Competitions and Events

Apart from external writing competitions, we also run monthly competitions. The closing date is the last day of every month. There is no entry fee and to enter email your entry to info@creativewriting.ie. The subject line in your email should state "Creative Writing Ink Competition" and please paste your short story or poem into the body of the email, as we do not accept attachments. We are looking for short stories or poetry and the word limit is 3,000 words. Entries should be in English and we accept submissions from writers around the world. A winner will be selected every month from both categories (short story and poetry) and the winners details will be posted on our website and in our newsletter. You can submit one entry every month. Also, we do not accept previously published material. You will retain copyright over your material. The winners will be published in Creative Writing Ink’s e-journal (with your permission of course). You have the right to refuse such permission. An overall winner will also be selected every three months and can choose either a free critique of a manuscript (up to 3,000 words) or prize money of €60. The critique will be provided by one of our authors.

Creative Writing Ink Competition Winners

Thanks again to everyone who entered our December writing competition. Congratulations to Jonathan Cooper, Sheffield, United Kingdom who is the winner of our December poetry competition for his poem ”Windy Day” and to Rose Kelland, Suffolk, United Kingdom who is the winner of our short story competition for her story,”Jessie” You can read more over at http://creativewriting.ie/creative-writing-ink-journal-2/

Bard of Armagh Competition

The Bard of Armagh Festival of Humorous Verse is now in its nineteenth year.  There are prizes of £2000 and the opportunity to gain the coveted title ‘Bard of Armagh.’

Poems must be original, humorous and not exceed ten minutes performing time.

Closing date for entries is 1 October 2012 and the finals take place before an audience of 1000 in Armagh City Hotel on Friday 16 November 2012.  All details are on www.bardofarmagh.com

November Poetry & Short Story Competition Winners

Congratulations to C.R. Redd and Nora Hegarty who are the winners of our November poetry and short story competitions. You can read both winning entries over at http://bit.ly/nGvMC0

A.Vogel Dormeasan “Write a Short Story for Bedtime” Competition

The winning entrant will not only receive €500 but also see their entry published in The Sunday Business Post. There will also be five monthly winners. It is aimed at encouraging the creative people of Ireland to write the perfect bedtime story to help you on your way to the land of nod…

The A.Vogel Dormeasan ‘Write a Short Story for Bedtime’ competition will run from 1st November 2011 to 30th April 2012. Entries can be submitted any time during this period, but must be received no later than 30th April 2012.

Three main prizes will be awarded – 1st: €500, 2nd: €300, 3rd: €100. Entry is free and is open to Irish residents only, over the age of 18

Each month a story will be selected as a Pick of the Month and featured online (www.avogel.ie/story) as well as on the A.Vogel Facebook page. The author will receive €50.

5. Entries should be in English with a minimum length of 1000 words; maximum 3000 words.

For further details visit their website.

Bristol Short Story Prize

Bristol Short Story Prize

The 2011 Bristol Short Story Prize is now open. The competition is open to non-UK as well as UK residents. Stories can be submitted online or by post. For more information, visit their website

The closing date for entries is 31st March 2012. Stories can be on any theme or subject and the entry fee is £7 per story.

Prizes:
1st £1000 plus £150 Waterstone’s gift card
2nd £700 plus £100 Waterstone’s gift card
3rd £400 plus £100 Waterstone’s gift card
17 further prizes of £100 will be presented to the writers whose stories appear on the shortlist. All 20 shortlisted writers will have their stories published in the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Volume 5. The winning story will, also, be published in Bristol Review of Books and Venue magazine.

Creative Writing Ink Quarterly Competition Winner

Congratulations to Amanda Bowden who is the winner of our August-October 2011 quarterly competition! You read Amanda’s short story “Papier Mache Doll” at http://creativewriting.ie/creative-writing-ink-journal-2/

Doire Press International Poetry & Fiction Chapbook Competition

 

Doire Press is pleased to announce its 2012 1st Annual International Poetry & Fiction Chapbook Competition. Winners will each receive 75 copies of their own professionally edited and printed chapbook, published by Doire Press. Chapbooks will be perfect-bound, contain up to 40 pages, feature colour front and back covers, as well as their own isbn and barcode.

Fiction entries: one short story (4,000 words max)

Poetry: 4-6 poems (10 pages max)

Deadline: January 9, 2012

Judges: Fiction: Alan McMonagle, author of Liar, Liar. He was second prize winner of the 2006 Séan O’Faoláin short story contest and one of four Irish writers long-listed for the 2009 Frank O’Connor Award.

Poetry: James Martyn, author of Shedding Skin. He was short-listed for a Hennessy Award in 2006 and for the Francis McManus award in 2007 and 2008.

Submission Guidelines: €10 for first entry, €8 for each additional entry. Cheques or money orders to be made payable to Doire Press. Entry fees can also be paid via Paypal through the Doire Press website. Email submissions will also be accepted with an additional €1 printing fee per entry.

Send entries via postal mail to: Doire Press, Aille, Inverin, County Galway, Ireland. Entries must include cover page with full contact information and title of story or first poem. Entrant’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. To read the full list of contest guidelines, submit via email or to pay by Paypal, please visit our website at www.doirepress.com. For any questions, email doirepress@gmail.com.

Ink Tears Short Story Competition

£4.50 Entry Fee.
Deadline November 30, 2011.
Winner: £1,000. Runner-up: £100. 4x Highly Commended: £25.
All prize winners will have their stories published in the InkTears Readership, published on the InkTears site, with an optional publishing contract. If the writer has enough quality short stories InkTears may offer the option of a contract to publish a short story collection. If they are at an early stage of development as a writer, they will consider including their work in an anthology. Submissions must be a short story between 1,000 to 3,000 words in length, written in English. Any theme is acceptable. Further details over at http://www.inktears.com/Inktears/WritersNewWriters2011.html

Ballymaloe International Poetry Prize

Entries are invited for this competition, with successful poems featured in the Spring Issue of The Moth. Further information at http://www.themothmagazine.com/ – deadline for entries is December 31st. First Prize; €2,000; Second Prize; €1,000; Third Prize; €500. The entry fee is €6 (or €7.50 if you’re paying by money or postal order) The prize will be judged by Matthew Sweeney, whose last collection, Black Moon, was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize and The Irish Times/Poetry Now Award. His selected works, The Night Post, was published in 2010.

William Saroyan International Prize

September Poetry & Short Story Competition Winners

The winners of our September short story and poetry competitions are listed below. Congratulations to Susan and Henry!

September Poetry Competition Winner

Susan Morgan, Newry, Northern Ireland – “Guzelyurt”

September Short Story Competition Winner

Henry St.Leger-Davey, Winchester, England

I went to the beach today

I start to feel uncomfortable, sitting here still. Her damp cheeks make me want to stand up; push the world over; dismiss it; throw it away; reject it; tell it something must be wrong with it; tell it that it’s failing; make it see that its purpose, whether it doesn’t include her or me (or is one of those ‘the point is there’s no point’ so-zen-it’s-crazy mentalities), can’t possibly be doing its job right when she, she is sitting here at the edge of this wooden platform with her frame collapsing into her stomach and her sobs sinking ever deeper into her chest with each rush of salt sliding down the bridge of her nose, manoeuvring over and around the resigned freckles in its path, palely dotted like the careless afterthought of a painter flicking the last specks of orange off his brush. The way they rest on her, parallel to the curved hoods of her eyes, reminds me of the faint caresses prodded into the sand by the first dozen drops of February rain (who goes to the beach in February?).

Continue reading I went to the beach today

Creative Writing Ink August Competition Winners

Congratulations to Amanda Bowden, Bristol England who is the winner of our August short story competition, for her story, “Papier Mache Doll.” And to Annie Lang, Sheffield, England, the winner of our August poetry competition for her poem, “The Midnight Poet.”

You can read the winning entries on our Creative Writing Ink Journal page at http://creativewriting.ie/creative-writing-ink-journal-2

Quarterly Competition Winner

Congratulations to Vesna McMaster, of Merewether Heights, NSW, Australia who is the winner of our quarterly competition. You can read Vesna’s winning entry over at our Creative Writing Ink Journal page.

Creative Writing Ink July Competition Winners

Congratulations to C.R. Redd, North Somerset England who is the winner of our July short story competition for the story ”The White Hart” and to Henry St. Leger-Davey, of Winchester, England who is the winner of our July poetry competition for his poem,”Just not as they ought to be.”

We will release details of the winner of our quarterly competition in our next newsletter.

In the meantime, you can read the winning entries on our Writers Resources page at http://creativewriting.ie/creative-writing-ink-journal-2/

The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook Short Story Competition 2012

The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook Short Story Competition 2012
Deadline: Tue 14 Feb 2012
For published and aspiring writers alike – enter the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2012 short story competition.
You could win:
• a cash prize of £500
• a place on an Arvon Foundation residential writing course of your choice
• publication of your story on the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook website
To be in with a chance of winning, write a short story (for adults) of no more than 2,000 words on the theme of ‘identity’.
For full details visit www.writersandartists.co.uk