Nuala Ní Chonchúir's Blog, page 32

Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award 2014

The deadline for the The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award 2014 is Friday 25th July 2014 The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award for a first unpublished collection of poems in English is open to poets, born on the island of Ireland, or of Irish nationality, or long term resident in Ireland.
The award is now in its 43rd year. Previous winners include Eiléan Ni Chuilleanáin, Paul Durcan,Thomas McCarthy, Peter Sirr, Sinead Morrissey, Conor O'Callaghan, Celia de Fréine and Joseph Woods. The winner of this year's award will receive €1,000.
 The Award will be presented on the evening of Friday 26th September 2014 at the opening of the Annual Patrick Kavanagh Weekend in Inniskeen. Rules and entry form are available from the Patrick Kavanagh Centre, Inniskeen, Co. Monaghan.
Tel. 042 937 8560, E-mail: infoatpkc@eircom.net
Further details can be found at www.patrickkavanaghcountry.com

POWER OF OBJECTS ARTICLE AT WRITING.IE

The paperweight and shells - pic by Úna SpainI have an article at writing.ie about the importance of objects to me as I write, particularly in the writing of novels, and most particularly in the writing of The Closet of Savage Mementos.

Meanwhile, I am still in Vienna at the Intl Conference on the Short Story, developing a Sachertorte slash Weissbier belly. I am enjoying the heat, the panels, the readings, old and new friends, and the beauty of Vienna itself. We had our reading event last night at the Irish Embassy, where the incomparable Evelyn Conlon stole the show with her witty and gorgeously written story extract. Brava, Evelyn.
The conference is, as always, hectic. I am reading this morning at the Juridicum. Still trying to pick just the right piece to read. More anon, if I can manage it.

BANTRY, VIENNA & GALWAY NOW

 
A swift reminder that the Seán Ó Faoláin Prize closes for entries on the 31st July so you still have time to polish that story and send it in. Apart from the fact there are 6 prizes, you get to read at the Cork Short Story Festival which is the best festival EVER. It was announced by Munster Lit and the festival yesterday, btw, that young skin Colin Barrett has won the 2014 Frank O'Connor Award, which is very impressive for a début book. Kudos, Colin.

*
I had a lovely time in Bantry, teaching at the West Cork Lit Fest - I met with a fine bunch of aspiring bloggers/Facebookers/Tweeters. The time flew, we had fun. What more could you want? I enjoyed readings too by the wondrous John MacKenna, the sublime Mary Morrissy and the winners of the FISH awards, including Dublin man, David Butler, a fellow New Islander, who took the top prize.

*
I'm off to Vienna tomorrow for the International Conference on the Short Story, which I have been attending, in its various locations, since 2006. I'm taking part in a panel on linked short story collections on Weds 16th; reading from Of Dublin and Other Fictions at the Irish Embassy on Thurs 17th; and reading from Mother America, with I-Wei Wu from Taiwan, on Fri 18th. It is a great conference and I am so looking forward to catching up with old friends including Tania Hershman, Billie Travalini and Bob and Kelly Butler. So ta-rah for now. If I get a moment, I will blog from Vienna.

*
If you live in the Wesht, I am interviewed in the current issue (Jul./Aug.) of Galway Now magazine about The Closet of Savage Mementos and about what Galway means to me.

BUSY-NESS: EDITS, VISITS, TRIPS, DOGS

We stopped for noodles in NavanI really should NOT be here blogging (waaaaaaaaaaaay too busy). I am disgracefully busy, in fact. I'm doing my proofs for Penguin (boy, they go deep with edits! It's marvelous.) I head to Cork tomorrow to teach a 2 day class on social media for writers. Head to Dublin Saturday to be near the airport for flying to Vienna on Sunday for the International Conference on the Short Story. Pure madness.

Dexter - one of the Bleach House dogs. The others moved too fast to photograph.I had a great time on Saturday at the Bleach House Library Book Club. They invited me to talk about The Closet of Savage Mementos and I got to stay in this 1800s house owned by the beautiful, energetic, force-of-nature that is Margaret Bonass Madden. I have never slept in a library, surrounded by books, before. Margaret and her ladies (and family) welcomed me with laughs and chats and general loveliness. They liked the book (mostly) and we had a good natter about the nature of motherhood, adoption and PND. We ate, we drank, we giggled. A wonderful experience from start to finish. I now want to own an enormous house and fill it full of dogs, people and books. Well, I always wanted that, minus the dogs, but Dexter reminded me so much of my childhood pet, Dinny - an Irish Setter - that I am converted back to dogs. Miracles do happen :)

WEST CORK LITERARY FESTIVAL - BIZ OF WRITING COURSE

Beautiful Bantry HouseAre you Bantry bound next week? If so, there are places still available on the 3 day Business of Writing Course, with me, agent Carole Blake, Vona Groarke et al. More here.

$20,000 FOR 100 WORD STORY

The César Egido Serrano Foundation and the Spanish ‘Museum of Words’ have opened their ‘microfiction’ competition, closing date November 23rd 2014.  Write  a 100 word story you could win a prize of $20,000 – and second prize is $2,000.Open to international writers, entries can be submitted in English, Spanish, Arabic or Hebrew.Entries must be sent exclusively by filling in the entry form that can be found on the website www.museodelapalabra.com.All stories entered must be original, unpublished in all means (paper, electronic publications, network…) and have not been awarded in any other contest. Check out the website for the full details.As one of the objectives of the organising César Egido Serrano Foundation is the value of the word and dialogue as a tool for uniting peoples, so the slogan of this contest is Mandela: Words and Concord. However the rules state that your story can be on any subject.A first prize of $20,000 will be awarded to the winning story. The three remaining finalist stories in the remaining language categories will receive a $2000 runner up prize each.Click here for the entry form.

HANNA GREALLY LITERARY AWARDS 2014

Festival 2014 Update:Terms of Entry for Hanna Greally Literary Awards Extended By a decision by the SiarScéal Festival organisers, the terms of entry for the 2014 Hanna Greally Literary Awards have been extended. The maximum length of composition for poetry submissions is now 100 lines (previously 60), while prose and short stories submissions of up to 1,000 words (previously 300) will also be accepted.
This decision has been made in response to requests received and in order to encourage the widest participation. Competition entrants should of course be aware that no particular merit will be attached to submissions solely on the basis of length of composition. Quality, not dependent on quantity, is what the judges will be looking for.
The theme for this years competition is open - entries will be accepted on any theme, topic or subject. The Ger Hanily Memorial Cup, which forms part of the Awards, will be awarded to the best entry received on the theme of Coman's Wood.
The organisers hope that this decision will provide an additional spur to authors and writers who are considering entering this year's competition, where the overall prize winner will receive a publishing package deal from The Manuscript Publisher, valued at €1,000.
Full terms and conditions of entry are available from the SiarScéal website. Closing date for entries is 5pm on Friday, 10 October. Winners will be announced at the SiarScéal Festival, which takes place on Saturday, 25 October at Roscommon Library in Roscommon Town. The full Programme of Events takes in an evening of readings, concert recitals and workshops. Make a note in your diary.

SUNDAY INDEPENDENT REVIEWS *CLOSET*

Deirdre Conroy reviews The Closet of Savage Mementos in today's Sunday Independent.  It's a great review for which I am really grateful. Click on the pic below to read.

THE MOTH, THE FLY AND OTHER INCIDENTS

Six of the nine writers at Palmerstown Festival. Me yapping. What's new?!I've been awol in Dublin, at the Palmerstown Festival (reading) and also at the IWC attending the latest Mindshift professional development meeting (highly recommended to published authors) and an info session on the Lit Bursaries with the Arts Council - v interesting. It seems the most important pieces of your applic is the 500 word proposal and the unpublished 10 page sample of work. It was enlightening to hear from the horse's mouth, Literature Officer Sarah Bannan, what constitutes a good application.

I also went to Dún Laoghaire and met my new accountant (yay - I finally need an accountant!) and I posted off the contracts for the film option on Miss Emily. That, I can tell you, has me dreaming :)


Anyway, this lovely issue of The Moth arrived this morning. I have a flash story in it inspired by a trip to Massachusetts last year. There is still time to enter the magazine's International Short Story comp. 30th June closing date. €3k first prize. Go here.


And this arrived too - the Fuchsia MacAree designed summer Stinging Fly. Ain't it purty? Part two of my Flash Fiction Showcase is featured with stories from lovely writers such as Paul McVeigh, Danielle McLaughlin, Alison Fisher and Ian Shine. Lovely summery reading for all.

CISS WORKSHOPS 2014

The Cork International Short Story Festival workshops are now open for booking here. I am teaching a 4-day session on novel writing; Rachel Trezise is giving a short story masterclass; Jon Boilard is doing a workshop for beginner writers, and Kristiina Ehin will teach a poetry workshop. Something for everyone :)

When: 17th - 20th September daily, 9.30am - 12.30pm

Where: Cork city, venues TBA

Cost: All workshops €180, with the exception of Short Stories for New Writers with Jon Boilard (€150).

Class descriptions and more here.