ... among others.

I haven't said everything I want to say about these poems and this book, but I think I might have said everything you all want me to say! (But how clever some of the poems are, not just in formal terms though that too.)

Anyway, Maeve, enjoy the evening. The rest of us will attend to the readings, enjoy the music, savour the moods and, in our time, read and live with the book itself.


*Damian Smyth’s first collection, Downpatrick Races, was published by Lagan Press in 2000, and this was followed by his remarkable epic poem, "The Down Recorder." In 2010, Lagan Press published another collection by Damian, Market Street, and ‘Lamentations’, a sequence of seventy brief elegies. his next collection, Mesopotamia, is forthcoming this year by Templar Poetry.

**Vocal Chords is available: via the Alba website (www.albapublishing.com), in Books Upstairs in Dublin or directly from Maeve (@maeveos on Twitter or writefromwithin@gmail.com).

***Kim is leading his second silent retreat -- "Loosening the Bonds" -- at Anam Cara from 16-22 August 2014.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Writer-in-Residence Publishes Another Novel!

Sue Guiney’s latest novel, Out of the Ruins, is being published and is now available in paperback and ebooks.

This is the second in her series of novels set in modern day Cambodia. It imagines a clinic founded by Khmer and Westerners working together to battle the very real issues of women's health care among the poor living within Siem Reap, a city steeped in a glorious past and hurtling towards an unsure future. It also takes a hard look at the sex trade and asks the question, how can good and evil reside together within the same heart.

Although this isn’t a sequel to her first Cambodian novel, A Clash of Innocents, it does have some overlapping characters and concerns. It’s more of a companion piece to the first book, although reading both books makes it an even better experience. Of A Clash of Innocents, Anam Cara alumna and much-published author Tania Hershman said: "This is a story that will grip you, with its very real and flawed protagonists and fascinating setting. I read the book straight through, I was utterly absorbed."

In the UK, the book can be found or ordered in all good bookshops. In the rest of the world, as well as the UK, you can find it on Amazon, or The Book Depository http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Out-Ruins-Sue-Guiney/9781908742438
Or you can buy it directly from the publisher http://www.wardwoodpublishing.co.uk/titles-fiction-sue-guiney-out-of-the-ruins.htm.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

The Stinging Fly Announces Short Story Competition for 2014

We are delighted to announce the return of Ireland's biggest short story competition: the Davy Byrnes Short Story Award 2014

€15,000 for the best short story plus five runner-up prizes of €1,000
Competition Judges: Anne Enright (right), Yiyun Li and Jon McGregor

Sponsored by Davy Byrnes and organised by The Stinging Fly in association with Dublin UNESCO City of Literature

—The competition is open to Irish citizens and to writers who are resident or were born in the thirty-two counties. Entries must consist of a previously unpublished short story written in English. The maximum word count is 15,000 words, no minimum. Only one story per entrant.

—We will be accepting entries from December 1st 2013. No online entries. Entries must be posted/delivered to Davy Byrnes Short Story Award, c/o Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, Dublin City Libraries, 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.

—The deadline for receipt of entries is Monday Feb 3rd 2014. There is a €10 entry fee, payable online or by cheque/postal order.

—The six short-listed writers will be announced in late May/early June 2014 and the overall winner announced in June 2014.

We are very grateful to Redmond Doran of Davy Byrnes for the generous sponsorship, and to the office of Dublin UNESCO City of Literature for their support.

Two Commissions Available for Artists

Ballinamore Community School
Per Cent for Art Scheme

Ballinamore Community School, Ballinamore, Co Leitrim.
071-9644049 office@ballinamorecs.ie

Under the Per Cent for Art Scheme Ballinamore Community School wishes to commission new visual artwork to celebrate and coincide with the construction and opening of Ballinamore Community School.

The aim of the commission is to provide an opportunity for artists to develop new work influenced by the history, context, and aspirations of the students, teachers, parents and community of Ballinamore and the surrounding region.

Projects financed under this scheme should maintain the highest level of artistic excellence, be innovative in nature and display a high level of understanding of the context of the commission.

The project is divided into two separate commissions.

COMMISSION 1 - The first commission is for a collaborative art programme to be explored, developed and completed in conjunction with the students and staff of the school which will result in finished work to be installed internally in the new building (most likely wall mounted). Applicants for Commission 1 should have undertaken a HSE approved Keeping Safe programme or equivalent. The successful applicant will undertake a garda vetting procedure before commencing the commission.

COMMISSION 2 - The second commission is for a piece of fixed permanent public sculpture of resilient and weather resistant material with minimal maintenance requirements. The work is to be situated in a preselected location to the front of the school which is clearly visible from the adjacent public road as well as to all school users.

THE BUDGET

The maximum budget for both commissions is €45,000 inclusive of all artists’ fees, costs, expenses, VAT, insurance and any other charges. It is expected that Commission 1 will have an estimated budget of between €3,000 - €10,000 while Commission 2 will have an estimated budget of between €35,000 - €42,000.

REGISTRATION OF INTEREST

To register your interest in either or both projects, email mailto:office@ballinamorecs.ie or write to Padraig Leyden, Art Commission Coordinator, Community School, Ballinamore, Co Leitrim expressing your interest in the project before 4.00 pm on Friday Feb 7th, 2014 and providing your name, address, telephone number and email address. When registering, please indicate if you intend to attend the project site visit.

Irish Arts Council Announces Fiction Award

The Arts Council has announced that it has established a new award which will honour an outstanding Irish fiction writer, and encourage the next generation of Irish fiction writers.

The Laureate for Irish Fiction has been developed by the Arts Council and is supported by University College Dublin (UCD) and New York University (NYU). The Irish Times is media partner for the Laureate.

The Laureate will be awarded by the Arts Council to an Irish writer of national and international distinction. The honour will be used to promote Irish literature nationally and internationally and to encourage the public to engage with high quality Irish fiction.

The Laureate will have a three-year term. Over the period, he or she will teach creative writing to students at University College Dublin and New York University, will spend time developing his or her own work, and will participate in a number of major, public events and promotions. The Laureate will receive €150,000 over the three years.

The Arts Council will coordinate the nomination process which will begin immediately and include key members of the literary community as well as a spread of national organisations.

The judging panel for the final selection will include a high profile Irish writer, a high profile US writer and representatives from the Arts Council, UCD, NYU and The Irish Times.

Following the announcement in December, Pat Moylan, Chairman of the Arts Council, said: "I am very proud that the Laureate for Irish Fiction has been created by the Arts Council. The Laureate represents a milestone for Irish literature and will place Irish writing at the forefront of global public thought."