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.

PETER SIRR

Born in Waterford, 1960. Peter Sirr is a freelance writer, editor and translator. He was director of the Irish Writers' Centre from 1991 to 2002, and editor of Poetry Ireland Review from 2003 until 2007. He has published seven collections of poems with Gallery Press which include Marginal Zones (1984), Talk, Talk (1987), Ways of Falling (1991), The Ledger of Fruitful Exchange (1995), and Bring Everything (2000). For many years, Sirr divided his time between his native Ireland, Italy and Holland.  A well-respected poet, Sirr has received numerous awards, including the Patrick Kavanagh Award (1982) and the Listowel Writers’ Week poetry prize (1983). A regular contributor of reviews and essays to a wide variety of journals, Peter Sirr was also a co-founder and editor of the Irish cultural journal Graph. Additionally, he  is a freelance writer, editor and translator. He lives in Dublin with his wife, the poet Enda Wyley, and their daughter Freya. Gallery Press will publish his new collection, The Thing Is, in 2009.

Author Links

Peter Sirr (Irish Writers Online)

'The Cat Flap': Peter Sirr's blog

Irish Writers' Centre Website

Four poems by Sirr at Salt Magazine online

Sirr at Gallery Press

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 Munster Literature Centre