MUNSTER LITERATURE CENTRE
IONAD LITRÍOCHTA an DEISCIRT

Seán O'Faoláin

International Short Story

Competition

sof

Playlist of Prize-readings

Prizes

Word limit: 3,000 words
Closing date: 31st July (midnight)
Entry fee: €18 per story

The competition is open to original, unpublished and unbroadcast short stories in the English language of 3,000 words or fewer. The story can be on any subject, in any style, by a writer of any nationality, living anywhere in the world. Translated work is not in the scope of this competition. Entrants may enter more than one manuscript. Once entered, no alterations can be made to the submission. Simultaneous submissions are accepted but please notify us immediately should your work be accepted elsewhere.

1st Prize
— €2,000
— Residency (one week) at Anam Cara Retreat
— Featured reading at the Cork International Short Story Festival
— Publication in Southword

2nd Prize
— €500
— Publication in Southword

Four Runners-Up
— €250
— Publication in Southword

2020 Judge

Billy O'Callaghan

judge

Billy O’Callaghan was born in Cork in 1974, and is the author of three short story collections: In Exile (2008, Mercier Press), In Too Deep (2009, Mercier Press), and The Things We Lose, The Things We Leave Behind (2013, New Island Books), which was honoured with a Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Award and selected as Cork’s One City, One Book for 2017.

His first novel, The Dead House (2017, Brandon/O’Brien Press and 2018, Arcade/Skyhorse (USA)), an Irish best-seller, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and was favourably reviewed in several major newspapers, including the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

His new novel, My Coney Island Baby, was published by Jonathan Cape (and Harper in the U.S.) in January 2019. A new short story collection, Even On Our Longest Days, is forthcoming in 2020.

How to Submit

Email entry

Send to: sofcomp@munsterlit.ie
Subject: "SOF entry"
Attachments:

The story for submission (Word document – we cannot accept PDFs). As the competition is judged anonymously, we request that you do not write your name or personal details anywhere on this document.
A cover letter (separate word document attached to the same email). The cover letter should include
- Your name
- Story title
- Email address
- Phone number
- Postal address
- Image of PayPal receipt or the Paypal transaction ID number
- How your heard about the competition
- A brief bio (optional)
Please ensure that this information is in the attachment and not in the body of the email.
Payment of the €18 entry fee can be made through PayPal

Postal entry: Please include

Submission manuscript (typed). To ensure anonymity, please do not write your name or any other personal details on the manuscript.
Cover letter - see details above. Cover letter should be on a separate page to ensure anonymity.
Payment: If you have paid through Paypal, just quote the Paypal transaction ID. Alternatively we accept cheques and bank drafts (see details below)
Send to:
The Seán O'Faoláin International Short Story Competition,
The Munster Literature Centre, Frank O'Connor House,
84 Douglas Street,
Cork, T12 X802
Ireland
Please DO NOT SEND ENTRIES BY REGISTERED POST. Unfortunately we are less likely to receive entries sent by registered post and your submission may be ineligible due to the delay incurred.
If you would like us to send you confirmation of your postal entry, please include a self-addressed stamped postcard or envelope. We can also confirm the receipt of international entries via email.

Paypal

Paypal will deduct the fee in your own currency. As proof of payment, please include an image of the receipt or quote the transaction ID in your cover letter.

OTHER PAYMENT METHODS (Postal entries)

Cheques payable to THE MUNSTER LITERATURE CENTRE
Bank drafts
Other currencies: We can also accept cheques and bank drafts in Euro, U.S Dollars or Pounds Sterling at a rate of €18 (Euro), $22 (USD) or £18 (Sterling) for each entry.
Postal order (Republic of Ireland only)
Please note that we cannot accept cash payment

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More about the competition

More about the competition
The Seán O'Faoláin Short Story Competition is an annual short story competition open to writers from around the world, submissions accepted from May 1st to July 31st annually. It is dedicated to one of Ireland’s most accomplished story writers and theorists and is sponsored by the Munster Literature Centre.

If the winner comes to Cork to collect their prize the centre will pay for hotel accommodation, meals and drinks at the Cork International Short Story Festival - Ireland's only dedicated short story festival. (In light of the pandemic, this will depend on whether the festival can happen physically or whether it will be held online).

Anam Cara Writer's and Artist's Retreat www.anamcararetreat.com is again awarding a week-long residency to the first prize winner of the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Competition. Located just outside the colourful village of Eyeries on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork, Anam Cara is a tranquil spot structured to provide support and sanctuary for people working in the creative arts. It offers private and common working rooms as well as five acres of walking paths, thirty-four nooks and crannies, a river cascades and a river island, gardens, and a labyrinth meadow. Editoral consultation is also available. The additional prize is valued at €700.

(The dates of the residency will be arranged between the writer themselves and Anam Cara, and can be scheduled before or after the week of the Cork International Short Story Festival. Otherwise, the week can be scheduled for another time of the year, at Anam Cara's discretion.)

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

Opportunities

Southword Submissions

POETRY: Dec 1st, 2020 -
Feb 28th, 2021

FICTION: Jan 1st -
Mar 31st, 2021