MLC News Archive

The 2016 competition deadline has passed, and we would like to extend a sincere thank-you to everyone who entered. The longlisted, shortlisted and winning writers will be notified by the end of December. A public announcement will be made via newsletter, social media, and here at our website in the new year.

6 week course for €120 (100 concs.)
21 October - 25 November 2015
Wednesdays, 7pm - 9pm. Max 12 students.
Lower age limit: 16

The Munster Literature Centre is a not-for-profit organisation; all moneys raised from the competition benefits writers and writing.

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

The Munster Literature Centre holds an annual competition for an international poetry prize for a single poem, named in honour of a late Irish poet long associated with the Centre. The Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Prize will have a first prize of €1,000 (approx $1122.07 USD/ £727.63 GBP @ xe.com on 16th September 2015), a week's residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre and publication in Southword Literary Journal. The MLC will subvent travel costs for the winner up to €600 and provide hotel accommodation and meals for three days during the Cork Spring Poetry Festival. There will be a second prize of €500, third prize of €250, and ten runners-up will each have their poems published in Southword and receive Southword’s standard fee of €30.

The results are in! Congratulations are in order for Evelyn Walsh of Georgia, USA, who took first prize for her story 'White Rabbit'. Second Prize went to Dolores Walshe of Leitrim, Ireland, for her story 'Small Yellow Sun'.

2015 readers to include Carys Davies, Claire Keegan, Segun Afolabi, Danielle McLaughlin, Kirsty Gunn and many more.

Call for Applications--NOW CLOSED.

Poets to avail of mentorship
under the guidance of James Harpur

The poet James Harpur has been chosen to be the Munster Literature Centre / Words Ireland Poetry Mentor.

James Harpur has had five books of poetry published by Anvil Press, including his latest, Angels and Harvesters (2012), which is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. The Dark Age (2007) won the 2009 Michael Hartnett Award. Other prizes and bursaries include the 1995 British National Poetry Competition, two Arts Council of Ireland Bursaries, a Society of Authors Bursary, an Eric Gregory Award, and a Hawthornden Fellowship. His poems have been published in national newspapers such as The Irish Times, the Guardian and the Independent and broadcast on national radio, including RTE 1 and BBC Radio 4. He has been included in many anthologies, such as The Forward Book of Poetry (Faber 2001), Staying Alive (Bloodaxe 2008), and The Best of Irish Poetry (Southword Editions 2009).

He has conducted workshops at the Arvon Foundation, Lancaster University, Galway University, and at many other venues and locations in Ireland and the UK. He has also mentored and tutored published and beginner poets. He lives in West Cork, Ireland, and is a member of Aosdána.

More information about him and links to his work can be found at http://www.jamesharpur.com/

We are now calling for applications for the position of Mentored Poet.

Applications are invited from Munster-resident poets (with at least one collection published and no more than two) who would like to be mentored by James Harpur while working towards their next collection. The successful candidate will meet the mentor for six sessions. The first five two-hour sessions will be devoted to assessing batches of poems building towards your next book. The sixth session will be devoted to the overall shape of your manuscript. Mentoring sessions can take place at the Munster Literature Centre or at a location mutually agreeable to the Mentor & Mentee. The first mentoring meeting will be arranged for October 2015. Five further meetings will occur at approximately two-monthly intervals with the last session taking place in September 2016.

Submit a PDF or word document consisting of 10 poems from your manuscript in progress, a literary CV and a note outlining how you believe you could benefit from this opportunity to Patrick Cotter, Artistic Director, The Munster Literature Centre at munsterlit(AT)eircom.net. Deadline: September 7th. All eligible applications will be forwarded to James Harpur who will be the sole selector of the successful candidate. Candidates should not canvass James Harpur directly.

Victor Tapner has taken top prize with his manuscript Banquet In the Hall of Happiness. Tapner's full collection Flatlands was published by Salt in 2010. Among his previous honours he has won the Cardiff International Poetry Competition, the Wigtown Prize and Flatlands won the East Anglian Book Award for Poetry.

Tania Hershman came second with her manuscript Nothing Here is Wild, Everything is Open. Tania has published books of short fiction previously but this will be her debut poetry volume. Her fiction books are The White Road & Other Stories (Salt, 2008) and My Mother Was An Upright Piano (Tangent, 2012).

The following poets were also selected as finalists from a field of over 200 entries:

Liz Bahs, Berkshire, UK
Garret Bryant, California,
Catherine Cole, Wollongong, Australia.
Kevin Conroy, Naas, Ireland
Paul McMahon, Sligo, Ireland
Lauren Rusk, California
Ryan Vine, Minnesota

The judging process consisted of Patrick Cotter selecting the finalist manuscripts and past and present Southword Poetry editors, James Harpur, Thomas McCarthy, Leanne O'Sullivan and Matthew Sweeney, ranking (without mutual consultation) each finalist in order of preference. When points were added up Victor Tapner and Tania Hershman came out tops.

Featuring poems selected by editor Matthew Sweeney, including work by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, John McAuliffe, Maurice Riordan, Fiona Pitt-Kethley, the late John Hartley-Williams, and more; six new short stories selected by fiction editor Danielle McLaughlin; litríocht as Gaeilge curated by Colm Breathnach; and reviews of four new English language publications from Irish writers.

Shortlist announced in July. Winners announced in September. Sign up for email newsletter to receive results directly in your inbox! We regret, due to large numbers of entries, we are unable to contact submitters who do not place in the competition individually.

Fool for Poetry Chapbooks

Some people are fools for love, others are fools for poetry

Jo Shapcott, Lavinia Greenlaw, Don Share, David Wheatley, Grace Wells, Martina Evans, and many more will be reading. Additionally, we'll have events focussing on Irish poetry publications including the Poetry Bus, the Penny Dreadful and Southword Journal. This year will also feature multiple book launches, including the 'Fool for Poetry' chapbook competition winners Victoria Kennefick and Virgina Astley.

The Munster Literature Centre is a not-for-profit organisation; all moneys raised from the competition benefits writers and writing.