The 2020 Wild Atlantic Words literary festival short story competition will be judged by award-winning writer, Lisa McInerney.
Founded in 2016, the Wild Atlantic Words literary festival takes place every October in Castlebar. 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 is scheduled to take place on October 10 in the Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar. The closing date for entries is Friday, July 31 at 5pm. Entry forms, along with a full list of competition rules and regulations, are available on the festival’s website, www.wildatlanticwords.ie
Last year’s inaugural short story competition attracted more than 150 entries from across Ireland and from Irish people all over the world, as far afield as Columbia. The first prize went to Eamon McGuinness from Dublin, for his submission, Everyone Here Has A Story. The 2019 competition judges were Thomas Morris and Wendy Erskine.
This year’s judge, Lisa McInerney, has had her work featured in Winter Papers, The Stinging Fly, Granta, The Guardian, Le Monde, The Irish Times, BBC Radio 4 and various anthologies.
Her story Navigation was longlisted for the 2017 The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. Her debut novel The Glorious Heresies won the 2016 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and the 2016 Desmond Elliott Prize. Her second novel, The Blood Miracles, won the 2018 RSL Encore Award.
Covid-19 restrictions permitting, this year’s literary festival will run from Friday, October 9 to Sunday, October 11. 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, Professor Diarmaid Ferriter, Dominic Price, Senator Marie Louise O’Donnell, Pat McCabe, Mary Kennedy, Eileen Dunne, Anne Chambers and many, many more.
