6 word Short Story competition

There seems to be a competition for every form of writing and this one is for all of you with little concentration!
6 words to tell a story? Check out some of the shortlist for this competition which ends on 30th September.
I like the frog.song.sprog one.

http://www.fleetingmagazine.com/six-word-story-competition-shortlist/

Winner of 2012 Sean O’ Faolain Short Story Competition is announced

The 2012 Sean O’Faolain Competition has been won by Sophie Hampton who is currently studying creative writing at Sheffield Hallam University (UK), Her story “White Socks & Weirdos” came first in a field of almost 1000 entries. There was a 50% increase in entries this year with UK entrants outnumbering US entrants for the first time. It’s also the first time the prize has gone to a British resident. Second place this year went to another Briton Thomas Watson of London for his story “Cafe at the V&A”. The runners-up are Dan Purdue of Britain, Maree Spratt of Queensland Australia, Ferdia Lennon of Dublin and David Mohan of Co. Dublin. All these six stories will be published in Southword next winter. Eighteen other writers have been commended for their entries.

You can read more and book workshops, talks and readings at the www.munsterlit.ie  or http://www.corkshortstory.net/ website, where the Short Story Festival 2012 will be held in Cork City.

I am heading down for the weekend, have booked my tickets for as many events as I can! Staying in the lovely Maldron Hotel, where I received a pretty good discount for accomodation when I mentioned the words “Short story festival”

Go on, you know you want to.

The Long story, short

Jennifer Mathews from the Cork Short Story festival likes writing stories! She really likes writing longer than the average short story and had noticed that short stories were getting…em..shorter!

It launches in October 2012 and will be exclusively online. Looking forward to it already.

She has set up a webpage and journal for all those people who like to take their time with telling a story. If you want to submit;

Short Story Guidelines

1. Stories should generally be between 4000 and 9000 words, although a few hundred words less or more are welcome. A maximum of two stories at a time will be considered. Please do not re-submit work previously declined, or work that has been published elsewhere.

2. The Long Story, Short is a literary journal for fiction only. Stories for children are not in the scope of this journal. Translations are accepted. Genre fiction will only be considered should it have very strong literary merit.

3. At this time we regret that we cannot pay contributorsDonations, no matter how small, are welcome to help fund web-hosting of The Long Story, Short so we can continue to publish work which is longer than what is found in many conventional publications.

4. The editor will endeavor to respond to writers within 8 weeks from the date they submit their work. Unfortunately, we cannot make comments on individual submissions.Submissions are welcome at any time. A reading period may be introduced in future.

5. The Long Story, Short will publish one story per month only. If your submission is unsuccessful, please do try again in future. Remember, readers make the best writers.

6. Stories must be sent in a document attached to an email (NOT pasted into the body of an email). No PDFs please. Send to longstoryshortjournal@gmail.com .

Find more here at https://longstoryshort.squarespace.com/

 

Poetry Now award:dlr&Irish Times shortlist

Five poetry collections announced for the Dun Laoghaire Book Festival. I just love the covers of poetry books! Yes, I know its superficial and its what’s inside that counts but they do entice you to pick them up!

The five finalists are John Montague, Moss Cannon, Bernard O Donoghue, Mascara Woods and Michael Longley.
I wouldn’t fancy being the judges! Best of luck to all five, who are already outstanding.
Dun Laoghaire mountains to sea book festival, which runs from 4-9th September.
Get those tickets booked. No, really, go now!
Kevin Barry is reading with Maeve
Higgins, interesting? Is Kevin trying out being a comedian?

Poetry Competition on KCLR FM-memories of childhood

“Memories of Childhood”

Sue Nunn Show listeners! Send us your poems about your memories of childhood. You can be any age and you can come from anywhere in the world; you just need to be a listener.
What are your memories of childhood? Hot summer days in the paddling pool, fishing by the river, building snowmen, looking after younger brothers and sisters, story time, saving hay, picnics, birth, death, walking for miles to get water or firewood, bringing milk to the creamery, a new pet, ice skating, camping… the happy, the tragic, the poignant, the funny. Whatever your memories, wherever they are set, put them in a poem and get them to us. (Oh yes, and please read the rules below).
Prizes
  • 1st prize: €300
  • 2nd prize: €200
  • 3rd prize: €100
The prize winners will be announced in October 2012.
All entries must be accompanied by an entry form or use the online form below.
You can request an entry form from KCLR96fm, Broadcast Centre, Carlow Road, Kilkenny or email thesuenunnshow@kclr96fm.com. You can also call 1890 909696 and request an entry form.
You can enter by post to KCLR96fm, Broadcast Centre, Carlow Road, Kilkenny.
You can also deliver your entry by hand to reception at either our Kilkenny studio, Broadcast Centre, Carlow Road, Kilkenny or our Carlow studio, Potato Market, Carlow .
Closing date – midnight, Friday 31st August 2012

Costa Coffee announces Annual Short Story competition

Costa and a good book-perfect!

Costa has announced the launch of the Costa Short Story Award, a brand new award for a single short story

Today Costa announced its new Short Story Award for a single, previously unpublished short story of up to 4,000 words by an author aged 18 years or over and written in English. The author’s primary residence must have been the UK or Ireland for the past three years.
Entry opens on Monday 16th July and closes at 4pm on Friday 7th September.  Entries must be submitted online via a dedicated page atwww.costabookawards.com.  Entrants need not have been previously published but publishers and agents may submit entries on behalf of authors.
All entries will be judged anonymously, without the identity of the author being available to the judges. A panel of five judges will select a shortlist of six entries which will be revealed in November. The public will then be invited to vote online for their favourite story from the six finalists.
The winner will be announced at the Costa Book Awards ceremony on 29th January 2013 and will receive £3,500; two runners-up will each receive £750.
The judges for the 2012 Costa Short Story Award are:
Richard Beard: Director of the National Academy of Writing
Fanny Blake: Novelist and Journalist; Books Editor of Woman & Home
Victoria Hislop: Writer
Gary Kemp: Songwriter and guitarist for Spandau Ballet; Actor and Writer
Simon Trewin: Agent, William Morris Endeavor
Marketing Director of Costa UK Kevin Hydes said: “What’s really exciting about our new Short Story Award is that it’s open to absolutely everyone. For the first time, we’re able to extend the reach of the Book Awards in ways we never have before. You don’t need a publisher or an agent to enter this competition, just an idea and writing talent and we’re encouraging anyone who has ever considered writing creatively, and those who write already, professionally or otherwise, to enter.”
The Costa Book Awards recognise the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland.  Originally established by Whitbread PLC in 1971, Costa announced its takeover of the sponsorship of the UK’s prestigious and popular book prize in 2006.
Andrew Miller won the Costa Book of the Year last year for his novel Pure.
This article was written by 16/07/2012 by Stacey Bartlett on welovethisbook.com