North West Words Arts Night 29th January 2015

Next week is the last of January, and that means North West Words Arts Night on the last Thursday. Nothing warms the heart in winter like a night of winning poetry and some good food in Cafe Blend, Letterkenny. It's a night for the winners and shortlistees from the Donegal Creameries and North West Words Poetry Prize 2014.

 

Two free short story competitions

Most writing competitions do charge an entrance fee, and as long it's reasonable, that's understandable. Still, sometimes they're expensive, and they do start to add up if you are entering a few. So, here are two free to enter short story competitions. They are both well known annual competitions and are run by County Councils in Ireland. The deadlines are in late February and early March.

From the Well  Short Story Competition 2015 Cork  County Library and Arts Service - deadline 20th February 2015. There is a theme of 'Light' and a maximum word count of 2,000. The judges for the 20 shortlisted entries are Claire Kilroy, Declan Meade and Billy O’Callaghan. For further details, rules, and an entry form see here


Molly Keane Creative Writing Award 2015 - deadline Friday 6th March 2015. Maximum word count 2,000. For full details, rules, and the entry form see Waterford City and County Council website here   

Happy writing.

Writing opportunities in January 2015

What better way to start a writerly New Year than to send out some submissions. There are quite a few opportunities listed below - all open in January 2015. And, for competitions, see our competitions page. Happy reading and writing through 2015 from the Garden Room Writers.

North West Words - hurry, hurry, the deadline for submissions to issue 3 is 01st January 2015. An online magazine seeking poetry, short story (max 2000 words), non-fiction (max 800 words), flash fiction (max 500 words) and jpegs of photography/art. For more details see here 

Happy Christmas from the Garden Room Writers

Image from: http://all-free-download.com/

North West Words Arts Night November

Tonight is North West Words Arts Night at 8pm in Cafe Blend, Letterkenny.

Absence, grief, writing

I truly believe that the books and writing we are meant to read find us. Even in the great chaotic morass of the internet, we can stumble upon beauty, truth and resonance. This piece by Colm Toibin reached out and grabbed me by the throat yesterday, and although my reaction is shaped by very specific circumstances and events that have been going on in my life recently, you need to read it too.
You need to read it because he is intelligent and insightful about what writers do. You need to read it because every author and book he mentions in the piece is unmissable....you have read Mary Lavin, haven't you? Julian Barnes? Joan Didion? If not, what are you waiting for?
You need to read it because you are human, and grief and loss touches us all, and great writing helps us heal. My copy of 'Nora Webster' is ready, waiting to be read. What are you waiting for?

November - some submission opportunities

For a variety of reasons, mostly work related, I couldn't manage my usual round up of submission opportunities last month. I noticed too that my fiction writing slipped far into the background of my life. These little postings help to motivate me; they keep me thinking about what might come next. And, it's nice to share them. So, I'm back with another one. Maybe it will motivate me, as much as anyone, to write and send out work soon.

Here's a list of what I've found to be open currently.

North West Words Magazine - they have just released Issue 2 and are seeking submissions for Issue 3.  Send up to three poems, or up to 2000 words of fiction, or up to 800 words of memoir to editornww@yahoo.ie For further details see inside the magazine.

Shortlists, Long Lists and To do lists

My cousin Caroline in Rossnowlagh Oct 28th by my Aunty Marie 

I love October, I love autumn air, its colour and autumn clothes, back to school routine is established, I know the names and a fair bit about the students sitting in front of me and they have got their heads around their English teacher’s penchant for turning rainy day classes and days when half the class is at a match into impromptu creative writing lessons. It’s a busy month but I always feel I’m making progress in October after the go slow of August and the disorientation of back to school.

This October I've had the added satisfaction of seeing my name on the shortlist and then my Shelter placed third in the Bailieborough Poetry Festival Competition as well as seeing another poem and a flash fiction make it on to the longlists of the Allingham Festival competitions. 

North West Words on Halloween Night

North West Words Arts Night is on Friday this week, 31st October at 8pm in Cafe Blend.

Martine Madden was born in Limerick, educated in Dublin and spent her early married life working in the Middle East. From some of the Armenian Diaspora there, she learned of the Armenian Genocide which took place in the Ottoman Empire or modern-day Turkey, in 1915. A much later discovery of the photographs of German officer, Armin Wegner, prompted Martine to write about the Genocide and her novel, Anyush, was published by Brandon in May 2014.

Michael Wilson’s has been writing and performing poetry for ten years and has been published in various formats, from magazines and anthologies, to collections of his own work and CDs. He is a graduate of the Islington Mill Art Academy, a group of self-directed artists who ran residencies in various locations including Glasgow, the Lake District, and Berlin. He has just released a new CD of his poems called All Life’s Settler’s Come at Dawn, and his performance at North West Words is part of a month long Irish tour to launch the record. He has also been asked, as previous winner of the Cheltenham Literature Festival UK All Stars Slam to compete in their final slam this Autumn, as a wildcard chosen from over a decade of the long running slam’s past winners.

On the same night at 7pm is the prize award ceremony for the NWW 2014 Schools Poetry Competition.

And, don't forget that the NWW adult poetry competition is currently open for entries. The deadline is 14th November 2014, and the judge is Kate Newman from Summer Palace Press. For more details see here 

Donegal Creameries North West Words Poetry Prize 2014

This is the third year of the annual poetry prize from North West Words. They are seeking submissions of poetry both nationally and internationally. The judge, as in previous years, is the poet and Summer Palace Press co-founder, Kate Newman. Full details are available from the NWW website

The deadline for submissions is 14th November 2014, and entries must not have been previously published or have won a competition. There is an entry fee of €5 for a maximum of 3 poems, and submission must be by post. The address for entries is North West Words Poetry Prize 2014, 54, Thornberry, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. First prize is €250 and a perpetual cup. 

Good luck to anyone entering - I might be lucky enough to hear you read the winning poem at NWW Arts Night in January 2015.