A short story competition to be judged by award-winning writers, Thomas Morris and Wendy Erskine, is part of this year’s Wild Atlantic Words Festival.
The closing date for entries is Friday, August 30 at 5pm. Entry forms, along with a full list of competition rules and regulations, are available on the festival’s website, www.wildatlanticwords.ie
The short story competition is sponsored by Bridge St bar, with a first prize of €500, and second prize, €250. A reading and prize-giving ceremony with Thomas Morris will take place on October 12 in the Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar.
Founded in 2016, the Wild Atlantic Words literary festival takes place every October in Castlebar. This year’s festival runs from October 10th – 13th. The festival aims to celebrate the literary heritage of our rugged coastline over a weekend of readings, recitals, debates and reflection, while also acknowledging our new and emerging writers.
Previous guests have included former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, plus a host of acclaimed national and international authors, including Sally Rooney, Mike McCormack, Donal Ryan, Billy Keane, Pat McCabe, Mary Kennedy, Anne Chambers and many, many more.
Thomas Morris’s debut story collection, We Don’t Know What We’re Doing (Faber & Faber ) was chosen as a Book of the Year by The Guardian, The Observer, The Spectator, The Irish Times, and The Irish Independent, and the book won the 2016 Wales Book of the Year, The Rhys Davies Trust Fiction Award, and a Somerset Maugham Award.
Wendy Erskine’s debut story collection, Sweet Home, was published by The Stinging Fly Press in September 2018, and by Picador in June 2019. It was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, and is currently longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and the Edge Hill Short Story Prize.
