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.

DESMOND O'GRADY

Born Limerick, 1935. Poet, professor, Harvard teaching fellow, editor, translator, Aosdana member. Widely travelled, O’Grady left his Limerick home in the 1950’s to teach in Paris, Rome and America. Reputed not only for his seventeen collections of poetry and his linguistic prowess, O’Grady was a founding member of the European Community of Writers. After taking his doctorate at Harvard, in the USA, he taught at the AmericanUniversity in Cairo. Organizer of the Spoleto International Poetry Festival and former European editor of The Transatlantic Review, O’Grady’s collections include Chords and Orchestrations (Limerick 1956), Reilly (London 1961), Separazoni (Rome 1965), The Dark Edge of Europe (London 1967), The Dying Gaul (London 1968), Hellas (Dublin 1971), Separations (Dublin 1973), Stations (Cairo 1976), Sing Me Creation (Dublin 1977), The Headgear of the Tribe (Dublin 1979), The Skaldcrane's Nest (Dublin 1979), Alexandria Notebook (Dublin 1989), Tipperary (Galway 1991), and My Fields This Springtime (Belfast 1993). Fluent in numerous language, his translations include Off Licence (Dublin 1968), The Gododdin (Dublin 1977), A Limerick Rake (Dublin 1978), Grecian Glances (Cambridge MA 1981), The Seven Arab Odes (London 1980), Ten Modern Arab Poets (Dublin 1992), Alternative Manners (Alexandria 1993), Trawling Tradition (Salsburg 1994), and CP Cavafy, Selected Poems (Dublin, Dedalus, 1999). He currently resides in Cork.  

Author Links

Desmond O'Grady (Irish Writers Online)

Desmond O'Grady Interview (Poetry Salzburg)

Review by Desmond O'Grady

'The Headless Body': O'Grady poem in Southword

Desmond O'Grady Biography at Princess Grace Irish Library

Cork Spring
Poetry Festival

15 - 18 February 2012

Read Southword Journal

Issue 21 now online!

Poetry International.org

MLC produces the Irish section of this prestigious poetry site.
Current poets: Caitríona Ní Chléirchín, Greg Delanty,
Katie Donovan, & Michael O'Loughlin.
www.poetryinternational.org

The Gregory O'Donoghue
International
Poetry Competition

Now closed. Thanks to
everyone who
entered!

Best Irish Poetry in English 2010

Visit our bookstore here.

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.

MLC Workshops

Workshops run in spring & autumn. Check back in October 2011 for more details!

Munster Literature Centre

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

Tel. (353) 021 4312955 Email munsterlit@eircom.net