King at the Back of the Hill Anthology – New Deadline

We have been asked to extend the deadline!

New deadline is now Friday, 19th May 2017. Please forward this to all who might be interested in submitting.  We are looking for art, photography, poetry, fiction and factual writings inspired by King Maine, Son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, St. Patrick and Longford, Liam De Paor and the archaeological digs in Ardagh, Adel Coleman and her revisit to the dig at The Back of the Hill. Sure we all knew there was a King at the Back of the Hill, didn’t we!!

 

SCRIPTS Ireland’s Playwriting Festival seeks new works

scripts

SCRIPTS Ireland’s Playwriting Festival, which is dedicated to new Irish plays, is looking for new works.

Taking place across Birr, Co Offaly from Sunday 9 July to Sunday 16 July 2017, playwrights (both established and emerging) are invited to submit original 15 minute plays on the theme, “What Next?”

Scripts most suited for development will be chosen by the selection panel headed by playwright Eugene O’Brien. Deadline for submission is Friday March 31st 2017.

Playwrights must be available to be in Birr from Sunday 9 July -Thursday 13 July 2017, as well as attend the headline event at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre on Sunday 16 July 2017 where the plays will be presented as staged readings.

There will be a prize for “Best Play“. There are also opportunities for winning playwrights to meet and engage with production and dramaturgy departments of professional theatre companies and network with production partners. The winning play may then go on to represent the festival in further opportunities and events, should production partners deem it appropriate.

Playwrights can submit plays by e-mail to submissions.scripts@gmail.com or by post to “Scripts”, Birr Theatre & Arts Centre, Oxmantown Hall, Birr, Co. Offaly.

The Caterpillar Short Story Prize

caterpillar short story prize

Have you written a brilliant children’s story? Or have you one you’ve been meaning to write? With just over a month left to enter (closing date 30 Sep) now is the time to bring it to light.

There is a single prize of €1,000 plus publication in The Caterpillar (which has featured stories by the likes of Michael Morpurgo, Veronica Cossanteli and Frank Cottrell Boyce).

The story must be aimed at 7–11 year olds and be no more than 2,000 words in length. It costs €12 to enter.

You can read more about the Caterpillar Short Story Prize or enter online at www.thecaterpillarmagazine.com.

And needless to say, ignore this if you’ve already sent us your story.

Respond 2 – New Creative Writing Collaborative Project

Let me tell you about a new creative writing collaborative project bearing the highly original title – Respond 2

Following the success of last year’s creative writing/visual arts collaborative project – Respond – we propose to repeat the experience by arranging a creative writing/film – digital arts collaborative project entitled – Respond 2.

Lorne PattersonWe are inviting all creative writers to submit a piece of poetry or prose on a simple theme of – Longford – to our project’s literary editor Lorne Patterson.  Ten submissions will be accepted and the ten writers will be then introduced to ten local film makers/digital artists who will respond to the literary work through a three minute piece of digital art.

The literary pieces will be read and the digital responses shown in the Canal Studio Backstage in December and both will be exhibited on www.virtualwriter.ie and the website still under construction www.longforddigitalarts.ie . The participants will also feature in the next issue of the Midlands Arts & Culture Magazine.

Lorne has set out below the rules for submitting writing to be considered for the project: 

Objective:  to create ten ‘YouTube’ film clips (of maximum 3 minutes) from ten poems/pieces of prose – on some aspect of Co Longford.

Literary terms of reference:

Provide an insight into Co Longford – either personal, geographical, historical, cultural, literary, mythological, or a mix of these. But whatever approach you chose remember, your work has to be interpreted within a three-minute filmed time-frame.  Poems maximum 40 lines / prose maximum 1,000 words.

Submission:  Submit online to lpatterson@netscotland.com by 6pm, Friday August 30th.

Since the chosen written pieces will be ‘published’/interpreted in a new form (i.e. digital/visual), the piece of prose/poetry you submit to me CAN have been published before. Again, to be clear, it does not have be a new piece of writing.

Selection: The editor will select ten written pieces from the pieces submitted. The pieces will be chosen on the basis of originality, potential for visualisation, and diversity.

As with the Respond I project, there will then be a randomised allocation to ten film producers during an evening at the Backstage.

Remember all submissions to Lorne – the literary editor and project manager – and not to the Arts Office.

Go ahead and have a try – it was good fun and very successful last year and I’m sure that it will be equally so this year.

Open Call for Literary & Art Works for Midir and Etain Anthology

Midir-and-Etain-publicationposterHelp us celebrate the Legend of Midir and Étain.

Creative Ardagh, in partnership with County Longford Arts Office and Cruthú Arts Festival are inviting all artists, writers, poets, established and new, young and old to take part in an exciting Visual Arts and Literature Project.

We want to celebrate our local legend by publishing an anthology of stories, poetry and artwork by people of all ages. We envisage a mix of work from professional artists and writers, along with the work of children and other budding artists/writers based on the legend of Midir and Etain.

This inspirational legend lends itself to an exciting project such as this. Be inspired by the drama, love, envy and shapeshifting transformations that are entwined in the story and produce your own creation in whatever media you like. We are accepting poetry and stories up to a maximum of 1500 words and artworks in any media including drawing, painting, photography, digital media and images of 3d artwork.  The only restriction is that it is your own original work. You can find out more about the legend here: http://creativeardagh.blogspot.ie/p/midir-and-etain.html.

You can enter from where ever you are in the world by post or email.
Artworks sent by post should not exceed A4 size.
The closing date for submissions is: 5pm on 7th June 2015.

Please send all submissions to:
Creative Ardagh, Ardagh Heritage and Creativity Centre,
Ardagh, Co. Longford
or email: creativeardagh@gmail.com

The anthology will be launched as part of the Bilberry Sunday Event on the 26th July 2015 in Ardagh Heritage and Creativity Centre. This event will be hosted by Creative Ardagh in conjunction with County Longford Arts Officer Fergus Kennedy during the Cruthú Arts Festival. Those selected for the publication will get a chance to read their written piece or display the original artwork on the day.

View publicity poster

Ropes

The 2013 publication of ROPES is a literary journal published every year by the students of the MA in Literature and Publishing. We are open to submissions from writers at any level to do with our theme; ‘Coming of Age’. [Read more…]