If you are striving to take your writing to another level then Eblana Writers’ Workshops are for you.

We are a dedicated group, meeting every month in a supportive environment for encouragement and critique.  Our aim is to help bring each writer’s work, no matter the genre, to a high standard in an effort to gain success in competitions and publishing.

So, if you’re serious about your writing, check us out at www.eblanawriters.blogspot.com

Get in touch at: eblanawriters@gmail.com

Meetings take place at the United Arts Club, 3 Upper Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2 – check out the website for further details.

€15,000 for a work of fiction by an Irish Author Adjudicated By: Mr John Boland and Ms Rita Ann Higgins

Writers’ Week Literary Festival will take place from 30^th May to 3^rd June 2012.

There are only just over two weeks left to submit entries for the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award. 

This award is for the best work of fiction by an Irish author (i.e. first generation Irish) published between 1^st March 2011 and 1^st March 2012 with a prize of €15,000 for the winning author.  The 2011 Prize-winner was Neil Jordan for his novel, Mistaken.

The award will be presented at the Official Opening Ceremony of Listowel Writers’ Week, on the 30^th May 2012. Our adjudicators this year are Journalist and Critic, John Boland and Poet Rita Ann Higgins.

We will require eight (8) copies of each book to be submitted for this award to Máire Logue, Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award, Listowel Writers’ Week, 24 The Square, Listowel, Co Kerry, Ireland.

The Closing Date for receipt of entries is Friday 2^nd March 2012 – there is NO Application Form to complete. 

The theme is Connections and we are especially looking for interesting interpretations of this theme from science to community, the physical to the thoughtful.

Rules

• There is no entry fee.
• Poems of no more than 40 lines. Short fiction up to 500 words.
• Each writer may enter one poem and one piece of prose.
• Work should be original and previously unpublished in any medium
• Submission by email only to sjbpoetry@gmail.com, in the body of the email. The word Submission should be in the subject line. The only other information in the email should be a one sentence bio and full contact details.
• Paragram will adjudicate and their decision will be final. No correspondence will be entered into concerning any entry.
• Pieces chosen will be included in the anthology and poets/authors offered the opportunity to read at a subsequent Paragram event.
• A list of successful authors will be posted on this site in August 2012.
• Copies of the anthology will have to be purchased, even by writers’ whose work is included. The cost will be no more than £7 per copy with discount for additional copies purchased.

To see the quality of our books a copy of the current anthology,
A Toe in the Water (ISBN 978-0-9568999-2-7)
can be purchased at Amazon (£6 +p&p) or by contacting sjbpoetry@gmail.com (£5+p&p).

More info here: http://paragramdotcom.wordpress.com/submissions/

The 20 shortlisted writers will be invited to an awards ceremony in Bristol on July 14th 2012 when the winners will be announced and the BSSP Anthology Volume 5 will be launched. Prizes and anthologies will be sent to any shortlisted writer unable to attend the awards ceremony.

Prizes :

Ist- £1000 plus £150 Waterstone’s gift card

2nd- £700 plus £100 Waterstone’s gift card

3rd- £400 plus £100 Waterstone’s gift card

The other 17 writers who feature on the shortlist will receive £100.

All 20 shortlisted stories will be published in both print and ebook versions of Volume 5 of the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology.

The closing date for entries is March 31st 2012.

The maximum number of words for each story is 3,000.

There is an entry fee of £7 for each story submitted.

Stories can be on any theme or subject and are welcome in any style including graphic, verse or genre-based (crime, thriller, science fiction, fantasy, romance, historical etc.).

While there is a maximum word count of 3,000, it should be pointed out that there is no minimum.

Full entry details are at the Bristol Sh0rt Story Prize website

Innovative Fiction Contest  Deadline is March 30, 2012.

2012 Chapbook Contest  Deadline: March 30, 2012.

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2012 Innovative Fiction Contest Guidelines

The contest deadline (for receipt of submission) is March 30, 2012. This contest is for an unpublished story of fewer than 10000 (ten thousand) words. The winner will receive $1000 and publication. The finalists (typically anywhere from 3-10) will be published along with the winner in our summer fiction issue.

The judge for 2012 is Salvador Plascencia, the author of the spectacular (and innovative, you may know), People of Paper, among other things.

Entry fee is $15.

FAQ stuff:

• We prefer our entries electronic (if possible), with the manuscript itself anonymous. A removable cover page would be ideal if you send hardcopy. If you send electronically no cover page is necessary; just don’t put your name on the manuscript).
• Anyone with more than a casual relationship with either of these is ineligible (though we’re happy to read your work via regular submissions). Sorry lovers, former lovers, friends, students, mentors, and so on.
• Images are fine as long as you have or can get rights to print/reprint (or if they are in the public domain) if selected.
• We don’t have any particular aesthetic biases for this contest other than the name: Innovative, yo. Which more or less means: wow us. Surprise us. Mainly we just want it good. That’s a pretty open definition, we admit.
• If you’re sending something multimedia sometimes it’s easier to send snail mail if the file is too big (our submissions manager only accepts up to about 9 meg) or unwieldy.
• Multiple submissions are fine. Simultaneous submissions are fine as long as you notify us as soon if a story is no longer available. In which case, congratulations on getting it published! Then you can withdraw your submission manually from the submissions manager if you sent it electronically, or email us below.
• Collaborative submissions are fine (obviously if you win, you’d split the prize).
• We expect to notify finalists and winners no later than the end of June, with luck. Thanks for entering! And good luck. Questions can go to nmp–atsymbol–thediagram–dot–com.

Full details of how to enter here: http://thediagram.com/contest.html

First prize €150, with additional prizes for younger writers.

Winning and shortlisted entries will be published in print and/or online.

The judge will be the novelist Alex Barclay.

The closing date is 6 April 2012, and the entry fee is €5 (€3 for younger writers).

For full details,visit www.hungryhillwriting.com.

The position has arisen of Temporary Arts Administrator employed by The Dock to undertake a wide range of administrative duties in relation to arts programming and management. The Dock comprises a 117-seat performance space, exhibition spaces, workshops, artists’ studios and a café bar.

The ideal candidate will have proven experience in administration, financial and budget management and knowledge of and interest in the arts.

Responsibilities of this post will include:

·         Financial management and office administration

·         Programming support to all arts programmes

·         Act as point of contact for clients, partners and the general public

Salary – €15,000 (seven-month contract – maternity leave)

The employer in respect of this position is Leitrim Arts Development Ltd.

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For job description and full details, contact Siobhán O Malley, The Dock, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim. Tel 071 96 50828.  Email somalley@leitrimcoco.ie

DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS

4pm, Friday 17^th February, 2012

Interviews will be held on Monday 27th February.

BARE HANDS INTERNATIONAL POETRY & PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION 2012

We’ve launched a competition. Not just any competition. Let me tell you why

Promoting your work is not an easy feat. You can do things online but it’s nice to have something in print, something you can put on your wall, like a postcard…

So the idea is the winning poems and photographs of the competition will be turned into a beautiful postcard (we pride ourselves on our design) AND we will distribute these postcards to leading independent bookshops in Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Paris, Berlin, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Melbourne, Sydney, Toronto & Vancouver. We’re not kidding. They’ll be free so people can just pick them up!

There will be two winners in each category – two poems and two photographs – so two different postcards will be created. We will make 2000 of each. Your work will be sent all around the world. The winning entries will also be published on our website too.

Pretty good eh?

The theme is BARE HANDS this is the link: http://barehandspoetry.tumblr.com/post/12921572021/competition

DEADLINE MARCH 1st 2012

HOW TO ENTER

Entries are €4 for one entry. Multiple entries are accepted.

To pay simply click the BUY NOW button on our site http://barehandspoetry.tumblr.com/

All competition entries should be emailed to barehandspoetry@gmail.com

Poetry entries

Poems must be unpublished and not be entered into any other competition. Poems should be no longer than 20 lines long (has to fit on the postcard!) Send your poem within the body of an email (no attachments please). Put your name at the end of the poem. Mark the subject field COMPETITION ENTRY POETRY.

Photography entries

Photographs must not have appeared in any online or print journal. Put your name in the body of an email. Attach your entry as a jpeg and mark the subject field COMPETITION ENTRY PHOTOGRAPHY.

The winners will be announced at the end of March.

Postcards will be created and distributed in May!

Wow, I’m sure you’re all as delighted as I am! We’ll be following Caroline closely and revealing covers very soon!

And in even more good news, Jaki McCarrick was in touch to share the news of the shortlisting of her play Belfast Girls for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize – a massive achievement :

“Molly Smith Metzler, Madeleine George and Zinnie Harris are among the distaff scribes to be named finalists for the 2011-12 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Award honors English-language plays penned by women, with last year’s kudo going to “The Mountaintop” scribe Katori Hall for “Hurt Village,” the play that will soon have its world preem at Off Broadway’s Signature Theater….

“Brit writer Harris is up for “The Wheel,” which had a run last year at the National Theater of Scotland. Fellow trans-Atlantic nominees include Alice Birch for “Many Moons,” Nancy Harris for “No Romance,” Jaki McCarrick for “Belfast Girls” and Alexis Zegerman for “The Steingolds.

Judges for the this year’s award include Frances McDormand, Imogen Stubbs, Steppenwolf Theater a.d. Martha Lavey and legit critic and writer Randy Gener. Winner will be announced at a London ceremony Feb. 28.”

Read the full story here: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118049594

AND HERE:

http://www.theatermania.com/london/news/02-2012/johnna-adams-madeleine-george-molly-smith-metzler-_49336.html

AND HERE!

The Stage says:

“British playwrights Alice Birch, Alexis Zegerman, Zinnie Harris and Jaki McCarrick are among the ten finalists for this year’s Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

The writers were chosen from more than 100 entries for the award, which recognises an outstanding new English language play by a woman.“

http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/35096/four-british-playwrights-in-running-for-susan

Outstanding is the word!

Jaki says “Great even to be a finalist on this. I’ve just finished my attachment at the National Theatre where I developed the play a little more. Am busily writing the next one…”

I’m sure you all want to join me in massive congratulations to both Caroline and Jaki!

Hachette Books Ireland acquires new psychological crime author Louise Phillips in a two book deal struck between Ciara Doorley, Editorial Director, Hachette Books Ireland and Ger Nichol of The Book Bureau for Irish and UK Commonwealth rights, for an undisclosed sum

Red Ribbons, the first book in the deal, centres round the abduction and murder of a twelve-year old school girl and the main character Julie Pearson, criminal psychologist who is drafted in by the police to help them find the killer.

Ciara Doorley of Hachette Ireland says of Louise. ‘With overtones of Sophie Hannah and Tana French, Louise is a supremely talented writer. She subconsciously creates parallels between her characters, and this really challenges the reader. Her writing is tense, atmospheric and we’re really excited to be launching a new voice in Irish crime.’

Red Ribbons is told from three perspectives: the main character Julie; Ellie Brady, an inmate of St Michael’s Mental Institute (convicted of killing her own daughter fifteen years earlier); and the killer.

RED RIBBONS —- The ‘bad man’ is everywhere . . . can you see him?

Hachette Books Ireland will publish Louise’s first book Red Ribbons in Trade Paperback September 2012 and her second novel The Doll’s House will be published in 2013.

And this is Louise’s spine tingling Prologue:

The forest is full of shadows; noises come from everywhere, wind whisperings through the leaves, insects buzzing in a low relentless hum.  She is running faster than she’s ever done before, her twelve year old feet bare, sore, but she keeps on going. Brittle branches snap underfoot.  Her white cotton nightdress soaked with sweat, sticks to her body like a second skin.  Beyond the tallest trees, Julie can see the light; it glistens, fleeting in and out as if caught by a large mirror.  She can hear adult voices from behind, sailing in like the wails of a banshee.  The light above her becomes blinding, her knees weak. He is calling her. She can almost feel his breath as she falls, the trees swirling around her.  She has to get up; she has to escape. He is close.

Click here to find out more about Louise in Success Stories