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MLC books

Welcome to the Munster

Literature Centre

Founded in 1993, the Munster Literature Centre (Tigh Litríochta) is a non-profit arts organisation dedicated to the promotion and celebration of literature, especially that of Munster. To this end, we organise festivals, workshops, readings and competitions. Our publishing section, Southword Editions, publishes a biannual journal, poetry collections and short stories. We actively seek to support new and emerging writers and are assisted in our efforts through funding from Cork City Council, Cork County Council and the Arts Council of Ireland.

Originally located in Sullivan's Quay, the centre moved to its current premises in the Frank O'Connor House (the author's birthplace) at 84 Douglas Street, in 2003.

In 2000, the Munster Literature Centre organised the first Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival, an event dedicated to the celebration of the short story and named for one of Cork's most beloved authors. The festival showcases readings, literary forums and workshops. Following continued growth and additional funding, the Cork City - Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award was introduced in 2005, coinciding with Cork's designation as that year's European Capital of Culture. The award is now recognised as the single biggest prize for a short story collection in the world and is presented at the end of the festival.

In 2002, the Munster Literature Centre introduced the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Prize, an annual short story competition dedicated to one of Ireland's most accomplished story writers and theorists. This too is presented during the FOC festival. The centre also hosts the Cork Spring Literary Festival each year.

Workshops are held by featured authors in both autumn and spring, allowing the general public to receive creative guidance in an intimate setting for a minimal fee. In addition, the centre sponsors a Writer in Residence each year.

We invite you to browse our website for further information regarding our events, Munster literature, and other literary information. Should you have any queries, we would be happy to hear from you.

 

 

 

 


LATEST NEWS

 

Book launch: Landing Places

Tuesday, 9 March 2010 at Cork City Library on Grand Parade

Wine reception begins at 6.30. All welcome.

 

Landing Places Immigrant Poetry AnthologyEditors Eva Bourke and Borbála Faragó present a timely and important anthology of poems by sixty-six poets, both recent arrivals and first generation immigrants all over the world, who have made their homes in Ireland and who contribute to, challenge and ultimately broaden the definition of what is thought of as ‘writing from Ireland’.

The launch of the volume published by Dedalus Press is hosted in association with the Munster Literature Centre and the Cork City Library. A selection of Munster-based writers will read one of their poems at the launch, including Gabriel Ezutah, Matthew Geden, Joe Horgan, Emmanuel Jakpa, Chuck Kruger, Nyaradzo Masunda, Jennifer Matthews, Mark Roper, Jo Slade, Richard Tillinghast, Cliff Wedgebury, Grace Wells and Adam Wyeth.

Click here to learn more about the anthology at the Dedalus Press website.

 

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Writing Workshops--Spring 2010

 

Fiction with Vincent McDonnell begins 15.03.10

Poetry with James Harpur begins 24.03.10

 

Spring Writing Workshops 2010

Only €120/€100 conc. for 6 weeks!

Click on the poster for more information.

 

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The Gregory O'Donoghue Poetry Prize Winners

 

First Prize: John F. Deane

'Shoemaker'

John F Deane

 

Second Prize: Siobhan Campbell

'Clew Bay from the Reek'

 

Siobhan Campbell

 

Third Prize: Patrick Deeley

'Geezer'

Patrick Deeley

 

The result was announced at the Spring Literary Festival on Wednesday, 17 February at 7.30PM in the Metropole Hotel. A video of John F. Deane's reading will be posted in the next issue of Southword Journal Online.

 

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Visit our dedicated Cork Spring Literary Festival website here:

 

Spring Literary Festival

 

17 February - 20 February 2010

 

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Best Irish Poetry 2010 reviewed in RTÉ radio's Arena.

 

Best of Irish 2010

 

Click here to listen!

 

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Spring Literary Festival 2010

SPRING LITERARY FESTIVAL 2010: THE LORE OF PLACE

 

February 17 - 20

 

Click on the programme for more information!

 

 

Click here to download the festival programme.

Click here to download the festival timetable of events.

 


View Cork Spring Literary Festival in a larger map 

 

 

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The 2010 Gregory O'Donoghue Shortlist

 

Listed alphabetically:

Lauren K. Alleyne– New York, USA

Siobhan Campbell– Dublin, Ireland

John F. Deane– Dublin, Ireland

Patrick Deeley– Dublin, Ireland

Maureen Gallagher– Galway, Ireland

John Gerard– Cork, Ireland

Catherine Phil MacCarthy– Dublin, Ireland

Patrick Maddock– New Ross, Ireland

Pete Mullineaux– Galway, Ireland

Cristina Newton– Swindon, UK

Mary Anne Perkins– Richmond, UK

Jane Robinson– Enniskerry, Ireland

Cherry Smyth– London, UK

 

Please note that the prize-winners have been personally notified, and the result will be announced at the Spring Literary Festival.

 

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Southword Journal Online is now accepting submissions of poetry and short fiction for issue 18.

Click here for our submission guidelines and e-mail addresses, or follow the link below to read issue 17.

 

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SOUTHWORD 17 NOW ONLINE!

 

Click here:

Southword Journal

 

Featuring work from Martín Espada, Theo Dorgan, Billy Ramsell, the Seán Ó Faoláin Competition winner--Alexa Beattie, and the photography of John Minihan.

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Best of Irish Poetry 2010 on sale now at a special web price!

 

Best Irish Poetry in English 2010

 

Visit our bookstore.

 

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New Featured Poets at Poetry International:

Martina Evans and Pat Boran

 

Martina Evans Martina Evans was born in 1961 to a large family in County Cork, where her mother ran a pub, a shop and a petrol station. The youngest of ten siblings, family and local history is a major presence in her work. After studying at UCC and St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin, she began a fifteen-year career as a radiographer. Evans moved to London in the late 1980s, where she completed a degree in English and Philosophy with the Open University and began writing poetry and novels. Awards soon followed, including the Betty Trask Award in 1995 and the Arts Council England Award in 1999 for her novels Midnight Feast and No Drinking No Dancing No Doctors respectively. Additionally, she is involved in the writing community as a creative writing teacher (London Metropolitan University), competition judge (Listowel) and journalist (Irish Post, Irish Times and The Guardian)

Pat Boran

Pat Boran was born in Portlaoise, Ireland, in 1963 and currently lives in Dublin. Prior to taking over the running of the press in 2005, he had published four collections of poetry with Dedalus: The Unwound Clock (1990), which won the Patrick Kavanagh Award, Familiar Things (1993), The Shape of Water (1996) and As the Hand, the Glove (2001). His New and Selected Poems (first published by Salt Publishing in 2005) was reissued, with minor revisions, by Dedalus in November 2007. 

 

 

Poems and more at Poetry International.org

 

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The Gregory O'Donoghue International Poetry Competition

Gregory O'Donoghue

The Munster Literature Centre is pleased to announce a new international poetry prize for a single poem. Click here for more information.

 

 

 

1st Prize €1000, publication in Southword

and a trip to Cork Ireland.

2nd Prize €500 publication in Southword

3rd Prize €250 publication in Southword

Ten runners-up to be published in Southword and receive €30 publication fee.

 

Deadline Tuesday December 15th

 

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Poetry and Fiction workshops starting soon. Register ASAP!

 

MLC Workshops

Poetry with James Harpur

Brighten the darkening autumn evenings by taking a fresh look at poetry and the way you write it. Each of the sessions will be loosely divided into two parts: the first will involve a general discussion about a specific poetic theme. The second part will concentrate on participants’ work, which will be appraised by James and the other members of the group.

Fiction with Vincent McDonnell

This workshop will look at some of the important techniques required to produce good fiction. They will inspire and encourage beginners as well as experienced writers, and will imbue both with the enthusiasm necessary to continue writing after they have completed the workshops. At the beginning of each workshop there will be a discussion on technique, while the remainder of the workshop will focus on the writing of the participants.

Poetry begins 7 October and runs weekly on Wednesday nights. Fiction begins 8 October and runs weekly on Thursday nights. For more information or to register, please visit our workshops page.

 

 

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Previous articles and information available on the Archives page.

 

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Spring 2010 Workshops

Spring Writing Workshops 2010

Workshops in poetry and fiction will be starting mid-March at greatly reduced fees. The leaders include published poet and fiction writers. Banish those wintry thoughts and get writing for inspiration! Click on the poster for more information.

 

 

Read Southword Journal Online

Southword Journal

Supplement 17A coming soon!

 

 

Spring Literary Festival

Spring Literary Festival

17 February - 20 February

 

 

Best Irish Poetry in English 2010

Bird Alone

Visit our bookstore here.

 

 

Poetry International.org

Martina EvansPat Boran

The Munster Literature Centre produces the Irish section of this prestigious poetry site. Current featured poets are Martina Evans and Pat Boran. For further information, please visit the site at www.poetryinternational.org.

 


Festivals

MLC Festival 2009

The Munster Literature Centre hosts two annual festivals. The larger Cork City - Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival takes place each September, while the Cork Spring Literary Festival, with varying themes, is presented each spring. Further information is available on our drop down menus.

 

 

 

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©2009
The Munster Literature Centre

   

Frank O'Connor House, 84 Douglas Street, Cork, Ireland.

Tel. (353) 021 4312955 Email munsterlit@eircom.net

   
Irish Registered Charity No.12374