Get writing in 2014.Listowel Writers Week and competitions

Get Writing in 2014!Are you thinking of giving 2014 to getting your writing started, progressed or  published?

Whatever you want to achieve with your writing, we have a three day workshop course to give you all the support and structure you will need to get there.  We have a fantastic group of workshop directors ready and enthusiastic about teaching you all there is to know in their  areas of expertise. So if you have a writing idea, don't know where to begin, want to improve on what you have written, take it to the next stage or branch out to a specific writing genre, we have the course for you. Here are our 2014 Workshops.
Novel Advanced Workshop with Douglas Kennedy
Novel Getting Started with Catherine Dunne
Novel - The Halfway Stage with John MacKenna
Creative Writing Getting Started with Martina Devlin
Creative Writing Advanced with Mary O'Donnell
Poetry Getting Started with Mark Granier
Poetry Advanced with Peter Fallon
Memoir & Non Fiction with Molly McCloskey
Writing for Theatre with Bernard Farrell
Adult Writing Fiction for Teens with Siobhán Parkinson
Short Fiction with Nuala Ní Chonchúir
Travel Writing with Mary Russell

How to Book a Literary Workshop:

Each three-day Workshop will run from 9.00am – 12.30pm on Thursday 29^th May, Friday 30th  May and Saturday 31^st  May, 2014.
Places are limited to 15 per workshop.
Workshop Fee: 
€175.00 for each three-day workshop
Bookings are now being taken:
Online:                       
Click on any of the above Workshops and you will be directed to the box office.

The William Trevor Scholarship

Deadline: 7th March 2014 

This scholarship honours the contribution to literature of the internationally-renowned novelist and short story writer, William Trevor. The scholarship is open to all students worldwide who would welcome an opportunity to attend the Cork Writers' School. The scholarship will cover the cost of tuition, accommodation (bed and breakfast) at the Summer School and transport to and from all organised social and cultural events. It will not cover travel costs or admission charges. Applications will be judged by a panel on the basis of academic merit and reasons for taking the course.

Applicants must be aged 18 or over by 1 January 2014. Free to enter. More over on their website.

(b) Ginosko Flash Fiction Contest

Deadline: 1st March 2014

Entry Fees: $5 

Submit up to 2 pieces, 800 words maximum each piece.

Final Judges: Maggie Heaps, Michael Hettich, Gary Lundy, E M Schorb, Larissa Shmailo, Andrena Zawinski, Andrei Guruianu, Robert Paul Cesaretti.

$250 award and awarded work will be published on the Ginosko Literary Journal website. More info available on the website.

(c) On the Premises Competition

Deadline: 31st January 2014

They are looking for short stories based on ANY of the previous 21 premises. You'll find a list of the past premises on their past issues page.

Stories should be 1,000-5,000 words.

No entry fees.

Full details over on their website.

BBC Radio Drama submissions

The BBC Radio Drama Readings Unit welcomes submissions from writers new to radio for their annual series, Opening Lines which is broadcast on BBC Radio. The next window for sending in material is January 6th - February 14th 2014. As well as broadcasting the three strongest stories they publish transcripts of the best stories submitted within this period on the Opening Lines programme pages. The three successful writers will be invited to London for an afternoon in Broadcasting House and the chance to see their stories recorded. They are looking for original short stories which work being read out loud. They are interested in seeing stories which cover a broad range of subject-matter but material which explores particularly dark, harrowing themes is not best suited to Opening Lines. The time allotted for each story is up to 14 minutes, which means submissions must be between 1,900 and 2,000 words in length. One submission per writer. More over on the BBC website.

Cuirt New Writing Prize 2014

Cúirt New Writing Prize 2014

Submission Guidelines 

The Cúirt New Writing Prize, in memory of Lena Maguire, is open for submissions from Thursday 28 November 2013. Entries should be sent via email to: tara@cuirt.ie
Submissions are welcome in poetry and fiction. There is a €500 cash prize for the winner in each category, an opportunity to read at the Cúirt/Over the Edge Showcase event during the festival, and the inclusion of the winning piece in a Cúirt publication that will be launched at Cúirt 2014. The judges are poet Martin Dyar and fiction writer Mary Costello.

In 2014, Cúirt is introducing Young Cúirt for ages 12-17, in poetry and fiction. The winner will receive €100 cash prize, they will be published in the Cúirt publication, and they will have the opportunity to read at the 2014 Cúirt labs event in April.

The guidelines for both adult and youth submissions are as follows: Poetry entries must consist of 3 poems under 50 lines each, and fiction pieces may be up to 2000 words. Entries in both English and Irish are welcome.

A €10 entry fee applies which can be paid via the paypal button at: www.cuirt.ie, or sent using a postal order or bank draft to: Cúirt International Festival of Literature, Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, Galway. When emailing submissions, please specify how you have paid the fee. In the case of paypal payments, please include a copy of your paypal receipt in the email.

The closing date for submissions is the 30 January 2014 at 5pm, winners will be announced on Monday 24 February. For more information see the website: www.cuirt.ie

Stinging Fly short story competition

Stinging Fly Competition

2014 is sure to be another very busy year for the Fly. There are now just a few weeks left until the closing date for the Davy Byrnes Short Story Award. We have assembled an excellent panel of judges – Anne Enright, Yiyun Li and Jon McGregor – and 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.

To remind you: there is €15,000 on offer for the best short story and five runner-up prizes of €1,000. The closing date is Monday February 3^rd. 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 and the entry fee is €10.

Lightship Short Memoir Prize 2013

Lightship Short Memoir Prize 2013

Closed on 1 Jul 2013

Judge: Rachel Cusk

Closed on 1 Jul 2013

Results published on 9 Sep 2013

Fee: £12.00

Word Limit: 5000

Lightship Short Memoir Contest

Do you want to tell your own story, or an episode of it; write from your own life experiences and get published? A short memoir is not fact-based autobiography. It is pure storytelling and as such, allows writers licence to make sense of a part of life, to fashion it into a story that readers can learn from and be entertained by. The inaugural Lightship Short Memoir Competition will be judged by Rachel Cusk. The winning entry will be awarded £1,000 and be published in Lightship Anthology 3.

The Prizes

1st Prize: £1,000 / US$1600*

The winner and nine runners-up will be published in the Lightship anthology by Lightship Publishing Ltd and Alma Books and will be invited to read from their work at an awards ceremony in Kingston-upon-Hull in 2013. (Please note we cannot fund travel costs to and from the awards.)

The Judge

Rachel Cusk will judge the Lightship International Short Memoir Competition 2012-2013. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR! -how to get the most out of life

There's an old story about a motivational speaker's
illustration of life's priorities and the quest for
happiness. In front of a large audience, the speaker was
alone on stage with a table covered with a cloth. Promising
to show the audience the secret to success, fulfillment and
a great life, she pulled out an old-fashioned pickle jar,
set it on the table and said that the jar represents your
life.

She then pulled out a bucket with some fairly large rocks
and proceeded to fill the jar, and asked the audience if
the jar was full. Naturally, most responded that it was.
With a sly grin, she then asked if they were sure and
reached for a second bucket that had small pebbles in it.
With care, she managed to get a couple dozen pebbles to
drop down in the spaces between the larger rocks and again
asked if the jar was full. Again, most of the audience
agreed that it was, although with some hesitation.

She then pulled out a bucket of sand and carefully poured
several pounds of sand into the jar. Asked if the jar was
finally full, the audience was doubtful and cautiously
answered, "Probably not." The speaker then pulled out a
bucket of water and slowly poured most of the bucket into
the jar.

Finally, she stepped across the stage and asked what lesson
was to be learned, and a confident young man called out,
"That you can always squeeze more in!" The speaker agreed
that was good, but suggested there was a far more important
point.

She then said something I've never forgotten. "To get the
most out of life, you have to put the big pieces in first."

If you allow your life to be filled with water, sand and
pebbles, you'll never have room for the "big pieces." Never
allow your life to be consumed with the "small things."