The shortlisted works in a variety of categories for next month’s Listowel Writers’ Week Creative Writing Competitions have been announced.
“We would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who submitted their short stories, essays, poems and plays for our 2016 Creative Writing Competitions and we encourage you to continue writing and submitting your work,” said festival co-manager, Máire Logue.
The winners of all categories will be announced on Wednesday, June 1st when Paul Muldoon will officially open the festival. Meanwhile, here are the categories and the shortlisted:
Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year 2016
Nominees: The Blue Guitar – John Banville; Beatlebone by Kevin Barry; The Green Road – Anne Enright; This Living and Immortal Thing – Austin Duffy; The Little Red Chairs – Edna O’Brien.
The Pigott Poetry Prize 2016
Nominees: There Now – Eamon Grennan; The Boys of Bluehill – Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin; Geis – Caitríona O’Reilly.
Bryan MacMahon Short Story Award
Nominees: Kathryn Burke – Requiem; Patrick Flaherty – Potatoes and the Avant Garde: A Narrative Odyssey Through Ireland; Martin Keating – The Leap; Thomas Kiernan – Sunflowers; James Martyn Joyce – Stone Woman, Breasting the Sea.
Single Poem
Nominees: Maggie Breen – Collecting – for Paula Meehan; A.M. Cousins – Two Decembers; Michael Farry – Carrowniskey Stations; Maighread Medhbh – Easter 2016; Paddy Moran – Snow.
Poetry Collection
Nominees: Marie Coveney – Bird Strike; Richard Cox – Traces; Maurice Devitt – Trajectory; Angela McCabe – Battenbergs and Lemon Drizzlers; Brian O’ Tiomáin – CAT Scan.
Eamon Keane Full Length Play
Nominees: Gillian Grattan – Dress by Playwright; Sue Healy – That Brazen Electric Strap of a One; Pat Hynes – Crashing the Afters; Brenda McCann – The Matter with Lazarus; Harriet O’Connell – Three Sessions with Anne Marie; Karl O’Neill – The Retreat.
Listowel Writers’ Week Originals – Short Story
Nominees: Rosanna Gilvarry – And So She Ran; Stephen Good – Finding Someone; Karen O’Mahony – He Woke To Find He Was Drowning; Diana Radovan – Artist.
Listowel Writers’ Week Originals – Short Poem
Nominees: Kathryn Burke – Cotopaxi; Erin Fornoff – Throughout; Anne Griffin – I Am; Marie MacSweeney – Off-duty Bluestocking; Karen O’Connor – This Morning.
Listowel, Writers’ Week Originals – Humorous Essay
Nominees: Eugene Corcoran – The Symbol of Hope High in the Trees at the Bottom of our Garden; John Fitzgerald – Postcode; Enid Hughes – Doing It Myself; Joan Morrissey – Double Dilemma; Margaret Rowe – FoMo.
Duais Foras na Gaeilge
Nominees: Eibhlís Carcione – Marú na Seanbhó; Eibhlín Ní Chonghaile – Tobar na Lochlannach; Simon O’Faoláin – Crann Nollag, Oiche Grianstad; Catherine Weldon – Ag Eisteach an Cheo and Suike Faoin Speir.
Writers’ Week Opening Night Ceremony takes place at The Listowel Arms Hotel on Wednesday, June 1st and starts and 8pm sharp. This event is free of charge and seating is on a first come first served basis.
Details of the Writers’ Week Children’s Festival Programme will be available during the week.
In the meantime you can peruse the programme of events with a click on the link here: http://writersweek.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Festival-Programme-2016.pdf
