Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Winner of the 26th Francis MacManus Short Story Competition.

Dundalk-born doctor Austin Duffy, (pictured left) is the overall winner of the 26th Francis MacManus Short Story Competition.

"While in New York he attended the prestigious Writers’ Studio in Greenwich Village which he says was a crucial turning point in his inspiration and development as a writer. He embraced that institution’s philosophy that
“when the desire to write is strong enough and the writer has found his/her voice then anyone can learn the craft necessary for full creative expression.”
In his winning story, ‘Orca’, the winning author calls on his medical expertise to explore the complex relationship between a young doctor and his teenage patient, who is terminally ill with cancer. The story is written from the inside with great compassion, insight and skill. Set in Cork, ‘Orca’ uses the cityscape to explore the stark contrast between the harrowing clinical hospital ward and the calm of the early morning urban streets to which his hero escapes.
Second Prize (€2,000) was won by Patrick Griffin from Kilkenny City for his story “Platform 17 – Grand Central Station.”
Third Prize (€1,000) was won by Andrew Fox from Skerries, Co. Dublin for his story “Seven Steps Home.”
The winning story will be read by actor Hugh O’Conor and broadcast on Monday 6 June on RTÉ Radio 1 in The Book On One slot at 11.10pm."
ps...
It was interesting to hear that the judging process is anonymous to the last with entries being logged by number. All entries are read by two internal professional readers, who compile the shortlist of 25 for the three judges. The judges said there is "no Francis Mc Manus formula in terms of theme, "all human life was there", and they noted the influence of international writers this year.
For an extract of the winning story and interview with the writer click here

7 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Huge congratulations to the winners and all those shortlisted!!! What a fantastic opportunity for writers!!

yay! Take care
x

Brigid O'Connor said...

Well done Niamh for making the shortlist. Yes, I listened to the programme, I am very curious to hear the winning story. I think he may have the makings of a great book there! Congrats to the three winners and all the shortlistees, looking forward to hearing your story on the airwaves.

niamh said...

Old Kitty
Its a great opportunity all right - best of luck with your own (blog morphed) story!

Brigid
It was interesting to hear the judges talk about the work, looking forward to hearing Orca, (great title)...and my own (of course:))

Orla Fay said...

well done again Niamh on being shortlisted, you are obviously a very talented writer!

Titus said...

Congratulations to the winners and to all on the shortlist!

Barbara Scully said...

Thanks Niamh for bringing me uptodate with this years competition and congratulations on making the short list!

Theresa Milstein said...

I'm sorry you didn't win, but making the short list ain't too shabby. Congratulations to the winners.

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