Blackberry -Picking Seamus Heaney RIP

Blackberry-Picking

Late August, given heavy rain and sun
For a full week, the blackberries would ripen.
At first, just one, a glossy purple clot
Among others, red, green, hard as a knot.
You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet
Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it
Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for
Picking. Then red ones inked up and that hunger
Sent us out with milk cans, pea tins, jam-pots
Where briars scratched and wet grass bleached our boots.
Round hayfields, cornfields and potato-drills
We trekked and picked until the cans were full
Until the tinkling bottom had been covered
With green ones, and on top big dark blobs burned
Like a plate of eyes. Our hands were peppered
With thorn pricks, our palms sticky as Bluebeard's.
We hoarded the fresh berries in the byre.
But when the bath was filled we found a fur,
A rat-grey fungus, glutting on our cache.
The juice was stinking too. Once off the bush
The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour.
I always felt like crying. It wasn't fair
That all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot.
Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not.

Seamus Heaney

2013 OVER THE EDGE NEW WRITER OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST

2013 OVER THE EDGE NEW WRITER OF THE YEAR NEW WRITER OF THE YEAR

THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST WILL BE ANNOUNCED

 @ The Over The Edge open-mic event

@ Kenny’s  Bookshop & Art Gallery, Liosbán Retail Park, Tuam Road, Galway

Friday, September 20^th, 7pm

THE WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED

@ the October Over The Edge: Open Reading

in Galway City Library,

Thurs October 31^st

2013 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year LONGLIST

2013 OVER THE EDGE NEW WRITER OF THE YEAR

LONGLIST

Sheila Armstrong, Dublin

for her stories 'To Come Home' & 'Badhbh'

Bernie Ashe, Galway 

for 'Crow' & other poems

Eileen Bennett, Co, Galway

for her story 'John Byrne Rides Again'

Patricia Bennett, Fermanagh

for her story 'The Chapel of Ease'

Nora Brennan, Kilkenny

for 'Moon' & other poems 

Stephanie Brennan, Co. Galway

for 'Points West' & other poems

Marie Cadden, Co. Galway 

for 'Disturbing The Queen' & other poems

Margaret Cahill, Limerick

for her story 'Moving In'

Alvy Carragher, Galway

for her story 'What Sarah Knows' & 'Broken Symmetry' & other poems

Lesley Cassidy, Galway

for her stories 'Turquoise', 'Hey Presto' & 'Sally' & also for 'Diagnosis' & other poems

Miriam Clyne, Galway

for 'Where are the Voices?' & other poems

Brian Colgan, Galway 

for 'From Babi Yar to Bethlehem'

Teresa Coleman, Mayo

for her story 'Elizabeth'

Denis Collins, Wexford 

for 'Pete' & other poems

Stephanie Conn, Antrim 

from 'When you leave' & other poems

Chris Connolly, Dublin

for his story 'Fake Plastic Trees'

Rachel Coventry, Galway

for 'Like her Grandmother' & other poems

Bernie Crawford, Co. Galway

for 'Fear of Mothering' & other poems

Kate Dempsey, Kildare

for 'What Does Larry Do' & other poems

Maurice Devitt, Dublin 

for 'A Stranger in the House' & other poems

Cal Doyle 

for 'The Heist' & other poems

Kevin Doyle, Cork

for his story 'Whatever It Was About Men'

Dagmar Drabent, Galway 

for 'Time life' & other poems

Judy Drazin, Bristol, UK

for 'Odile's Song' & other poems

Paul Duffy, Wicklow

for his story 'The Vapour's Project'

Elizabeth Dulcie, Torquay, UK

for her story 'Crusing By Numbers'

Kate Ennals, Cavan

for 'What ever you say...say nothing' & other poems

Niall Foley, Edinburgh

for his story 'Phone call from the West of Ireland'

Erin Fornoff, Dublin

for 'On Planes' & other poems

Sean Glynn,  Co. Galway

for his story 'Hackett's Hole'

Sandra Harris, Dublin

for her stories 'The Miracle At Saint Mary's' & 'A Death'

Mary Healy, Kilkenny 

for her story 'What's Worth Keeping'

Meriel Heather, Dublin

for 'King' and other poems

Brian Hefferan, Mayo

for his story 'Adrift In Summer's Time'

Phyl Herbert, Dublin

for his story 'R-E-V-O-L-V-E'

Patrick Hewitt, Dublin

for 'Why?'

Aidan Hynes, Dublin

for his stories 'Confetti On The Moon' & 'Hair'

Anne Irwin, Galway

for 'The Stations of the Crossbar' & other poems

Katherine Janeczeck, Galway 

for 'Genesis' & other poems

Rupert Jenkins, Scotland

for his story 'Tender To The Shore'

Eileen Keane, Kildare

for her story 'Freezing Rasberries' 

Lorraine Kelly, Galway

for her story 'The Wait'

Susan Kelly, Mayo

for 'Mother Superior' & other poems

Gary King, Galway

for his story 'The Returned'

Brian Kirk, Dublin 

for his story 'The Creaseless Society'

Tom Lavelle, Galway 

for 'How I Talk To God' & other poems

Brian Leeson, Belfast

for his story 'Return To Benevenagh'

Philippa Maguire, Co. Galway

for 'Dinner' & other poems

Jennifer Matthews, Cork

for 'Planning Permission' & other poems

Mari Maxwell, Co. Galway

for her story 'Equal Commisson'

Anna McCarthy, New York

for her story 'An Inventory of Slights

Deirdre McClay, Donegal

for her story 'Traps'

Pat McDonnell, Galway

for his story 'Three Sisters in the Sky'

Christopher Meehan, Co. Galway 

for 'The Ever Changing Definition of Youth in Revolt'

Sighle Meehan, Galway

for 'Gatsby Girl' & other poems

Mary McGill, Dublin 

for her story 'The Cat's Mother'

Jennifer McGowan, Oxfordshire, UK 

for 'Penelope' & other poems

Louis Mulcahy, Kerry 

for 'Good Deed' & other poems

Maeve Mulrennan, Galway

for her story 'Cradle'

Brendan Murphy, Co. Galway

for his story'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Sinner'

Catherine Myddleton-Evans, London, UK

for 'under the sea' & other poems

Eileen Ní Shuilleabháin, Galway

for 'Tribe' & other poems

Michael Naghten-Shanks, Dublin 

for 'Rape / Reaction / Result' & other poems

Katherine Noone, Galway

for 'Home' & other poems

Gerard O’Brien, Co. Galway

for his story 'Nissen Hut'

Kerrie O’Brien, Dublin

for 'Scar' & other poems'

Jessamine O’Connor, Sligo

for 'Adults' & other poems

Patrick G. O’Connor, Limerick

for his story 'Concrete and Tulips'

Anita Ouellette, Massachusetts, USA 

for 'Almost Afraid To Talk To God While Others Are Listening'

Clare O’Reilly, Kildare 

for 'With Mercy' & other poems

Eleanor O’Reilly, Wicklow

for her story 'Classifieds, Fags And Coconut Creams'

Kevin O’Shea, Co. Galway

for his story 'Marked'

Micheál Ó’Síocháin, Cork

for his story 'The Last Days of The Pavilion'

Maeve O’Sullivan, Dublin 

for 'Agent of Confusion' & other poems

James O’Toole, Galway

for 'Bad Jobs' and other poems

Sarah O’Toole, Galway 

for 'After the world had ended' and other poems

Christine Painter, Galway 

for 'Remember' & other poems

Valerie Ryan, Kildare

for her story 'The Postman'

Breda Wall Ryan, Wicklow

for 'Inheritors' & other poems

Rejini Samuel, Galway

for her story 'The Alleyway'

Ashlie Schweitzer, Galway

for her story 'Prairie Lights'

Fiona Scoble, Galway

for her story 'What have you brought for us?'

Maresa Sheehan, Carlow

for 'second son' & other poems

Alan M. Shine, Galway

for his story 'The Grave of Charles W. Spencer'

Breda Spaight, Limerick

for 'Final Cut' & other poems

Ekaterina Tikhoniouk, Laois

for her story 'Katie'

Evelyn Walsh, Dublin

for her story 'The Rose of Tralee'

Bogusia Wardein, Cracow, Poland

for 'Ode to Dust' & other poems

Deborah Watkins, Co. Galway 

for 'The Proposal' & other poems

Alison Wells, Wicklow

for her stories 'The Memory-Jar' & 'The Spaceman has his tea'

Dimitra Xidous, Dublin

for 'The science of hands' & other poems

Narrative short Story Competition

Fall 2013 Story Contest

Our fall contest is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. We’re looking for short shorts, short stories, essays, memoirs, photo essays, graphic stories, all forms of literary nonfiction, and excerpts from longer works of both fiction and nonfiction. Entries must be previously unpublished, no longer than 15,000 words, and must not have been previously chosen as a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest.

Prior winners and finalists in Narrative contests have gone on to win other contests and to be published in prize collections, including the Pushcart Prize, the Whiting Writers’ Award, The Best American Short Stories, the Atlantic prize, and others. View some recent awards won by our writers.

As always, we are looking for works with a strong narrative drive, with characters we can respond to as human beings, and with effects of language, situation, and insight that are intense and total. We look for works that have the ambition of enlarging our view of ourselves and the world.

We welcome and look forward to reading your pages.

Click here to submit your work.

Awards: First Prize is $2,500, Second Prize is $1,000, Third Prize is $500, and ten finalists will receive $100 each. All entries will be considered for publication.

Submission Fee: There is a $22 fee for each entry. And with your entry, you’ll receive three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage.

All contest entries are eligible for the $4,000 Narrative Prize for 2014 and for acceptance as a Story of the Week.

Timing: The contest deadline is November 30, 2013, at midnight, Pacific standard time.

- See more at: http://www.narrativemagazine.com/fall-2013-story-contest#sthash.0NNumiP5.dpuf

Fall 2013 Story Contest

Our fall contest is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. We’re looking for short shorts, short stories, essays, memoirs, photo essays, graphic stories, all forms of literary nonfiction, and excerpts from longer works of both fiction and nonfiction. Entries must be previously unpublished, no longer than 15,000 words, and must not have been previously chosen as a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest.

Prior winners and finalists in Narrative contests have gone on to win other contests and to be published in prize collections, including the Pushcart Prize, the Whiting Writers’ Award, The Best American Short Stories, the Atlantic prize, and others. View some recent awards won by our writers.

As always, we are looking for works with a strong narrative drive, with characters we can respond to as human beings, and with effects of language, situation, and insight that are intense and total. We look for works that have the ambition of enlarging our view of ourselves and the world.

We welcome and look forward to reading your pages.

Click here to submit your work.

Awards: First Prize is $2,500, Second Prize is $1,000, Third Prize is $500, and ten finalists will receive $100 each. All entries will be considered for publication.

Submission Fee: There is a $22 fee for each entry. And with your entry, you’ll receive three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage.

All contest entries are eligible for the $4,000 Narrative Prize for 2014 and for acceptance as a Story of the Week.

Timing: The contest deadline is November 30, 2013, at midnight, Pacific standard time.

- See more at: http://www.narrativemagazine.com/fall-2013-story-contest#sthash.0NNumiP5.dpuf

Fall 2013 Story Contest

Our fall contest is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. We’re looking for short shorts, short stories, essays, memoirs, photo essays, graphic stories, all forms of literary nonfiction, and excerpts from longer works of both fiction and nonfiction. Entries must be previously unpublished, no longer than 15,000 words, and must not have been previously chosen as a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest.

Prior winners and finalists in Narrative contests have gone on to win other contests and to be published in prize collections, including the Pushcart Prize, the Whiting Writers’ Award, The Best American Short Stories, the Atlantic prize, and others. View some recent awards won by our writers.

As always, we are looking for works with a strong narrative drive, with characters we can respond to as human beings, and with effects of language, situation, and insight that are intense and total. We look for works that have the ambition of enlarging our view of ourselves and the world.

We welcome and look forward to reading your pages.

Click here to submit your work.

Awards: First Prize is $2,500, Second Prize is $1,000, Third Prize is $500, and ten finalists will receive $100 each. All entries will be considered for publication.

Submission Fee: There is a $22 fee for each entry. And with your entry, you’ll receive three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage.

All contest entries are eligible for the $4,000 Narrative Prize for 2014 and for acceptance as a Story of the Week.

Timing: The contest deadline is November 30, 2013, at midnight, Pacific standard time.

- See more at: http://www.narrativemagazine.com/fall-2013-story-contest#sthash.0NNumiP5.dpuf

Narrative Fall 2013 Story Contest

Our fall contest is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. We’re looking for short shorts, short stories, essays, memoirs, photo essays, graphic stories, all forms of literary nonfiction, and excerpts from longer works of both fiction and nonfiction. Entries must be previously unpublished, no longer than 15,000 words, and must not have been previously chosen as a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest.

Prior winners and finalists in Narrative contests have gone on to win other contests and to be published in prize collections, including the Pushcart Prize, the Whiting Writers’ Award, The Best American Short Stories, the Atlantic prize, and others. View some recent awards won by our writers on website.

As always, we are looking for works with a strong narrative drive, with characters we can respond to as human beings, and with effects of language, situation, and insight that are intense and total. We look for works that have the ambition of enlarging our view of ourselves and the world.

Awards: First Prize is $2,500, Second Prize is $1,000, Third Prize is $500, and ten finalists will receive $100 each. All entries will be considered for publication.

Submission Fee: There is a $22 fee for each entry. And with your entry, you’ll receive three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage.

All contest entries are eligible for the $4,000 Narrative Prize for 2014 and for acceptance as a Story of the Week.

Timing: The contest deadline is November 30, 2013, at midnight, Pacific standard time.

- See more at: http://www.narrativemagazine.com/fall-2013-story-contest#sthash.0NNumiP5.dpuf

Guardian First Book Award 2013 - Longlist

Guardian First Book Award 2013 - Longlist

Last Friday The Guardian announced the longlist for their 2013 First Book Award. It is unique in that it includes fiction and non-fiction as well as a 'readers' choice' nomination. The winner of the £10,000 prize will be announced in November.
  (All book precis from www.theguardian.com)
Fiction
We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo (Chatto & Windus)
This is a visceral, lyrically told story of displacement that moves from a Zimbabwean ghetto – grimly named Paradise – to the US. In her narrator, Darling, Bulawayo has captured a fresh, authentic young voice.
Fiction
The Hive by Gill Hornby (Little, Brown)
Which mum will be queen bee? A comedy with sting about playground politics that also offers witty insights into class, child-rearing and female friendship.
Fiction
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (Picador)
Dripping with atmosphere and bad weather, this historical novel about the last woman to be executed in Iceland is based on a true story that haunted its Australian author for years.

  Fiction
Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach (Picador)
An exploration of identity and the risks of social media via the story of Leila, a computer games addict who agrees to pose as vivacious, bipolar Tess. An unnerving thriller for the Facebook generation
Fiction
The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan (Doubleday Ireland)
Twenty-one different narrators build up a portrait of a contemporary Irish village struggling in the aftermath of the financial crash in this slim but devastating novel
Non-fiction
10 Billion by Stephen Emmott (Penguin)
What will be the consequences of unchecked human expansion? A scientist’s brief, brutal and unignorable manifesto against complacency in the face of inexorable population growth and climate change


  Non-fiction
Sex and the Citadel by Shereen El Feki (Chatto & Windus)
The hidden sexual politics of the Arab world via interviews, statistics, opinion polls and personal reminiscences. A personal and humorous account by an award-winning Cairo-based journalist.
Non-fiction
The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves by Stephen Grosz (Chatto & Windus)
The drama of ordinary lives told through 31 remarkable psychoanalytic case studies. A moving and mesmerising insight into the therapeutic process.
Non-fiction
Money: The Unauthorised Biography by Felix Martin (Bodley Head)
From the huge stones used as currency on the Pacific island of Yap to the banking crisis of today – a fresh, lively study into what money actually is.

 Non-fiction
The Society of Timid Souls by Polly Morland (Profile Books)
A study of bravery in the face of stage fright, the bullring and the battlefield. A spirit-boosting companion in our age of anxiety.
The readers' choice
Poetry
The Shipwrecked House by Claire Trévien (Penned in the Margins)
This 'playful and surreal' small-press poetry collection, influenced by the sea and the poet’s Breton childhood, was the readers’ nomination for this year.

 

Claire Keegan fiction workshop

Claire Keegan's next Fiction Workshop will be held at the Millrace Hotel, Bunclody, Co Wexford on the weekend of October 5th & 6th from 9:30-5pm, both days. The deadline for receipt of manuscripts is September 25th.  This is will be the last fiction weekend in the ROI this year.  

If you would like to book a place, please email us with your contact details at ckworkshops@yahoo.co.uk

PS Please note that there is also 1 place available on a one day workshop at St Patrick's College, Drumcondra on September 28. 

A Thought Grows: Handing Out Advice

A Thought Grows: Handing Out Advice: The folks at Wofford College have developed a website called Shared Worlds . One of their features,  Hand in Hand , offers a great photo di...

Piatkus Entice writing 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.
We’ll be working with Radio Gorgeous and Cornishware to help spread the word and they’ll even be offering some extra prizes along the way (make sure to check back next week for a fabulous competition).
If you’re ready to take the next step with your writing, this is your chance . . .

 

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 before the closing date of 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.

What happens next?

On the 1st October the Entice Team will post the top three submissions on the Piatkus Entice website, where readers will be invited to vote for their favourite! The two authors who receive the most votes move on to the next stage and will be asked to send in their third chapter by the 21st October.
The final decision will be taken by the Piatkus Entice team and the winner announced at the Festival of Romance on 9th November 2013 . Please note! The winner must be available to attend the Festival of Romance’s Gala Dinner on 9th November 2013.

So what are you waiting for?

It’s time to put pens to paper, noses to the grindstone and fingers to the keyboard – we can’t wait to fall in love with your writing!
Terms and conditions apply. Please read them carefully here before sending in your entry as all entries must comply with its requirements.

The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award

Welcome to The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award, the world's richest prize for a single short story. Entries for the 2014 award, worth £30,000 to the winner and £1,000 to five shortlisted authors, are now open, and will close on Friday, 27 September at 6pm.
The prize is open to anyone with a previous record of publication in creative writing in the UK or Ireland, subject to our terms and conditions.
To enter, please read the terms and conditions carefully and download and complete the entry form, both below. All completed entry forms should be sent to sundaytimesEFG@booktrust.org.uk
A longlist for the 2014 award will be announced in early February, and a shortlist in early March. The winner will be announced in April 2014

Niamh Boyce and The Herbalist Interview

Niamh Boyce and The Herbalist Interview

Welcome to my guest Niamh Boyce, a name that has become familiar to readers this summer as her book The Herbalist spent eight weeks in the original fiction
bestseller top ten lists and will be launched in the UK on September 26^th.

Niamh's debut novel The Herbalist was published by Penguin in June 2013. She won the Hennessy XO New Irish Writer of the Year in 2012 for her poem 'Kitty'. Her short fiction has been nominated for The Francis Mac Manus Competition, The Molly Keane Creative Writing Award and the 2009 New Irish Writing Award. Her work can be found in magazines such as The Moth, The Stony Thursday Book, Crannog, Boyne Berries, The Poetry Bus, and New Irish Writing Today Magazine. She blogs at http://niamhboyce.blogspot.ie/

If you would like to meet Niamh in person she will be reading from her book at the Lunch Time Reading, 1pm at the Irish Writers Centre On Sat 31st August.

Niamh has kindly agreed to share some of her writing tips and experience in the interview below.

Drum Roll!!

How do you structure your writing time-daily, weekly, so many words per day/week?

Niamh. It depends, in term time, I write when the children are in school, except when I’m working in the library. That gives me an average weekly writing time of sixteen hours. I also write in the evening if I need to. When I’m writing a first draft I word count, usually 2,000 words a day at first. Not all those words are kept, when it comes to second draft – a lot gets deleted.

Do you have to be selfish to succeed?

No, but you must be hard working.

What’s the best thing about being published?

Without a doubt meeting readers, not a day has gone by since the book was published without an email/facebook message/tweet or encounter with someone who has read the book, and fortunately for me,  liked it. It’s a wonderful feeling.

What is the cost of success?

I can only guess! Does there have to be one? If you are doing what you’re meant to do in this life and keep your priorities straight?

Do you have a big overall plan /five year plan?

No, I plan year by year. I love New Year’s Eve and resolutions.

What do you do to keep focussed i.e. when you get stuck or think you’ve lost your way?

I despair, and write loads of drivel... I believe that the answer to all writing problems lies in the act of writing.

What made you a writer? Family/ childhood/ background /life experiences?

I have no idea!

 Do you believe that you have a message or wisdom to impart in your writing or are you philosophical?

No, not at all! And personally I really dislike books or art that try to tell me how to think. I think any stories that I’ve written that were based on an ‘idea’ have turned out to be rubbish. The ones that work have followed a voice that seems not to be me. An illusion perhaps, but its how I think of it.

Where were you when you got the news that you were to be published and what was that like?

It’s funny but the part I remember most clearly is the day I got the call from Carrie in the writers centre to tell me the book had qualified for the novel fair. I was in work in the library, and went into shock. I couldn’t believe it, and then I thought, why not? Why not this book? That’s when I first got a real sense The Herbalist could make it to publication. The response from agents and publishers at the novel fair cemented that belief, but I can’t remember the actual moment when I was told, it all happened so fast after that!

What skills serve you best for your writing talent?

Persistence.

 Are you a people watcher and is this essential to being a writer?

I’m the opposite, a bit of a daydreamer but I pick up on people’s emotions pretty quickly or so I think.

What inspires you?

I love art, the sea, folktales, superstition, vengeance & lust, the colour red, the woods, the river, devilishly bad people, wolves...

Is writing work or ability? Can you put a percentage/ ratio on it?

Lots of people have enough talent to write, I see it every time I lead a workshop. Out of a class of ten, sometimes as many as five can have a gift for language, for story, or humour, but usually only one of them has the drive that is required to put in the hours necessary to become a writer.

Your greatest wish?

My family’s health and happiness.

Your worst nightmare?

Anyone I love being hurt.

Where would you like to be in five years time?

I would like to be surprised by that one!

Do you get tired writing-i.e. burnt out and take a break or are you afraid to stop writing?

There are days or weeks when life interrupts and no writing is done, I’m trying to get more relaxed about that happening. But usually I only get tired of writing if I’m writing the wrong thing, forcing a subject. I like to keep going back to the beginning when writing was exciting for me - I want to always be an amateur in that respect, to do it because I love it. When I stray too far from that I resort to notebooks and pen in bed as opposed to computer or laptop at a desk.

What writer would you like to do a workshop /interview with?

Atwood, Jeanette Winterson, Angela Carter if she were alive.

Who/what has helped you most along your writing journey?

At the beginning it was John Mac Kenna, he’s a very generous and inspiring teacher. His short story workshop inspired me.

Do you need to write?

I don’t feel right in the head if I don’t.

Advice for anyone writing?

Don’t give up, and write to please yourself above all.

Is it possible to make a living out of writing?

I don’t know of anyone who does.

Is there pressure on you now to produce a second book as good as the first? Is that an incentive or scary?

Yes there is! From myself mostly, and kind readers who say I can’t wait for your next book. While I’m delighted people liked my first published book, I have to try and forget all about that as I dive into the next.

You paint as well as writing-how do you choose between the two?

On a practical level writing is easier to do, more portable, and in my experience easier to get a result from in terms of publication versus exhibition. Ireland privileges writing over visual art. I have put painting on the long finger for a while now, but plan to get back to it in a small way this autumn.

The characters in The Herbalist are all very different and well developed –is this a challenge to get into someone’s head and heart?

It depends on the person, some are hard to get to know, some are very open, or seem to be – I work on the theory that someone is always hiding something.

What were you like as a child and do you think writers are born or made?

I was quiet, studious, a daydreamer. I really don’t know about born or made!

What do you long for?

A holiday!

Does writing make you happy?

Yes, very.

What would you most like to be remembered for?

By my children, for loving them to bits, I hope!

Are you a thinker or dreamer or do’er?

I’m all three, erring on the side of thinker.

Where does creativity come from?

It’s everywhere; you just have to divine it. Natalie Goldberg’s Writing The Bones is good on that.

You write poetry and short stories as well as long fiction –what are you happiest at?

Poetry.

What character in fiction do you most like and why?

None come to mind this morning!

What do you like to do to relax?

Read. Walk the woods. Very long baths.

What makes writing ‘good’?

I don’t feel qualified to answer that one! Personally I like writing that has energy, a rawness and directness.

When you are choosing a book to read what do you look for-

An attractive cover, read the first page or a middle extract?

First paragraph always. I never read the blurb, if the first line doesn’t get me I usually put the book down.

A huge thank you to Niamh.

 I really enjoyed her honest and interesting answers and I wish her every success with her book. I would just love to see this book in film!

Thanks again Niamh!

Mary

Prolitzer Prize for Prose writing 2013

Prolitzer Prize for Prose writing 2013

Deadline: Mon 30 Sep 2013

Prole are now welcoming submissions for The Prolitzer Prize for Prose Writing

We are looking for fiction and creative nonfiction up to 2500 words that exemplifies the editorial aims of Prole – to make writing engaging, accessible, challenging and entertaining. There is no theme for the competition, just aim for writing that will impact the reader.

We’re very lucky to have Jaki McCarrick as judge. Jaki was recently published alongside Jeanette Winterson and Will Self in Best British Short Stories, 2012 (Salt) and has just released her first solo collection, The Scattering (Seren) – both highly recommended.

Prize
Winner: £140, Publication in Prole 12 in December 2013

2 x runner up prizes of £30, possible publication

Judge
Jaki McCarrick

Jaki was recently published alongside Jeanette Winterson and Will Self in Best British Short Stories, 2012 (Salt) and has just released her first solo collection, The Scattering (Seren) – both highly recommended.

Time scale
We will receive entries from April 1st to September 30th 2013

Winners will be announced in issue 12 of Prole in December and on our website by December 7th 2013

Details
We are looking for prose, fiction or creative nonfiction, of no more than 2500 words that epitomises the editorial values of Prole: to make writing engaging, accessible, entertaining and challenging.

Any theme or subject matter is acceptable – it’s quality that counts.

All work must be the original work of the writer and be unpublished.

Fees
£4.00 for first entry, £3.00 for any subsequent entries.

How to enter

Via our website and email – preferred

Visit the prose competition page at our website and make the correct payment using PayPal.

Email your entry, including the text and PayPal transaction number within the body of the email, to: prosecompetition@prolebooks.co.uk
By post
Make a cheque (GBP only, please) payable to Prolebooks for the correct amount and mail entry to:

Brett Evans

Prolebooks
15 Maes-y-Dre
Abergele
LL22 7HW

Profits
Any profits made from our competition help to support the work we do at Prole. We are independent; we receive nor seek funding.