The deadline has been extended until midnight on Friday, October 6.
It only costs €5 to enter – less than a cup of tea and a scone – or a cappuccino and a cookie – or a pint of Guinness.
Polish up your best poems (max 40 lines) and flash fictions (max 700 words – flash fictions are especially welcome)
And submit (or offer – writers never submit) through http://www.allinghamfestival.com/competitions
The deadline for entries to the 2023 Allingham Poetry and Flash Fiction Competitions is being extended to Friday, 29 September. On-line and postal entries must be received by 23:59 on the 29th. Competition rules and entry forms are found at www.allinghamfestival.com.
In addition to the cash prizes of €300, the first-place winner in the 2023 Allingham Poetry Competition will also receive the newly-created Francis Harvey Poetry Award, and the first-place winner in the Flash Fiction Competition will receive the Keane Family Award.
First-, second- and third-place winners will be invited to read their work in the on-line Awards Ceremony on Friday, 10 November. Poetry entries are being judged by Kate Newmann of Summer Palace Press; Flash Fiction by Alan McMonagle (Ithaca, Laura Cassidy’s Walk of Fame).
The 2023 Allingham Festival (Nov 8-12 in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal) will include a conversation with best-selling domestic noir author Liz Nugent, readings by acclaimed children’s author Shane Hegarty, and a regional meeting of the WORD organisation of professional and aspiring writers.
Actor Sean McGinley will reflect on his career and his Broadway plans at the pre-Festival Launch of the 2023 Allingham Festival on Wed, 13 Sept in the Abbey Centre, Ballyshannon. Reception 7:30, programme 8 pm. Admission free.
Please share and forward this announcement with friends and contacts. For additional information see www.allinghamfestival.com
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A short extract from LeafLight Moon, the novel I’ve just finished writing. If anyone reading this blog knows of an agent who’s looking for a unique and compelling novel :-), here’s the pitch: Sligo, 4000 BC: the world of the hunter-gatherers is threatened to its core by the arrival of Ireland’s first farmers...
Artists Grainne McMenamin and Catherine Bourne are facilitating a series of public drop-in sessions, to document objects & stories from Leitrim at the time of Irish independence. They especially hope to create a fuller picture of women’s lives, so personal/domestic items and crafted/ everyday heirlooms are of great interest, especially if they have a story to tell… Grainne and Catherine are also available for one-to-one appointments, in person or online, if the library sessions are unsuitable. They can be contacted at northworksireland@gmail.com.
Hear Tom Sigafoos discuss The Cursing Stone on Arts North West and on Tom McSweeney’s Maritime Ireland. Full details here: http://tomsigafoos.com/radio-interviews-about-the-cursing-stone/
Many people who follow my blog will have met my partner – my beloved, my editor, my co-facilitator – Tom Sigafoos.
In the spirit of Charles Dickens, Margaret Atwood and Stephen King, Tom has serialized his novel “The Cursing Stone” and is making it available online for free – click here to subscribe. Here’s Tom’s message:
I’ve published The Cursing Stone, an Irish historical novel, and I’d like to invite you to read it at no cost.
County Donegal, Ireland, 1884. Your island home is threatened with evictions. How far would you go to stop them?
The fates of two men – Ruari Mullan of Tory Island, and Sub-Lieutenant William Gubby of HMS Wasp – intersect in the disastrous arc of the Irish Land Wars.
If you’ll sign up to my mailing list, I’ll send you The Cursing Stone in weekly instalments. I’ll also send Bonus Materials – photos, maps and unusual background information.
There is no cost to sign up or read the instalments. If you enjoy the novel, I’ll appreciate it if you’ll write a review. That’s the entire proposal – no strings attached.
To subscribe to The Cursing Stone, please follow this link and sign up at www.tomsigafoos.com. If you change your mind, you’ll always have the option to un-subscribe.*
Paperback and ebook versions of The Cursing Stone are also available from Lulu and Amazon.
If you know others who’d enjoy reading a lively historical novel, please forward this invitation to them as well. Questions? Please contact me at tomsigafoos@gmail.com.
Thanks and best wishes,
Tom Sigafoos
*You’ll receive an email in your primary inbox within an hour of your subscription. Others will follow every 3-4 days. If you don’t see them, please check your alternate email folders, like Social, Promotions and Spam. If you can’t find the emails, please let me know.”
I’ve just donated to VaccinAid, helping UNICEF deliver 2 billion vaccines in 2021, so the whole world can be safe from COVID-19. Join me and #GiveTheWorldAShot at http://VaccinAid.org.
Making a donation is good, but it’s nowhere near enough. We also need to TAKE ACTION FOR A PEOPLE’S VACCINE
“Our best chance of ending this pandemic is to ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments. But pharmaceutical monopolies could leave countries in the global south waiting up to 2023 for widespread vaccination. This threatens everyone as no-one is safe until everyone is safe. People from around the world are calling for a #PeoplesVaccine – freely available to everyone, everywhere.” Join them at https://peoplesvaccine.org/take-action/#join_the_action
A stunning art project, based in Carrick on Suir, described here by Margaret O’Brien, one of my Amherst Method writing colleagues. Heartbreaking and inspiring.
Artist Tony Oakey, right, holding the original legacy art piece, with the late Mary Wells’ daughter Geraldine and family, and niece Martina. Geraldine is holding a copy of the print.
Monica Corish 