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MUNSTER LITERATURE CENTRE IONAD LITRÍOCHTA an DEISCIRT |
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Welcome to the Munster Literature Centre Founded in 1993, the Munster Literature Centre (Ionad Litríochta an Deiscirt) 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.
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THE CORK CITY - FRANK O'CONNOR SHORT STORY AWARD
Click below to visit the new dedicated website for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. Visit regularly to keep up with all the latest news. www.frankoconnor-shortstory-award.net
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Edna O'Brien wins the 2011 Frank O'Connor The 2011 Frank O'Connor Award Page The 2010 Frank O'Connor Award Page The 2009 Frank O'Connor Award Page
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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES FOR FRANK O'CONNOR AWARD
Please note: Major changes to conditions this year / 2011. Please return in 2012 to check for new developments. 1. Deadline for receipt of entries and eligible publication dates In recent years the organisers have taken note that books published between July and August are not being submitted for entry; so to remedy this, the year of publication for titles eligible to be entered for the 2012 award need to have been published between July 1st 2011 and June 30th 2012. Proofs and bound typescripts are acceptable for titles scheduled to be published after the closing date for entries which for this year has been extended to April 11th. Interested publishers are encouraged to submit immediately and not wait until the last moment.
2. Publicity requirements for publishersThe Frank O’Connor Short Story Award is remuneratively larger than any American book award. It is approximately equal to the Costa Book award and the Orange Prize for fiction. The organisers of the award will not charge publishers of winning or shortlisted titles thousands of pounds as in the case of the Costa and Booker awards but in order to fulfil the award’s purpose in raising the marketing profile of the winning title in particular and the short story in general the following conditions will be enforced: It is a condition of entry that all shortlisted authors attend the award announcement at the reasonable expense of the award organisers (economy air travel and lodgings chosen by the organisers). It is also a condition that all copies in print of the winning book and any subsequent English-language editions (up to five years after the award is made) carry a badge at the publisher’s expense (either as a sticker or part of the original printing) on the front cover declaring “Winner of the 2012 Frank O’Connor Short Story Award”. €15,000 of the award money is payable to the author within a month of the award announcement. €20,000 is payable within six months after the award announcement once the award director is satisfied that the title’s publishers have complied with the badge requirement. The second tranche of €20,000 payable to the author will be forfeited if the author’s publishers fail to honour this condition.
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 a first publication date of between July 1st of the prior year and June 30th of the current year. 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. Unfortunately self-publications and entries from vanity presses will not be considered. Books must be submitted by 11th April 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 a particular year will have a first publication date of between July 1st of the prior year and June 30th of the current year. (For example, books considered in 2012 will have first publication dates of between July 1st, 2011 and June 30th, 2012.) Books due for publication before the closing date may be submitted in bound proof form. What sort of books are entered in error? Vanity press publications and self-published work, 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, titles which have previously been submitted for the award, and books by authors who are deceased. 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. Shortlisted authors will be offered a reading fee if they agree to read at the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival. The Frank O’Connor Short Story Award is remuneratively larger than any American book award. It is approximately equal to the Costa Book award and the Orange Prize for fiction. The organisers of the award will not charge publishers of winning or shortlisted titles thousands of pounds as in the case of the Costa and Booker awards but in order to fulfil the award’s purpose in raising the marketing profile of the winning title in particular and the short story in general the following conditions will be enforced: It is a condition of entry that all shortlisted authors attend the award announcement at the reasonable expense of the award organisers (economy air travel and lodgings chosen by the organisers). It is also a condition that all copies in print of the winning book and any subsequent English-language editions (up to five years after the award is made) carry a badge at the publisher’s expense (either as a sticker or part of the original printing) on the front cover declaring “Winner of the 2012 Frank O’Connor Short Story Award”. €15,000 of the award money is payable to the author within a month of the award announcement. €20,000 is payable within six months after the award announcement once the award director is satisfied that the title’s publishers have complied with the badge requirement. The second tranche of €20,000 payable to the author will be forfeited if the author’s publishers fail to honour this condition.
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 publicly announced mid-July. Only authors who commit to attending the awards ceremony in Cork, Ireland in September 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 reading fee 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.
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EDNA O'BRIEN WINS THE 2011 FRANK O'CONNOR SHORT STORY AWARD
Edna O'Brien's short story collection Saints and Sinners has won the 2011 Cork City - Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. The final decision was made after much deliberation by the judges Thomas McCarthy (Cork-based poet), Alannah Hopkin (Cork-based writer) and Guardian journalist Chris Power (UK). The shortlist had a majority of women including Irish grandee Edna O’Brien and inaugural winner (2005) of the award Yiyun Li for her second collection. There were two young debutantes, Canadian Alexander MacLeod and American Suzanne Rivecca. American novelist Valerie Trueblood is shortlisted with her first short story collection and the shortlist is completed by the Irish literary heavyweight Colm Tóibín. It was the first year two Irish authors had been shortlisted for this, the world’s largest and most prestigious award for the Short Story. Established in 2005 the €35,000 award is in the gift of the Munster Literature Centre and funded by Cork City Council. It was awarded for what was judged to be the best original short story collection published in English between July 1st 2010 and June 30th 2011. Previous winners have included Haruki Murakami, Jhumpa Lahiri and Simon Van Booy. O’Brien received a standing ovation as she accepted the award. “This is lovely, wonderful,” she said. “When Maureen Stapleton won an Academy Award, she said she’d like to thank everyone she’d ever met. I should probably limit that to Munster… I’d like to thank this wonderful festival for doing so much to stimulate the dying flower called literature.”
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For information on past winners and the Frank O'Connor Festival, please visit the festival pages found on the drop down menu.
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Further Information
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
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©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 |
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