All are welcome to the second Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair Competition which will be launched at 7.30, on Wednesday June 27th: its a great opportunity for anyone who plans to enter the competition as it will involve a question and answer session with the Novel fair organisers.
From The Irish Writers Centre Site...
"The Novel Fair was a new initiative by the Irish Writers’ Centre launched in 2011. It aims to introduce up-and-coming writers to top publishers and literary agents, giving novelists the opportunity to bypass the slush pile, pitch their ideas and place their synopsis and sample chapters directly into the hands of publishers and agents.
Due to the success of the Fair we have decided to run it again in 2013, with an additional prize of a place on a seminar on 'How to Pitch Your Novel' to help the novelists perfect their presentations and material for the day.
The deadline for the competition this year is October 17th and the Novel Fair itself will take place on February 16th, 2013.
This year a judging panel will be asked to select a shortlist of ten successful entries, presented to them anonymously. There is no limitation on style, genre, or target market, the only requirement being that the writer has not published a novel before. Publishers and agents will be invited to come along on the day to the Irish Writers’ Centre and meet the ten selected writers in person. Each writer in attendance will have a stand at the Fair with copies of the synopsis of their novel, the finished novel itself and biographical material."
I'm delighted to annnounce that Penguin Ireland have bought my novel The Herbalist, and it will be published in 2013!
From the press release:
"The Herbalist is a vivid and atmospheric story set in a midlands town over a summer in late 1930s. An Indian man appears in the market square, sets up a stall and declares himself a herbalist. The people of the town flock to the exotic visitor, who seems to have a cure for everything that ails them. But the visitor also helps get rid of some of the town’s more sordid secrets and as the summer progresses life becomes complicated and dangerous for the herbalist and his devotees. A rich multi-layered story of life in 1930s Ireland told through the eyes of four women, each of whose lives is changed irrevocably by the herbalist."
Patricia Deevy, Editorial Director, Penguin Ireland said, ‘I’m absolutely thrilled to have bought Niamh’s dazzling novel. Niamh vividly conjures both the warmth and the darkness of life in a provincial Irish town during those years before the Emergency. In particular, she handles the now familiar shadow side of Irish life – the rigid social stratification, the fear of sex, the double standards – in a wholly fresh and confident way. Her characters are fascinating women and she has written a thought-provoking, moving and viscerally engaging novel that marks her out as a remarkable and original new talent.’
... and I'll be reading from The Herbalist at the Novel Fair 2013 Launch on June 27th at the Irish Writer's Centre !
Just in from the Moth Magazine - The Ballymaloe International Poetry Prize 2012 is officially launched!
The first prize is €5,000 (!) plus two nights B&B for two (including
one evening meal). The second and third prizes are €1,000 and €500
respectively.
The judge this year is Leontia Flynn, winner of
a Forward Prize for Best First Collection and a Rooney Prize for Irish
Literature. You can enter as
many poems as you like. It costs €6 per poem (or €7.50 per poem if
you're sending a money order).
You can enter online via the website or send your entries to:
The Ballymaloe International Poetry Prize
c/o The Moth
The Bog Road
Dromard
Cavan
Co. Cavan
Ireland
The closing date is 31 December 2012.Thats plenty of time to get writing, and its international too, open to anyone, anywhere...and the new edition of the Moth looks gorgeous!
At last! And a big congratulations to the winning and shortlisted writers!
Ist prize - It's All a Cod by Phil KearneyByrne, will be broadcast on Monday 18 June 2012
2nd prize- The Glass by John Austin Connolly, will be broadcast on Tuesday 19 June 2012
3rd prize - At The Ranch by Dorene Groocock, will be broadcast on Wednesday 20 June 2012 )
"For the first time in the history of The RTÉ Radio 1 Short Story
Competition 2012 in Memory of Francis Mac Manus, the judges listened to
recordings of the stories as well as reading the scripts of each story
before deciding on their literary and broadcasting qualities and
selecting the winning entries. The professional readers of the stories
included Pat Laffan, Cathy Belton, Pat Kinevane and Ingrid Craigie.
Series Producer of the RTÉ Radio 1 Short Story Competition, Clíodhna Ní
Anluain, says: "This development in the competition takes into account
how the listener experiences the stories, off the page, as literary
audio."
Shortlisted Writers
·The Lottery Tickets by Maire P. Crowley, broadcast on Thursday 21 June 2012
·Departed by Barbara Tarrant, broadcast on Friday 22 June 2012
·All Nine Colours by Annemarie Neary, broadcast on Monday 25 June 2012
·No Candles for Jamie by Jim McGowan, broadcast on Tuesday 26 June 2012
·Haunted by a Rock Band by Frances Macken, broadcast on Wednesday 27 June 2012
·Portrait by Justin MacCarthy, broadcast on Thursday 28 June 2012
·Omissions by Wayne O’Keeffe, broadcast on Friday 29 June 2012
·Remembering the Big Field by Bill Coen, broadcast on Monday 2 July 2012
·You by Nollaig Rowan, broadcast on Tuesday 3 July 2012
·The Pond by Richard Cotter, broadcast on Wednesday 4 July 2012
·Falling is Just Flying Downwards by Ilija Cvetic, broadcast on Thursday 5 July 2012
·Idling by Aideen Henry, broadcast on Friday 6 July 2012
·A Rest on the Stave by Marianne O’Rourke, broadcast on Monday 9 July 2012
·Orange and Brown by Angela Finn, broadcast on Tuesday 10 July 2012
·The Creek by Chris Connolly, broadcast on Wednesday 11 July 2012
·Hold The Line by Eileen Lynch, broadcast on Thursday 12 July 2012
·Friend Me? by Peter McCarthy, broadcast on Friday 13 July 2012
·The Praeger and The Mohican by Áine Ryan, broadcast Monday 16 July 2012
·Five Days to Polling Day by Danielle McLaughlin, broadcast on Tuesday 17 July 2012
·Operation Glasnost by William Kennedy, broadcast on Wednesday 18 July 2012
For more about the winners and the competition clickHERE
It's getting closer! This record breaking readathon will begin on Friday, June 15th at 10am and run right through until Bloomsday: Saturday, June 16th at 2pm. Yes, that's 111
Writers over 28 hours.If you can't make it, you can still watch, as the event will be broadcast live online. The programme of readings is a mighty impressive one.
Programme
of Readings
Session 1 – June 15th 2012 – 10am
until 2pm, Chair: Jack Gilligan
Introductory
Speech at 10am by Senator David Norris
10.15
– 10.30: John Boyne reading from The Absolutist
10.30
– 10.45: Patrick Deeley reading from The Bones of Creation
10.45
– 11.00: Liam Carson reading from Call Mother a Lonely Field
11.00
– 11.15: Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin reading from Selected Poems
11.15
– 11.30: Áine Ní Ghlinn ag léamh as Brionglóidí
11.30
– 11.45: Sarah Webb reading from Ask Amy Green: Boy Trouble
11.45
– 12.00: Jean O’Brien reading from Dangerous Dresses
12.00
– 12.15: Evelyn Conlon reading from Telling
12.15
– 12.30: Catherine Foley ag léamh as An Cailín Rua
12.30
– 12.45: Anne Le Marquand Hartigan reading from Unsweet Dreams
12.45
– 13.00: Mike McCormack reading from Notes from a Coma
13.00
– 13.15: Joan McBreen reading from Winter in the Eye
13.15
– 13.30: Mary Costello reading from The China Factory
13.30
– 13.45: Juliet Bressan reading from Snow White Turtle Doves
13.45
– 14.00: Noel Duffy reading from In The Library of Lost Objects
Session 2 – June 15th 2012 – 2pm until
6pm, Chair: Máire Nic Mhaoláin
14.00
– 14.15: Ríona Nic Congáil ag léamh as Saol an Mhadra Bháin
14.15
– 14.30: Helen Soraghan Dwyer reading from Beyond
14.30
– 14.45: Marjorie Quarton reading from Breakfast the Night Before
14.45
– 15.00: Jean Flitcroft reading from Mexican Devil
15.00
– 15.15: Gabriel Rosenstock ag léamh as Clann na nÉan. Ríocht na Cailce
15.15
– 15.30: Martin Malone reading from The Mango War
15.30
– 15.45: Iggy McGovern reading from Safe House
15.45
– 16.00: Maurice Harmon reading from When Love Is Not Enough
16.00
– 16.15: Mia Gallagher reading from Hellfire
16.15
– 16.30: Margaret Nohilly reading from April Promise
16.30
– 16.45: Kieran Furey reading from Going against Gravity
16.45
– 17.00: Michael J. Farrell reading from Life in the Universe
17.00
– 17.15: C.E. Murphy reading from Urban Shaman
17.15
– 17.30: Muriel Bolger reading from Intentions
17.30
– 17.45: Anna Heussaff ag léamh as Buille Marfach
17.45
– 18.00: John Givens reading from The Plum Rains & Other Stories
Session 3 – June 15th 2012 – 6pm until
10pm, Chair: Andrew Clarke
18.00
– 18.15: Seán Mac Mathúna reading from The Atheist
18.15
– 18.30: Mark Granier reading from Fade Street
18.30
– 18.45: Anne Tannam reading from Take This Life
18.45
– 19.00: Pádraig Ó Laighin ag léamh as Ní Iontas go bhFuil an Spideog ag
Gearáin
19.00
– 19.15: Carlo Gébler reading from The Dead Eight
19.15
– 19.30: Pádraig J. Daly reading from Afterlife
19.30
– 19.45: Anne Haverty reading from The Free and Easy
19.45
– 20.00: Laurence O’Bryan reading from The Istanbul Puzzle
20.00
– 20.15: John F. Deane reading from Eye Of The Hare
20.15
– 20.30: Ed O’Loughlin reading from Toploader
20.30
– 20.45: Dermot Bolger reading from External Affairs
20.45
– 21.00: Paul Perry reading from The Last Falcon and Small Ordinance
21.00
– 21.15: Liam Mac Cóil ag léamh as An Litir
21.15
– 21.30: Conor Kostick reading from Edda
21.30
– 21.45: Ferdia Mac Anna reading from The Rocky Years
21.45
– 22.00: Pat Boran reading from The Invisible Prison
Session 4 – June 15th/16th 2012 – 10pm
until 2am, Chair: June Considine
22.00
– 22.15: John Maher reading from The Luck Penny
22.15
– 22.30: Seamus Cashman reading from That Morning Will Come
22.30
– 22.45: Pat Quigley reading from Borderland
22.45
– 23.00: Mary Guckian reading from Perfume of the Soil
23.00
– 23.15: Joe Jackson reading from Troubadours and Troublemakers
23.15
– 23.30: Paul Grattan reading from Daytime Astronomy
23.30
– 23.45: Ivy Bannister reading from Magician and other stories
23.45
– 00.00: Nessa O’Mahony reading from In Sight of Home
00.00
– 00.15: June Considine reading from Deceptions
00.15
– 00.30: Ross Hattaway reading from Pretending To Be Dead and other
entertainments
00.30
– 00.45: Mary Rose Callaghan reading from A Bit of a Scandal
00.45
– 01.00: Eleanor Hooker reading from The Shadow Owner’s Companion
01.00
– 01.15: Anthony Glavin reading from Nighthawk Alley
01.15
– 01.30: Christodoulos Makris reading from Spitting Out the Mother Tongue
01.30
– 01.45: Winston Smith reading from Generation F
01.45
– 02.00: Micheál Ó Conghaile ag léamh as An Fear a Phléasc
Session 5 – June 16th 2012 – 2am until
6am, Chair: Mícheál Ó Ruairc
02.00
– 02.15: Sarah Clancy reading from Thanks For Nothing, Hippies
02.15
– 02.30: Richard Halperin reading from Anniversary
02.30
– 02.45: Celine Kiernan reading from Into The Grey
02.45
– 03.00: Karen Gillece reading from Longshore Drift
03.00
– 03.15: reading from Snow at the Opera House Liz McSkeane
03.15
– 03.30: Mícheál Ó Ruairc ag léamh as Daoine A Itheann Daoine
03.30
– 03.45: Paul Casey reading from Home More or Less
03.45
– 04.00: Marcel Krüger reading from Stop Coming to My House
04.00
– 04.15: Randolph Healy reading from Hex
04.15
– 04.30: Alistair Graham reading from War and Want
04.30
– 04.45: Brian Ó Dochartaí ag léamh as Bean I mBiarritz
04.45
– 05.00: Máighréad Medbh reading from Twelve Beds for the Dreamer
05.00
– 05.15: Lissa Oliver reading from Chantilly Dawns
05.15
– 05.30: Lucille Redmond reading from Love
05.30
– 05.45: Alan Nolan reading from Death By Chocolate
05.45
– 06.00: Kate Newmann reading from I Am A Horse
Session 6 – June 16th 2012 – 6am until
10am, Chair: Sorcha de Brún
06.00
– 06.15: Aifric Mac Aodha ag léamh as Gabháil Syrinx
06.15
– 06.30: Henry McDonald reading from Colours: Ireland from Bombs to Boom
06.30
– 06.45: James Martyn Joyce reading from What’s Not Said
06.45
– 07.00: Geraldine Mills reading from The Weight of Feathers
07.00
– 07.15: Tadhg Ó Dúshláine ag léamh as Bleaist Faoistine
07.15
– 07.30: Pauline Fayne reading from Mowing In The Dark
07.30
– 07.45: Jane Mitchell reading from Chalkline
07.45
– 08.00: Seán Carabini reading from American Road
08.00
– 08.15: Paddy Bushe reading from My Lord Buddha of Carraig Eanna
08.15
– 08.30: Ann Leahy reading from The Woman Who Lived Her Life Backwards
08.30
– 08.45: Maggie O’Dwyer reading from Laughter Heard From The Road
08.45
– 09.00: Sarah Rees Brennan reading from The Demon Lexicon
09.00
– 09.15: Declan Collinge reading from Fearful Symmetry
09.15
– 09.30: Ciarán Folan reading from Freak Nights
09.30
– 09.45: Orna Ní Choileáin ag léamh as Ailfí Agus An Vaimpír
09.45
– 10.00: Marie Heaney reading from Over Nine Waves
Session 7 – June 16th 2012 – 10am
until 2pm, Chair: Jack Gilligan
10.00
– 10.15: Seamus Heaney reading from Opened Ground: Selected Poems, 1966 –
1996
10.15
– 10.30: Gerard Smyth reading from The Fullness of Time: New and Selected
Poems
10.30
– 10.45: Marita Conlon-McKenna reading from Under The Hawthorn Tree
10.45
– 11.00: Michael O’Loughlin reading from In This Life
11.00
– 11.15: Lia Mills reading from In Your Face
11.15
– 11.30: Celia de Fréine ag léamh as Aibítir Aoise: Alphabet of an Age
11.30
– 11.45: Catherine Dunne reading from Missing Julia
11.45
– 12.00: Kevin Barry reading from Dark Lies the Island
12.00
– 12.15: Colm Breathnach ag léamh as An Fear Marbh
12.15
– 12.30: Gerald Dawe reading from My Mother-City
12.30
– 12.45: Enda Wyley reading from To Wake To This
12.45
– 13.00: Macdara Woods reading from The Cotard Dimension
13.00
– 13.15: Peter Sirr reading from The Thing Is
13.15
– 13.30: Alan Titley ag léamh as Leabhar Nóra Ní Anluain
13.30
– 13.45: Roddy Doyle reading from The Van
13.45 – 14.00: Jack Harte reading from From Under
Gogol’s Nose
I decided last year to celebrate each birthday with a new mountain, so yesterday I walked the Comeragh mountains with my good friend (and expert mountain climber, weather reader and path finder ) Debbie. I reckon that last photo shows a lone fairy tree, they say if you cut one down you'll never have a decent nights sleep.
Today is the first day for voting for the Novelicious Undiscovered Competition. (Voting is open from 6th-20th June) Winners will be announced on the 26th June... and there's an Irish entry! Blogger and writer Brigid O Connor of Sort of Writing is a finalist for her fantastic novel; 'The Irish Poet' and you can vote (for her!)HERE! Best of luck Brigid!
