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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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BILLY RAMSELL

Billy Ramsell was born in Cork in 1977 and educated at the North Monastery and UCC. His poems have appeared widely in magazines and journals and he was shortlisted in 2005 for a Hennessy award. The poems in Complicated Pleasures, his debut collection, exist on the border between the personal and the political, combining delicately lyrical meditations on love, art and memory with darker works that confront head-on the pressures and uncertainties of an urban globalised. Complicated Pleasures is a first collection of considerable daring and undeniable accomplishment and was shortlisted for the Strong Award for first collection in 2008. Ramsell has read widely at literary festivals in Ireland and abroad. He has given writing workshops to secondary school students and co-runs an educational publisher's firm.

Author Links
Billy Ramsell (Dedalus Press Page)
Stinging Fly: 'Breath' by Billy Ramsell
Extended bio and poems at Poetry International Web
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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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