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.

SOUTHWORD JOURNAL

Southword is a literary journal featuring poems, fiction and reviews and published biannually by the Munster Literature Centre. Options for purchase include individual copies or yearly subscriptions. The current issue and all back issues are now available from the online bookstore for purchase.

Southword Journal is now published in an online format. See the Southword Journal dropdown menu to read the most current issue.

NEXT SOUTHWORD POETRY SUBMISSION PERIOD BEGINS JULY 2010

NEXT SOUTHWORD FICTION SUBMISSION PERIOD BEGINS JANUARY 2011

Submission Guidelines

Southword has published the likes of Haruki Murakami, James Lasdun, and Colm Toibín if you would like to join their esteemed company carefully read the directions which follow.

1 All manuscripts must be sent via email to the appropriate editors, during open reading times only. Email addresses will be made available during open reading times on this page. (See item #6). Submissions are no longer accepted by post, as Southword is now an online journal.

2. Work should be submitted as an attached document. The end of the Microsoft Word file name should read ' .doc' ONLY. Please be aware that if you have the most recent Microsoft Word program, it will automatically save as a ' .docx ', which we do not accept. Please manually save the file using 'Save As' as a 'Word 97 - 2003 Document'. If you are a Mac user, please send us an ' .rtf' file or paste your work into the body of an e-mail.

3. If submitting poems and prose simultaneously they will be considered by different editors at different times, so to be sure of a response please email the appropriate editor. Email addresses of the editors will be available on this page during submission periods only.

4. There is a strict submission limit of 5 poems or 3000 words in short stories. If submitting multiple poems, they should be contained within one document please.

5. Attach an up-to-date biographical note with a cover letter, keeping with the document format instructions in point #2.

6. Both Poetry and Fiction are considered between January and March 15th each year for our summer issue. Poetry alone is considered between July and September 15th for our winter issue. PLEASE NOTE after the close of the submission date the poetry editor will make a selection. Because of the number of submissions it may not be possible to reply individually. If no response has been received by the end of September please assume that your submission has been unsuccessful. Submissions may now be sent to poetryeditor(AT)munsterlit(DOT)ie .

Nb: Works of translation where the original author is still in copyright will require the bio and photo of both the original author and the translator. On the Southword Journal contents page, the poem will be listed under the name of the original author, and the translator will be credited on the poem/story's page itself.

Read Southword Journal Online

Issue 18 now online.

Sean Ó Faoláin Short Story Competition

now closed. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Best Irish Poetry in English 2010

Visit our bookstore here.

Poetry International.org

The Munster Literature Centre produces the Irish section of this prestigious poetry site. Current featured poets are from Landing Places, the new Dedalus anthology of immigrant poets. For further information, please visit the site at www.poetryinternational.org.

Festivals

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.

Workshops

Workshops in poetry and fiction run in Spring and Winter at MLC. Contact Jennifer for more information.

Munster Literature Centre

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

Tel. (353) 021 4312955, Email: munsterlit(AT)eircom(DOT)net