TIGH LITRÍOCHTA
|
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.
|
|
THE CORK CITY - FRANK O'CONNOR SHORT STORY AWARD
SIMON VAN BOOY WINNER OF 2009 CORK-CITY FRANK O'CONNOR SHORT STORY AWARD  Anglo-Welsh author Simon Van Booy was announced as the winner of the 2009 Cork City - Frank O'Connor Short Story Award. The announcement was made by Patrick Cotter on Sunday at the closing ceremony of the tenth annual Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival. New York resident Van Booy (pronounced BOY) has won for his second collection of stories called Love Begins in Winter published in the UK by Beautiful Books and in the USA by Harper Perrennial. The award is worth 35,000 euro, the largest monetary prize for the short story form. Now in its fifth year, arguably the award has grown to be the world's most prestigious prize for writers of short stories. It is administered by the Munster Literature Centre in Cork and made possible through the generous sponsorship of Cork City Council.Simon Van Booy was born in London and grew up in rural Wales and Oxford. After playing football in Kentucky, he lived in Paris and Athens. In 2002 he was awarded an MFA and won the H.R. Hays Poetry Prize. His journalism has appeared in magazines and newspapers including The New York Times and The New York Post. Van Booy is the author of The Secret Lives of People in Love, now translated into several languages. He lives in New York City, where he teaches part-time at the School of Visual Arts and at Long Island University. He is also involved in the Rutgers Early College Humanities Program (REaCH) for young adults living in underserved communities.
Cotter, Artistic Director of the Munster Literature Centre, declared in the judges' citation of Van Booy's book:
"While we believe that this was the most evenly-matched short-list ever in the award's history, containing six brilliant books by accomplished authors, after much rereading and long discussions the jury was convinced by one title in particular. Unusually for a work of serious literature this book won with its consistently positive and optimistic approach to examining the travails of human experience. It is an emotionally warming book which easily wins a place in the heart of the reader. The jury was impressed by the author's consummate mastery of the technique of classic short story writing. From the opening line he grabs the reader's attention and maintains focus. His language is lyrical and sings off the page. His stories are full of the most exquisite insights, aphoristic without ever seeming like mere conveyances for ideas. It is with great pleasure that we can present this award to Simon Van Booy for his book Love Begins in Winter."
For further information contact:
Patrick Cotter
Artistic Director
The Munster Literature Centre
__________ __________
Shortlist for the 2009 Cork City - Frank O'Connor Short Story Award Announced The shortlist for the 2009 Cork City - Frank O'Connor Short Story Award has been decided by an international jury. The award at 35,000 euro is the richest prize in the world for the short story form and is given annually to an original collection of stories judged to be the best. Previous winners have included Haruki Murakami, Miranda July, Jhumpa Lahiri and Yiyun Li. The award is organised by the Munster Literature Centre with generous funding from Cork City Council. Notable names edged out for a position on this year's shortlist include Booker winner Kazuo Ishiguro, Orange Prize winner Chimanda Ngozi Adiche, veteran short story authors Ali Smith, Mary Gaitskill and James Lasdun and reviewers' darling Sana Krasikov. The winner will be announced in Cork on September 20th at the closing ceremony of the tenth Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival which is the oldest annual short story festival in the world.
Further information can be obtained from: Patrick Cotter, Director, The Munster Literature Centre, ++353 214312955
The shortlisted books are as follows (in alphabetical order):
1. An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah published by Faber, London n
Petina Gappah is a Zimbabwean writer with law degrees from Cambridge, Graz University, and the University of Zimbabwe. Her short fiction and essays have been published in eight countries. She lives with her son Kush in Geneva, where she works as counsel in an international organisation that provides legal aid on international trade law to developing countries. Her story collection, An Elegy for Easterly is published by Faber in April 2009. She is currently completing The Book of Memory, her first novel. Both books will also be published in Finland, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
2. Singularity by Charlotte Grimshaw published by Vintage, New Zealand
Charlotte Grimshaw is a fiction writer. Her first novel was described as ‘New Zealand noir,’ and her later books continue to draw from a range of genres and dramatic situations. Grimshaw has contributed short fiction to anthologies, was awarded the 2006 Bank of New Zealand Katherine Mansfield Award, and published her first short story collection in 2007. Titled Opportunity, this collection was short-listed for the world’s richest short fiction prize, the Cork City - Frank O’Connor Short Story Award. 3. Ripples and other Stories by Shih-Li Kow published by Silverfish Books, Malaysia
Shih-Li Kow was born in Kuala Lumpur and was educated for the most part in schools in Malaysia. Her stories have been published in the anthologies, News from Home and Silverfish New Writing 7. Shih-Li Kow holds a degree in chemical engineering and worked as an industrial engineer in a multinational consumer products company for more than ten years. She is currently in retail. She resides in Kuala Lumpur with her extended family and son, Jack.
4. The Pleasant Light of Day by Philip O Ceallaigh Published by Penguin Ireland.
Philip O Ceallaigh has lived and worked at a variety of jobs in Ireland, Spain, Russia, the United States, Kosovo and Georgia. He has lived mostly in Bucharest since 2000 where among other things he translates English subtitles for Romanian films. He has won the Glen Dimplex Award and the Rooney Prize for his first short story collection Notes from A Turkish Whorehouse which was also shortlisted for the Cork City - Frank O’Connor Award in 2006.
5. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower Published by FSG New York and Granta UK
Wells Tower’s short stories and journalism have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, McSweeney’s, The Paris Review, The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories, The Washington Post Magazine, and elsewhere. He received two Pushcart Prizes and the Plimpton Prize from The Paris Review. He divides his time between Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Brooklyn, New York.
6. Love Begins in Winter by Simon Van Booy published by Harper Perennial New York and Beautiful Books London.
Simon Van Booy was born in London and grew up in rural Wales and Oxford. After playing football in Kentucky, he lived in Paris and Athens. In 2002 he was awarded an MFA and won the H.R. Hays Poetry Prize. His journalism has appeared in magazines and newspapers including The New York Times and the New York Post. Van Booy is the author of The Secret Lives of People in Love, now translated into several languages. He lives in New York City, where he teaches part-time at the School of Visual Arts and at Long Island University. He is also involved in the Rutgers Early College Humanities Program (REaCH) for young adults living in undeserved communities.
__________
15 American Authors: Eleanor Bluestein, Tea and Other Ayama Na Tales, BkMk Press (University of Bonnie Jo Cambell, American Salvage,Wayne State University Press Dennis Cooper, Ugly Man: Stories, Harper Perennial David Eagleman, Sum, Pantheon Books (Random House) Mary Gaitskill, Don’t Cry, Pantheon Books (Random House) Lauren Groff, Delicate Edible Bird, Hyperion Daniel A. Hoyt, Then We Saw The Flames, University of Massachusetts Press Ian MacMillan, Our People, BkMk Press (University of Missouri-Kansas City) James Mathews, Last Known Position, University of North Texas Press Christopher Meeks, Months and Season, White Whisker Books Lydia Peelle, Reasons for and Advantage of Breathing, Harper Perennial Andrew Porter, The Theory of Light and Matter, University of Georgia Press Glen Pourciau, Invite, University of Iowa Press Midge Raymond, Forgetting English, Eastern Washington University Press Wells Tower, Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 17 British Authors: Anthony Cropper, Nature’s Magician, Route Jane Feaver, Love Me Tender, Harvill Secker (The Random House Group) Paul Flynn, Crossing the Border, CC Publishing Tania Hershman, The White Road, Salt Publishing Sue Hubbard, Rothko’s Red, Salt Publishing Kazuo Ishiguro, Nocturnes, Faber and Faber Limited Alex Keegan, Ballistics, Salt Publishing Charles Lambert, The Scent of Cinnamon, Salt Publishing James Lasdun, It’s Beginning to Hurt, Farrar, Straus and Giroux Tom Lee, Greenfly, Harvill Secker (The Random House Group) André Mangeot, A Little Javanese, Salt Publishing Sean O’Brien, The Silence Room, Comma Press John Saul, As Rivers Flow, Salt Publishing Ali Smith, The First Person, Penguin Group Canada Mark Illis, Tender, Salt Publishing Simon Van Booy, Love Begins in Winter, Harper Perennial 4 Canadian Authors: Tricia Dower, Silent Girl, Innana Publications and Education Inc. Hannah Holborn, Fierce, McClelland & Stewart Pamela Stewart, Elysium, Anvil Press Deborah Willis, Vanishing and Other Stories, Penguin Group Canada 1 Dutch Author: Arnon Grunberg, Amuse-Bouche, Comma Press 1 Estonian Author: Kristiina Ehin, A Priceless Nest, Oleander Press 1 German Author: Maike Wetzel (Trans. Lyn Marven), Long Days, Comma Press 1 Icelandic Author: Gyrơir Elíasson (Trans. Victoria Cribb), Stone Tree, Comma Press 3 Indian Authors: Jahnavi Barua, Next Door, Penguin Books ( India ) Jasmine Anita Yvette D’Costa, Curry is Thicker Than Water, BookLand Press Kuzhali Manickavel, Insects Are Just Like You and Me Except Some of Them Have Wings, Blaft Publications 4 Irish Authors: Michael J. Farrell, Life in the Universe, The Stinging Fly Press Robert Graham, The Only Living Boy, Salt Publishing Alan McMonagle, Liar, Liar, Words on the Street 1 Macedonian Author: Kiril Bozhinov, Eclipses: Stories of Disappearances and Reappearance, Beyond Art Productions 1 Malaysian Author: Shih-Li-Kow, Ripples and Other Short Stories, Silverfish Books 1 Nepali Author: Sushma Joshi, The End of the World, FinePrint Books 2 New Zealand Authors: Jeanette Galpin, Aroha and the River, Maungatiro Press of Marton Charlotte Grimshaw Singularity Vintage 2 Nigerian Authors: Sefi Atta, Lawless, Farafina Books Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Thing Around Your Neck, Fourth Estate LTD 1 Spanish Author: Empar Moliner (Trans. Peter Bush), I Love You When I’m Drunk, Comma Press 1 Ukrainian Author: Sana Krasikov, One More Year, Portobello Books Ltd 1 Zimbabwean Author Petina Gappah, An Elegy for Easterly, Faber and Faber Limited __________
Lloren A. Foster, Ph. D. an Assistant Professor of English at Hampton University. He has a BA in English from Chicago State University (1998) and a Ph.D. in Afro-American Studies, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (2007). He fashions himself a Literary Historian and Cultural Critic whose research interests are focused on storytelling and narrative in the Short Story of the African Diaspora. Milka Jankowska: for three years she has been co-ordinating the International Short Story Festival in Wroclaw, Poland. She has also been working in the Wroclaw Book Fair Bureau, organising the international book fair under the auspices of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and Polish Publishers Association. M.J. is also a translator (English-Polish) for various publishing houses (14 translations of British, American and Australian authors, literary and commercial fiction – novels, stories etc.). Vincent McDonnell is an award-winning author of books for adults and young readers. Born in County Mayo, he worked in England for a number of years. He now lives in County Cork with his wife and son.
__________
What is the Cork City - Frank O'Connor Short Story Award? The Cork City - Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award is an annual award of €35,000 and is currently the world's richest prize for the short story form. The award is in memory of the late Frank O'Connor, one of the world's most renowned short story writers. The award, organised by the Munster Literature Centre and funded by Cork City Council, is presented in O'Connor's hometown of Cork, Ireland, at the end of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival. The prize is awarded to the author of the book judged to be the best collection of stories published in English for the first time anywhere in the world in the twelve months between September of one year and August of the next. If a translated book wins, the purse is shared equally between the author and translator. How can books be entered for the award? Publishers, authors and agents may enter eligible works of short fiction. Self-publications are considered but entries from vanity presses are not. Self-publishers should be aware that the standard is world-class and very competitive. Books must be submitted by 31st March in seven bound copies to the Munster Literature Centre, Frank O'Connor House, 84 Douglas Street, Cork, Ireland. There is no entry form, but a cover letter with contact information is required. Books considered in 2010 will have a first publication date of between September 1st, 2009 and August 31st, 2010. Books due for publication the closing date may be submitted in bound proof form. What sort of books are entered in error? Vanity press publications, books first published outside the year of consideration, books which collect or select stories published from the author's previous short story collections and collections of novellas. How is the winner decided? All eligible titles constitute the long-list, which is read by the jury. A short-list of four or six is chosen. The winner is selected after further deliberations from the short-list. If eligible titles entered exceeds 50 in number the Munster Literature Centre reserves the right to exclude certain entries from the longlist. Only authors who commit to attending the awards ceremony in Cork, Ireland in September 2010 will be deemed to have accepted a shortlist position. The Munster Literature Centre will pay for hotel and economy travel expenses of shortlisted authors. Shortlisted authors will also be offered a fee of €500 if they agree to read at the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival. Who will serve as judges? The judges are selected by the director of the Munster Literature Centre from published short-story writers and academics with a track-record of involvement with the short story. From time to time, any other special category person may also be on the panel. When will the shortlist be announced? The short-list will be announced mid-July 2010. Only authors who commit to attending the awards ceremony in Cork, Ireland in September 2010 will be deemed to have accepted a shortlist position. The Munster Literature Centre will pay for hotel and economy travel expenses of shortlisted authors. Shortlisted authors will also be offered a fee of €500 if they agree to read at the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival. How will the winner be announced? The winner will be announced at the closing event of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival in Cork, Ireland in September 2010.
For information on past winners and the Frank O'Connor Festival, please visit the festival pages found on the drop down menu.
|
The 2009 Sean O'Faolain Short Story Competition Now Closed Thanks to everyone who entered. The Sean O'Faolain Short Story Competition is an annual short story competition dedicated to one of Ireland’s most accomplished story writers and theorists, sponsored by the Munster Literature Centre. It offers a first prize of €1,500 (approx US$2000) and second prize of €500 (approx US$650) and publication in Southword. Four other shortlisted entries will be selected for publication in Southword and receive a fee of €100 (approx US$130). The winners will be invited to read their stories at the 2009 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival, Cork, Ireland in September 2009.
Festival In the News Shortlist in the Guardian (United Kingdom) 2008 FOC Winner: Lahiri Links Interview inThe Atlantic (US periodical) New York Times review The Arts Show RTE1 Irish national radio 18 minute radio broadcast on US NPR
|
||||
©2009 The Munster Literature Centre |
Frank O'Connor House, 84 Douglas Street, Cork, Ireland. Tel. (353) 021 4312955, Email: munsterlit(AT)eircom(DOT)net |
Irish Registered Charity No.12374 |
