WRITING SPIRIT 2011 - short fiction comp

Writing4all has secured Christine Dwyer-Hickey as judge for the 2011 Writing Spirit Award for short fiction. Christine wrote the acclaimed novel Tatty as well as The Dublin Trilogy. She has won awards for short stories and is a writer of great energy and wit, and she has been judging the Bryan MacMahon Award for the past number of years.

There are four deadlines (four rounds) and the first of these is the 30th of April. First prize is €1000. Entry fee €7. 4000 words max.

See the site here for more.

GRACE WELLS WINS STRONG AWARD

Grace Wells, whom I interviewed here, won the Strong Award for best first poetry collection in Dublin yesterday. I also reviewed her book When God Has Been Called Away to Greater Things here. Huge congrats to Grace and to her fellow shortlistees Órfhlaith Foyle, Paul Maddern and Caitríona Ní Chleirchín.

I spent the weekend immersed in poetry rather than fiction - I facilitated a workshop for Baffle in Loughrea on Saturday, which I really enjoyed. Eleven committed participants, lots of chat and great poetry. What better way to spend a few hours? And yesterday, after a major spring clean, I was drawn to reading poetry not fiction to unwind.

Back to the novel now. I feel I've been divorced from it because I managed so little while I was laid up. Well, little but thoughts and jottings, which are important. But I'm back on my feet and raring to go!

QUOTABLE QUOTES - Hilary Mantel

I'm finding, writing this current novel, that  although the work generally goes well, in that I enjoy it, I am always on the look-out for reassurance from other novel writers. Step in Hilary Mantel, with a quote that comforts me, as I grope my way through this thing called plot:

"When you stand on the verge of a new narrative, when you have picked your character, you stretch out your hand in the dark and you don't know who or what will take it." Hilary Mantel

If that's how Hilary sees it, then it's good enough for me. Onward!

STORY LIVE AT NECESSARY FICTION

 

Marcella Brown

As the current writer-in-residence, California-based Irish writer Ethel Rohan is hosting a month-long series of Irish writers at Necessary Fiction. My story 'By Ballytrasna' appears there today. Other writers featured have included Eimear Ryan and Nessa O'Mahony. All the links are there for readers to browse.

My story is about an artist with secrets. What other kind of artist is there, I ask myself? I hope you like it a little. It was inspired by words told to me by my good friend, artist, writer and journalist Marcella Brown. Thanks Marcy!

PADDY'S DAY - INTERVIEW ON WRITING.IE

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! I hope you have a lovely day wherever you are and that you wear a little green and eat something Irish: A spud! A packet of green, white 'n' orange jellies! Some black pudding!

I'm interviewed by super-blogger and writer Kate Dempsey on the new writing site writing.ie today. Clicky here.

OPENING NIGHT PICS & NOVEL RECOMMENDATIONS

I'm under the weather with flu this week. Big advantage: reading lots. Big disadvantage: not writing.

The opening of Ten Square Miles - my artist collective's exhibition - took place on Saturday evening and it was a blast. See here for pics. We took the Battle of Aughrim as our jumping off point so there was lots of fodder in that.

I wrote prose this year - an imagined monologue by the wife of a farmer who was co-opted into fighting on the Jacobite side. I had to make it up from scratch as I couldn't find any testimonials from women.

Speaking of women, can you all please recommend some well-written recent novels by women to me? I am hungry for good, contemporary novels and I am especially interested in what women are writing. I'd be grateful. I flicked through a load of uninspired first pages of novels in the library the other day and came away with a book of short stories. Which is grand except I really want to be reading novels just now. HELP!?!

EDIT: ORANGE PRIZE LONGLIST ANNOUNCED TODAY (maybe I should start here):

• Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) - Sudanese; 3rd Novel
• Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch (Canongate) - British; 10th Novel
• Room by Emma Donoghue (Picador) - Irish; 7th Novel
• The Pleasure Seekers by Tishani Doshi (Bloomsbury) - Indian; 1st Novel
• Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty (Faber and Faber) - British; 6th Novel
• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (Corsair) - American; 4th Novel
• The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna (Bloomsbury) - British/Sierra Leonean; 2nd Novel
• The London Train by Tessa Hadley (Jonathan Cape) - British; 4th Novel
• Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson (Sceptre) - British; 1st Novel
• The Seas by Samantha Hunt (Corsair) - American; 1st Novel
• The Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna (Faber and Faber) - British; 2nd Novel
• Great House by Nicole Krauss (Viking) - American; 3rd Novel
• The Road to Wanting by Wendy Law-Yone (Chatto & Windus) - American; 3rd Novel
• The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) - Serbian/American; 1st Novel
• The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer (Viking) - American; 1st Novel
• Repeat it Today with Tears by Anne Peile (Serpent's Tail) - British; 1st Novel
• Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (Chatto & Windus) - American; 1st Novel
• The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin (Serpent's Tail) - British/Nigerian; 1st Novel
• The Swimmer by Roma Tearne (Harper Press) - British; 4th Novel
• Annabel by Kathleen Winter (Jonathan Cape) - Canadian; 1st Novel

MANCHESTER FICTION PRIZE 2011

First prize: £10,000*
Deadline for entries: Friday 12th August 2011

Judges: Heather Beck, John Burnside, Alison MacLeod and Nicholas Royle.

Under the direction of Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, the Manchester Writing School at MMU is launching the second Manchester Fiction Prize – a major international literary competition celebrating excellence in creative writing.

The Manchester Fiction Prize* is open internationally and will award a cash prize of £10,000 to the writer of the best short story submitted. The competition is open to both new and established writers aged 16 or over; there is no upper age limit.

All entrants are asked to submit a complete short story of up to 3,000 words in length. The story can be on any subject, and written in any style, but must be fiction and new work, not previously published, or submitted for consideration elsewhere during this competition.

The Manchester Fiction Prize celebrates the substantial cultural and literary achievements of Manchester, building on the work of the Manchester Writing School at MMU and enhancing the city's reputation as one of Europe's most adventurous and creative spaces. The prizes will be awarded at a gala ceremony hosted as part of the 2011 Manchester Literature Festival.

To enter the competition online, or to download a printable entry pack for postal submission, go to:

www.manchesterwritingcompetition.co.uk/fiction

If you would like a printed entry pack to be posted out to you, or if you have any queries, please contact:

James Draper
Project Manager: The Manchester Writing School
Department of English
Manchester Metropolitan University
Telephone: +44 (0) 161 247 1787 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +44 (0) 161 247 1787      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
E-mail: j.draper@mmu.ac.uk

*Terms and Conditions apply. See here for details.

CLAIRE KILROY ON WRITING A NOVEL

I am obsessing about other writers' thoughts on novel-writing. What I really need is a good old chin wag with a fellow novelist. I've had one offer and I must take it up asap. Being insanely busy has its drawbacks - where or when can I fit in meet-ups with other writers?!?

I admire Claire Kilroy's writing  very much and I found an interview with her on Amazon where she offers the insights below. I especially like No. 3 as it is the way I construct a novel. It comforts me when I learn that other writers do it that way too.

What would be your top three tips for anyone who is looking to write a book and get published?

1. Start saving now. It's going to take a lot longer than you think to finish the book, and your savings will buy you freedom.

2. Don't be dissuaded by those statistics regarding the amount of novels that are rejected - those figures are somewhat misleading because a lot of people who serially submit novels to publishers and agents have no love or understanding of the form. If you can write a strong novel, there's every chance it will be published.

3. Make extensive notes. Working from notes enables me to construct a narrative that is more fluid and roaming than if I wrote the novel in a linear manner. This approach has helped me access nebulous fleeting emotions.

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY!

A very Happy International Women's Day  to all my readers. I am too busy writing to do anything fun or cool here to celebrate, so instead I will tell you about a reading on tomorrow that I would love to go to but can't because a) I live too far away, b) I have kids to mind and ferry about, and c) I have a novel to write.

Feminist Open Forum will celebrate a hundred years of International Women's Day with an evening of poetry and prose at Central Hotel, Dublin, March 9th at 7.30pm

Readings from: Catherine Ann Cullen, Enda Wyley, Rachel Hegarty, Nessa O Mahony, Cláir Ní Aonghusa, Mary Russell, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne and Anna Heussaff.

Have fun! Be good to yourselves today.

DUBLIN BOOK FESTIVAL - pics

The Dublin Book Festival was about the busiest I've ever seen it - City Hall and its environs was buzzing. I went to the Salmon Poetry 30 year Celebration Reading (fabulous!) and my own reading, with Paul Soye, Yvonne Cassidy and Liam Carson, introduced by Sinéad Mac Aodha. It was all very jolly and thanks to all my friends and fellow writers who came along.

Jessie Lendennie, Director, Salmon Poetry

Nessa O'Mahony, Patrick Chapman, Ann Le Marquand-Hartigan, Maurice Harmon

Paul Soye, novelist

Meself, and the panel I read with. Sinéad Mac Aodha to my right.

Liam Carson, memoirist

Yvonne Cassidy, novelist

Sarah, Juno and Finbar, heading back to the DBF for more readings

THE PRUFROCKS AT WOMAN FACTOR 2011 - PICS

 BELLYDANCER

LA CATEDRAL STUDIO

 BARBARA SMITH

 MARY MULLEN

 NUALA

Thanks to my sister Úna for taking the pics :)

It was a great night of art, fashion, poetry, wine, chat, photography, jewellery, belly-dancing and music. Kudos to Marta and Magda of Art Wave for organising this great celebration of women's creativity.

ON WRITING NOVELS - BARBARA KINGSOLVER

On writing novels, by Barbara Kingsolver, recent winner of the Orange Prize for The Lacuna, which I am reading (along with about five other books).Well, phew, is all I can say, to this:

"I struggle with confidence, every time. I’m never completely sure I can write another book...A novel is like a cathedral, it knocks you down to size when you enter into it. I falter and fidget and worry it won’t be good enough, and then the day comes when I give myself permission: just write, I tell myself. No one has to see it, you can throw everything away if it’s terrible, we’ll keep it a secret unless or until it becomes wonderful. And then I get to work."

TEN JOURNEYS REVIEW

The current issue of Gay Community News reviews Dublin: Ten Journeys, One Destination the anthology from the IWE in which I have a story. Click to read!