"Do Something Fridays"

After the thrill is gone...
So you send your novel out to an agent or publisher... you wait, you get excited, you imagine it being, published, reviewed (raved or slammed depending on the mood), made into a film (would that be selling out you think... a fair amount of time is spent on the ethics of selling your literary fiction to Hollywood) ... then you get a sinking feeling, and you keep waiting...but you don't know how long you'll be waiting, it could be a few weeks, months, what if you never hear back back? Don't be so pessimistic! What if...don't be paranoid!

Hence I decided on "Do Something Fridays". Every Friday I'll do something, even something tiny, to help my novel on its way. (A chapter and its synopsis have flown to a publisher today. Bless its little heart!)

And for next friday: Mslexia Magazine are running a novel competition.
"Open to unpublished women novelists writing in any genre for adults, including literary fiction, women’s fiction, young adult fiction, science fiction, fantasy, chick-lit, crime fiction, thriller, historical fiction... but not nonfiction or fiction for under 13s. To constitute a novel, your book must total at least 50,000 words." Deadline 30th September. More information Here

"When you find a great winner you can be sure publishers will come knocking. I will be first in line, wanting to read whoever wins’ Lennie Goodings, Virago Press

Have a great weekend!

Happy Days

Croi Anu Art Exhibition will be launched by Senator Mary Ann O Brien (creator of Lily O Brien’s chocolate and founder of the Jack and Jill Foundation) this Friday at seven thirty, in Moone, County Kildare - all are welcome for the lovely wine and lovely art... it runs from 27th May to - 3rd June and 17 Artists are exhibiting. I've two pieces in the show, the painting photographed above and its sister, who's shyer...


Above are the reasons I haven't been blogging much lately! Congratulations to my daughter Rosie on her 18th birthday and my son Joshua on his first communion! An end of an era as Rosie says!

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

Francis MacManus Short Story Competition Shortlist 2011

The Shortlist for the Francis Mac Manus Awards has been announced here and I'm thrilled skinny that my story "The Every Day Woman" made the list!

The results will be announced on on a special edition of Arts Tonight with Vincent Woods on RTE Radio 1 on Monday 16th May at 10pm. All the shortlisted stories will be broadcast on RTE Radio 1 beginning with the winning story on Monday 6th June at 11.10pm (The Book on One Slot) so I'm looking forward to hearing it on the airways. Happy Thursday and congratulations to all the shortlisted writers.

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2011 Shortlist:

(1) “Seven Steps Home” by Andrew Fox, Skerries, Co. Dublin.
(2) “First and First” by John Butler, Mount Merrion, Dublin.
(3) “Routines” by Maura O’Brien, Parnell Street, Dublin 1.
(4) “Shadow Girl” by Breda Joy, Killarney, Co. Kerry.
(5) “The Every Day Woman” by Niamh Boyce, Ballylinan, Athy, Co. Kildare.
(6) “Saibh” by Aideen Henry, Claddagh, Galway.
(7) “In My Granny’s” by Bernadette Melia, Newbridge, Co. Kildare.
(8) “Don’t Start Listening To This Story” by Patrick G. O’Connor, Castleconell, Co. Limerick.
(9) “The Lightning Field” by Jon Gregory, Molesworth Place, Dublin 2.
(10) “Scar” by Des Mc Inerney, Walkinstown, Dublin 12.
(11) “The Devil’s Breath” by Sheila Barrett, Dalkey, Co. Dublin.
(12) “The Little Girl In Pink” by Davnet Heery, Indrebhán, Co. na Gallaimhe.
(13) “The Secret of Mary” by Jacinta Carey, Manor Estate, Dublin12.
(14) “Granite” by Alice Redmond, Killiney, Co. Dublin.
(15) “Breath” by Anne Harris, King’s Road, Belfast.
(16) “It’s Been A While” by Richard Stevens, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.
(17) “If Birds Could Talk” by Francis Browner, Greystones, Co. Wicklow.
(18) “Remembering Belinda 1959” by Vincent Scott, Vernon Street, Dublin 8.
(19) “The Emperor of Ice Cream” by Natalie Ryan, Monkstown Valley, Co. Dublin.
(20) “Still Life with Apples” by Rachael Hegarty, Raheny, Dublin 5.
(21) “The Third Quarter” by Carl O’Brien, Mount Brown, Dublin 8.
(22) “Orca” by Austin Duffy, Dundalk, Co. Louth.
(23) “The Street With Looking Glass Eyes” by Geraldine Mills, Roscahill, Galway.
(24) “Platform 17 – Grand Central Station” by Patrick Griffin, Archer’s Crescent, Kilkenny.
(25) “Wonderland” by Ilona Blunden, Kilcullen, Co. Kildare.

Strokestown International Poetry festival

"Are you here for here for the international poetry festival?"

"How did you know?"

"Well, with tights like those..."

Strokestown was a weekend packed with FREE readings, workshops, a launch (Cyphers) and a hilarious play by Martin Dyar - Tom Loves A Lord, with music by Anna-Louise Costello. All the shortlisted poets gave readings, the readings of the winning poems were saved for the last night/ finale/results when the judges (Peter Fallon, James Harpur) said a few words about what impressed them about each poem before the final announcement.

First prize went to Jane Routh, second to Pat Winslow and third to Mike Barlow. Peter Fallon said that Jane's poem was the only one they hadn't disagreed about, that cream rises to the top slowly...

I loved Isobel Dixon's poems and Heather Clyne's work, Heather was shortlisted for the Gaelic Poetry Prize and she only began to learn Gaelic three years ago. Listening to poems in Gaelic, (which I don't speak) made me notice tone, rhythm, repetition, voice and body language so much the more. I also found Albanian poet, Ndrek Gjini's work quite startling. Peter Goulding, massively talented and prolific fellow blogger and poet was the winner of the Percy French for humorous verse. I missed that award as we were late arriving but Peters collection, The Six Gifts Of Womanhood, is wicked, in the best possible way!

It's a friendly and accessible festival and I can't wait to go next year. Highlights were the guided walk over Slieve Ban (and the welcome baskets of sandwiches in Frank’s Pub at Ballybeg afterwards), the poems in the pub on Friday night, O Biern's Guinness, the variety and quality of the readings of the shortlisted poems in Gaelic, and the Shortlisted poems in English.