ROSCOMMON CHAPBOOK AWARD 2025
.png "Chapbook-Eng-(2)")
The Roscommon Chapbook Bursary has been established to assist Roscommon writers with the costs associated with publishing a modest collection of poems (15 – 20) or a compact collection of short stories (3 – 6). One award of €600 will be offered in 2025.
The 2025 competition will be adjudicated by Una Mannion.
Una Mannion is based in County Sligo. Her debut novel A Crooked Tree made the Irish bestsellers list, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards and the Dalkey Emerging Writer Award and won the Kate O’Brien Prize. Her second novel Tell Me What I Am was shortlisted for the Encore Awards and was the winner of the prestigious Gold Dagger at the CWA Dagger Awards. She edits The Cormorant, a Sligo broadsheet of poetry and prose. In September 2024, Una joined the Oscar Wilde Centre and English Department at Trinity College Dublin teaching creative writing.
📅Closing date for entries is 4pm Monday 26th May 2025
ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2025
Short Fiction & Poetry
First Prize: €500 Short Fiction and €500 Poetry
.png "Roscommon-NEW-WRITING-Awards-2025-(2)")
The ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2025 is organised as part of the County’s Literary Development Programme, funded by Roscommon County Council and the Arts Council of Ireland, supported by the Roscommon Herald.
Two winners will each receive a monetary prize of €500 for short fiction or €500 for poetry and will have their winning entry printed in the Roscommon Herald.
Two runners-up will receive €100 each for short fiction or for poetry.
The 2025 competition will be adjudicated by Jane Clarke.
Jane Clarke is the author of three poetry collections, The River (2015), When the Tree Falls (2019) and A Change in the Air (2023) published by Bloodaxe Books. She edited the illustrated anthology Windfall: Irish Nature Poems to Inspire and Connect (Hachette Books Ireland, 2023). She received an Arts Council of Ireland Literature Bursary Award in 2024 for the completion of her fourth collection. Her most recent collection, A Change in the Air, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection 2023 and the T.S. Eliot Prize 2023. Jane grew up on a farm in county Roscommon and now lives with her wife in the uplands of county Wicklow.
Full information on how to submit your entry can be found here: RNWA-Info-2025.pdf (size 670.4 KB)
📅Closing date for entries is 4pm Monday 26th May 2025
_____________________________________
AUTUMN LEAVES - A ROSCOMMON BROADSHEET
poems, flash fiction, non-fiction
Roscommon County Council Arts Office has published Issue 5 of our Literary Broadsheet. Roscommon poets and authors submitted poems, flash fiction and non-fiction essays/meditations are included in AUTUMN LEAVES 2024.
Initiated in 2020, the first three broadsheets were edited by Gerry Boland and Jane Clarke. 2024 will see Louise G. Cole take on the role of Editor for the second time. The broadsheet was circulated as a free supplement in The Roscommon Herald in 12th November 2024
Special thanks to Louise G. Cole.
You can view a PDF Version of the publication at the following link Roscommon_Autumn_Leaves_2024.pdf (size 19.3 MB)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Literary Development Programme Announcement
ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2024 WINNERS
The winning entry in the NEW ROSCOMMON WRITING AWARD 2024 Short Fiction Category, “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” by Carol Beirne and the winning entry in the NEW ROSCOMMON WRITING AWARD 2024 Poetry Category, “Ode to Blue”by Jacqueline Duigan have been announced by judge Mary Branley, as the deserved winners of the top prize of €500 each. This is the eleventh year of what has become an important event in the literary calendar locally and nationally. With the additional Poetry Category making its first appearance this year.
There were thirty-eight entries, all from writers with a strong connection to County Roscommon. The award is organised as part of the Arts Office Literary Development Programme, funded by Roscommon County Council and The Arts Council of Ireland, and supported by the Roscommon Herald and by Shannonside FM.
Two Runners-Up were awarded €100 each. They are Robert McGowan in Short Fiction and Noelle Lynskey in Poetry.
The winning pieces can be found at the links below:
Carol-Beirne-The-Good,-the-Bad,-and-the-Ugly.pdf (size 224.3 KB)
Jacqueline-Duignan-Ode-to-Blue.pdf (size 208.2 KB)
Roscommon Arts Office would like to congratulate our winners and runners up and wish them all further success with future endeavors in writing.
Carol Beirne
Carol Beirne lives in Lisacul, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon. Carol grew up in The Shakespeare Pub and The Poets Corner Pub, in Manchester in the UK, so some say she should be a writer. She worked in Business and Finance until ill health prompted early retirement. She started writing in 2019 and now spends her time writing, gardening and is a visual artist. Her poetry and short stories and have been widely published in many literary journals and anthologies in Ireland and internationally. She was the recipient of The Hanna Greally Literature Award for literature in 2022 and has been placed runner up and shortlisted for several short story and flash fiction writing competitions in Ireland and abroad. Recently she was guest poet in Roscommon Arts Centre where she read a collection of her poetry. Carol attends regular creative writing classes in Castlerea Library and is also a member and secretary for Ballaghaderreen Community Art Group.
Jacqueline Duignan
Jacqueline Duignan is a practising Visual Artist and Poet, currently working in Roscommon. She has exhibited in Ireland and abroad and her work is in many collections. She is a part time lecturer at the National College of Art and Design. Writing has always been a part of her practise. This poem was inspired by exploring a derelict house of her ancestors. Even though it had not been lived in for many decades, it still retained fragments of the past.
Robert McGowan
Robert is the author of numerous short stories including ‘The Heartless Betrayal of Tiffany Belch’ and ‘Digitalis’. He has lived in Boyle for sixteen years and is father to two teenagers. Currently a home-maker, he has a degree from the University of Manchester, England, and has previously worked in science, business, and the health service. When not writing he enjoys gardening and Aikido
Noelle Lynskey
Noelle Lynskey completed her MA (Creative Writing) in UL and is Strokestown’s Poet Laureate (2021). Widely published in The Irish Times, RTÉ Sunday Miscellany and many anthologies & journals, Noelle was recent runner-up in the 2024 Roscommon New Writing and highly commended at the 2024 Sean Dunne Competition. Facilitator of Portumna Pen Pushers, Noelle is advisor to Shorelines Arts Festival.
ROSCOMMON CHAPBOOK BURSARY 2024 has been awarded to
CALL OUT AUTUMN LEAVES 2024
A ROSCOMMON BROADSHEET OF POETRY, SHORT FICTION AND PROSE
Roscommon County Council Arts Office is now seeking submissions for AUTUMN LEAVES 2024. The literary broadsheet will be published in late autumn 2024, and will include poetry, prose and short fiction from adult writers with a strong connection to County Roscommon. This year’s editor is Louise C. Cole.
The annual broadsheet, published as part of Roscommon Arts Office Literary Development Programme, will again be circulated as a free supplement in The Roscommon Herald, and copies will be available in local libraries.
Content will be mostly new, unpublished work, although previously published material may be considered. To qualify for submission, writers must have a strong County Roscommon connection (born in, living in, working in, parents or grandparents from). Members of county writing groups are also eligible to submit.
There is no theme, although writing which depicts nature and the natural world will be favoured.
Poems should be no longer than 30 lines (there is no minimum line length), and prose or fiction should be no more than 300 words. Prose includes memoir and personal essays.
Each writer can submit two pieces of writing in any combination (e.g. two poems, or one piece of memoir and one story, or one poem and one essay etc.).
Submissions are by email only (nothing handwritten), and should include the name of the author, address, email and telephone number, and their connection to Roscommon, plus the title of each piece, stated clearly in the body of the email. Submissions should then be attached as a single Word or Office document, with the name of the author as the title (e.g.JaneDoe.docx) and emailed to artsofficer@roscommoncoco.ie. The deadline is 5pm on Friday, September 6th 2024.
________________________________________
Announcing the Roscommon New Writing Awards 2024
Roscommon Arts Office is delighted to announce the recipients of this year's Roscommon New Writing Awards. Congratulations to our winners and runners up and a sincere note of gratitude to all who have entered. Thank you for participating in our competition; your enthusiasm and effort were truly inspiring, and we look forward to your involvement in future contests.
a word in your ear
Roscommon Arts Office have published
a word in your ear -
Roscommon New Writing Anthology 2019-2023 with the support of the Roscommon Creative Ireland Programme. This collection of works has been carefully edited by Gerry Boland and is representative of the literary talents of the county. The contributions have been handpicked from the 2019-2023 Literary Development Programmes coordinated by the Roscommon Arts Office, including the Roscommon New Writing Awards, Chapbook Bursary Awards, Mentorship Awards and Autumn Leaves - A Roscommon Broadsheet of flash fiction and poetry. A celebratory launch event will feature the contributors and members of the Roscommon literary scene along with a number of special guests. Details to be announced soon.
________________________________________
ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2024
Short Fiction & Poetry
First Prize: €500 Short Fiction and €500 Poetry
The ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2024 is organised as part of the county’s Literary Development Programme, funded by Roscommon County Council and the Arts Council of Ireland, supported by the Roscommon Herald.
Two winners will each receive a monetary prize of €500 for short fiction or €500 for poetry and will have their winning entry printed in the Roscommon Herald.
Two runners-up will receive €100 each for short fiction or for poetry.
The 2024 competition will be adjudicated by Mary Branley.
Mary Branley is a poet, writer and musician based in north Sligo. She is the author of three collections of poetry, most recent A Pinch of Snow in a Black Velvet Glove Lepus Print 2021 Her poetry has been included in many anthologies such as Windharp: Poems of Ireland Since 1916, The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing. She was awarded the Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship in 2008. Closely associated with Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership, a children’s publishing house, Mary has facilitated children’s writing for over twenty-three years and forty-five titles.
She was commissioned to write a libretto on the life of Countess Markievicz, by Ukrainian composer Olesya Zdorovetska, and this work Freedom Letters was performed at The Model as part of Cairde Festival ’23.
She has collaborated with GreenBirdFlying since 2021 on poetry/music fusion and performed with them many times. A new CD is forthcoming in July 24 to be launched at Cairde Festival in Sligo.
Closing date for entries is 5pm 20th May 2024
The Roscommon New Writing Award Competition Rules
- Short stories and Poetry only will be accepted.
- The competition is open to anyone over 18. All entrants must have a connection with the county of Roscommon (born in, living in, currently working in, went to school in).
- Previous first prize winners may enter but will not be eligible for the first prize.
- Writers may submit one entry only in each category.
- Typed entries (handwritten entries cannot be accepted) must be no more than 2000 words for short fiction and 30 lines in length for poetry - on any theme. Mark the number of words in your entry on the bottom of the page. Entries over the word limit will be automatically disqualified.
- Include your name, address and contact details, plus your connection to the county. INCLUDE THESE ON A SEPARATE PAGE, NOT ON YOUR ENTRY.
- The same person will not be awarded both prizes. As entries are anonymised for the adjudicator, in the event of the same person being placed first, the prize will go to the runner up in that category.
- The competition will be adjudicated by Mary Branley. The judge’s decision is final.
- Roscommon County Council reserves the right to publicise the recipients of the Awards.
- There is no entry fee. All entries must be received by 5pm 20th May 2024.
- Roscommon County Council reserves the right not to award a prize should the submissions, in the opinion of the adjudicator and the Council, not achieve a sufficiently high standard.
- Email your entry to: scoleman@roscommoncoco.ie .Title your email ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2024 OR
Post your entry to: Suzanne Coleman, ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2024, Roscommon Arts Office, Áras an Chontae, Roscommon, F42 VR98.
The names of the shortlisted writers will be announced in local media, social media and online at http://www.roscommoncoco.ie/en/Services/Comm_Ent/Arts_Office/literature.html
The date of the Awards Ceremony will be announced later this year.
Closing date for entries is 5pm 20th May 2024
ROSCOMMON CHAPBOOK AWARD 2024
The Roscommon Chapbook Bursary has been established to assist Roscommon writers with the costs associated with publishing a modest collection of poems (15 – 20) or a compact collection of short stories (3 – 6). One award of €600 will be offered in 2024.
The 2024 competition will be adjudicated by Brian Leyden.
Brian is the author of the bestselling memoir, The Home Place, the story collection, Sweet Old World: New and Selected Stories, and the novels Death & Plenty and Summer of ’63. A regular contributor to Sunday Miscellany, his work for radio includes the documentaries, No Meadows in Manhattan, Even the Walls Were Sweatin’, and An Irish Station Mass. He co-wrote the feature film, Black Ice, which was acquired by Netflix. He also scripted, The Sheemore Ambush video for the Decade of Commemorations, and the Famine Attic Memorial audio installation for the Workhouse, Carrick-on-Shannon. His work for the stage includes, Old Flames and Remember Me which premiered in the Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo in May 2023. Writer, Bernard MacLaverty, has described his work as ‘life remembered with precision and love’. His new novel is Love These Days.
Closing date for entries is 5pm 20th May 2024
The Roscommon Chapbook Award Competition Rules
- All applicant writers must have a connection with the county of Roscommon (born in, living in, currently working in, went to school in).
- A typical length of a chapbook is 30 pages. This is a guideline only, though submissions that fall considerably short of this, or which are considerably longer, may not be considered suitable.
- All applicants will be advised of Council’s decisions in writing.
- All applications must include:
- The completed Application Form
- Proposed content of the chapbook (poems or stories)
- A current biography and/or CV, outlining details of career to date.
- There is no entry fee. All entries must be received by 5pm 20th May 2024.
- Roscommon County Council reserves the right not to award a bursary should the submissions, in the opinion of the adjudicator and the Council, not achieve a sufficiently high standard.
- Email your entry to: scoleman@roscommoncoco.ie .Title your email ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2024 OR
Post your entry to: Suzanne Coleman, ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2024, Roscommon Arts Office, Áras an Chontae, Roscommon, F42 VR98.
Application forms are available here: Roscommon Chapbook Bursary - Application Form
The names of the successful writer will be announced in local media, social media and online at http://www.roscommoncoco.ie/en/Services/Comm_Ent/Arts_Office/literature.html
The date of the Awards Ceremony will be announced later this year.
AUTUMN LEAVES - A ROSCOMMON BROADSHEET
poems, flash fiction, non-fiction
Roscommon County Council Arts Office has published Issue 4 of our Literary Broadsheet. Roscommon poets and authors submitted poems, flash fiction and non-fiction essays/meditations to be included in AUTUMN LEAVES 2023.
Initiated in 2020, the first three broadsheets were edited by Gerry Boland and Jane Clarke. 2023 will see Louise G. Cole take on the role of Editor. The broadsheet will again be circulated as a free supplement in The Roscommon Herald in 14th November 2023
Special thanks to Louise G. Cole.
You can view a PDF Version of the publication at the following link Roscommon_AutumnLeaves_2023_A2-A5_FINAL.pdf (size 895.3 KB)
________________________________________
Roscommon New Writing Award 2023 Winners
The winning entry in the NEW ROSCOMMON WRITING AWARD 2023, ‘Finite Time” by Wayne Denniston has been announced by Rhona McGrath, Arts Officer, as the deserved winner of the top prize of €1000. This is the tenth year of what has become an important event in the literary calendar locally and nationally. There were thirty-two entries, all from writers with a strong connection to County Roscommon. The award is organised as part of the Arts Office Literary Development Programme, funded by Roscommon County Council and The Arts Council of Ireland, and supported by the Roscommon Herald and by Shannonside FM.
Two Runners-Up were awarded €100 each. They are Brian Harten and John Mulligan.
The winning piece can be found Winning Entry-Finite Time
Roscommon Arts Office would like to congratulate Wayne and wish him further success with future endeavors in writing.
Our Winning Authors RNWA 2023:
| Wayne Denniston Wayne says of himself: I grew up a loner watching films and reading Batman comics. While living in Roosky, I conceived the premise for the radio play The Auld Disgust and the work was subsequently produced and aired on Shannonside FM and received a national radio award. I then turned my hand to writing stage plays and wrote works such as The Arignaramus, Making A Mountain Outta Mohill and Lakes. I’m currently writing my newest play entitled A Lot of Good Friday, a black comedy about an elderly couple in Cootehall, Roscommon, who cross paths with an unpleasant oddball over the Easter period. During the pandemic I turned my attention back to what first brought me to the dance; short stories, turning out the efforts of Finite Time and Free Man of The Land. I’m also writing a novelisation of my film script Cat Mulogin, a script I wrote during the never ending lockdowns. I’m also in early development of a short film entitled irishpatriot666. Weekly on The Arts Show hosted by Charlie McGettigan on Shannonside FM I feature on the Screen Time segment of the show offering film analysis and opinions on all things movies. |
Brian Harten Brian’s mother's family are from outside Loughlynn, which is an important influence on his writing. He now divides his time between Bellanagare and Monaghan. Brian’s rural roots are evident in his writing. His first time entering the Roscommon New Writing Awards is surely not the last we will be hearing from him. |  |
| John Mulligan From Boyle, John Mulligan is an award-winning writer with five published books to his credit, including his latest political satire, Black Friday 13. He is a former winner of the Fish International award for short fiction, and is a two-time winner of the New Roscommon Writing Award, a competition he judged in 2018. His work has been published in numerous magazines, anthologies and other print media in Ireland and elsewhere. He is an international human-rights lobbyist with a particular focus on the disability sector, as well as a successful campaigner for tourism infrastructure in rural Ireland. A semi-retired journalist and feature writer, he contributes a weekly column to the Roscommon Herald, as well as occasional features and content to other media outlets in Ireland and elsewhere. His work is represented worldwide by the Gravity Squared Agency in Los Angeles, California. |
Roscommon Chapbook Bursary 2023
Roscommon Chapbook Bursary has been awarded to John Mulligan
| John Mulligan From Boyle, John Mulligan is an award-winning writer with five published books to his credit, including his latest political satire, Black Friday 13. He is a former winner of the Fish International award for short fiction, and is a two-time winner of the New Roscommon Writing Award, a competition he judged in 2018. His work has been published in numerous magazines, anthologies and other print media in Ireland and elsewhere. He is an international human-rights lobbyist with a particular focus on the disability sector, as well as a successful campaigner for tourism infrastructure in rural Ireland. A semi-retired journalist and feature writer, he contributes a weekly column to the Roscommon Herald, as well as occasional features and content to other media outlets in Ireland and elsewhere. His work is represented worldwide by the Gravity Squared Agency in Los Angeles, California. |
Roscommon Chapbook Bursary 2023 Announcement
Roscommon Chapbook Bursary 2023
The Roscommon Chapbook Bursary has been established to assist Roscommon writers with the costs associated with publishing a modest collection of poems (15 – 20) or a compact collection of short stories (3 – 6). One award of €600 will be offered in 2023.
Applications will be adjudicated by Ger Reidy.
CONDITIONS
- All applicant writers must have a connection with the county of Roscommon (born in, living in, currently working in, went to school in).
- A typical length of a chapbook is 30 pages. This is a guideline only, though submissions that fall considerably short of this, or which are considerably longer, will not be considered suitable.
- Grant aid provided by Roscommon County Council together with the Arts Council of Ireland must be acknowledged in all publicity material associated with the project and in the published chapbook. Roscommon County Council reserves the right to publicise the awarding of the bursary. The successful applicant will receive a copy of the Roscommon County Council and Arts Council logos.
- The intended work must be completed and proof of publication will be necessary for the successful applicant to claim the bursary. Two copies must be submitted to Roscommon County Council Arts Office at the time of publication.
- The Bursary Award will be adjudicated by poet and author Ger Reidy
- All applicants will be advised of Council’s decisions in writing.
- All applications must include:
- The completed Application Form
- Proposed content of the chapbook (poems or stories)
- A current biography and/or CV, outlining details of career to date.
Application form can be downloaded here: Roscommon Chapbook Bursary - Application Form
Information Sheet is available here: Roscommon Chapbook Award - Information Sheet
Return Completed Applications to artsofficer@roscommoncoco.ie with ’Roscommon Chapbook Bursary (applicant name)’ typed in the subject box.
OR Post your entry to: ROSCOMMON CHAPBOOK BURSARY 2023, Roscommon Arts Office, Áras an Chontae, Roscommon, F42 VR98.
The closing date for receipt of completed application forms is 5pm Friday 19th May 2023.
Late applications will not be considered.
Roscommon County Council reserves the right not to award a bursary should the submissions, in the opinion of the adjudicator and the Council, not achieve a sufficiently high standard.
 | Adjudicator Ger Reidy was born near Westport, Co. Mayo. He has won several national poetry competitions including the Allingham, the Maria Edgeworth, the Boyle Arts Festival prize on two occasions and has been the recipient of a number of bursaries and residencies sponsored by the Arts Council and Mayo County Council. His first collection, “Pictures from a Reservation”, was published by Dedalus Press. He has been published in many literary journals including Poetry Ireland review, The Irish Times, both at home and abroad, and has read at numerous literary festivals, including the Cúirt Festival in Galway in 2010 and 2016, where his second collection, Drifting under the Moon, and his collection of short stories Jobs for a Wet Day was launched. He has been translated into Russian and recently into Turkish. Ger’s latest collection Before Rain was shortlisted for the Pigott Prize at Listowel writers week and his collection of short stories Jobs for a Wet Day was nominated for the Edge Hill prize - the best collection of short stories in the British Isles. |
Roscommon New Writing Award 2023
ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2023
for Short Fiction
First Prize: €1000
The ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2023 is organised as part of the county’s Literature Development Programme. It is funded by Roscommon County Council and The Arts Council of Ireland, supported by the Roscommon Herald and Shannonside FM.
The winner will receive a monetary prize of €1000 and will have their winning entry printed in the Roscommon Herald.
Two runners-up will receive €100 each.
The Competition will be adjudicated by Tanya Farrelly.
 | Tanya Farrelly is the author of four books. Her debut short fiction collection When Black Dogs Sing (Arlen House, 2016) was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and named winner of the Kate O’ Brien Award 2017. Two novels: The Girl Behind the Lens and When Your Eyes Close were published byHarper Collins, London (2016/2018). She curated and edited The Music of What Happens, an anthology of poems, stories and essays published in aid of Purple House Cancer Support Centre (New Island, 2020). Her latest book: Nobody Needs to Know, a short fiction collection, was published in November 2021 by Arlen House. |
Closing date for entries is 5pm Friday, 19th May 2023.
THE ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD COMPETITION RULES
- Short stories only will be accepted.
- The competition is open to anyone over 18. All entrants must have a connection with the county of Roscommon (born in, living in, currently working in, went to school in).
- Previous first prize winners may enter but will not be eligible for the first prize.
- Writers may submit up to two entries.
- Typed entries (handwritten entries cannot be accepted) must be no more than 2000 words. Mark the number of words in your entry on the bottom of the page. Entries over the 2000-word limit will be automatically disqualified.
- Include your name, address and contact details, plus your connection to the county. INCLUDE THESE ON A SEPARATE PAGE, NOT ON YOUR ENTRY.
- There is no entry fee. All entries must be received by 5pm Friday, 19th May 2023.
- The competition will be adjudicated by Tanya Farrelly. The judge’s decision is final.
- Email your entry to: artsofficer@roscommoncoco.ie .Title your email ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2023.
OR Post your entry to: ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2023, Roscommon Arts Office, Áras an Chontae, Roscommon, F42 VR98.
.
Further Information and Competition Rules can be Downloaded here: RNWA Info 2023
The names of the shortlisted writers will be announced in local media and online at http://www.roscommoncoco.ie/en/Services/Comm_Ent/Arts_Office/literature.html
Details of the awards ceremony will be announced at a later date.
Autumn Leaves 2022 Published
Produced by Roscommon County Council Arts Office, the broadsheet of poetry, flash fiction & nonfiction is a collection of 20 pieces by Roscommon writers touching on areas including humour, tragedy, traditions and memory.
This is the third year that this publication has been produced and it continues to grow in popularity.
Autumn Leaves is part of the Arts Office Literary Development Programme, funded by Roscommon County Council and the Arts Council of Ireland.
Copies of the publication were distributed as an insert in the Roscommon Herald.
DOWNLOAD AUTUMN LEAVES HERE
Literary Development Programme Announcement
ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARDS 2022 WINNERS
The winning entry in the NEW ROSCOMMON WRITING AWARD 2022, ‘How Now Brown Cow” by Trish Bennett has been announced by Rhona McGrath, Arts Officer, as the deserved winner of the top prize of €750. This is the ninth year of what has become an important event in the literary calendar locally and nationally. There were thirty-five entries, all from writers with a strong connection to County Roscommon. The award is organised as part of the Arts Office Literary Development Programme, funded by Roscommon County Council and The Arts Council of Ireland, and supported by the Roscommon Herald and by Shannonside FM.
Trish Bennett, whose family home is originally in Roscommon, was an engineer for years before she began to write and perform. In 2021, she won a Poetry Ireland Poetry Town Bursary, was a Winner in the Dedalus Press Local Wonders Postcard Competition, Runner-Up with a memoir piece in the Roscommon New Writing Award and was listed in several others including the National Poetry, Mslexia, and Allingham poetry competitions. She’s working on her debut poetry collection. http://trishbennettwriter.com.
Two Runners-Up were awarded €100 each. They are Rory Duffy and Louise G. Cole. In addition, our judge, Neil Tully, had a special commendation to award to Bláithín Ryan for her submission. The winning piece can be found Here: “Winning Entry-How Now Brown Cow”
Roscommon Arts Office would like to congratulate Trish and wish her further success with future endeavors in writing.
Our Winning Authors RNWA 2022:
 | Patricia (Trish Bennett) Trish Bennett was an engineer for years before she began to write and perform. In 2021, she won a Poetry Ireland Poetry Town Bursary, was a Winner in the Dedalus Press Local Wonders Postcard Competition, Runner-Up with a memoir piece in the Roscommon New Writing Award and was listed in several others including the National Poetry, Mslexia, and Allingham poetry competitions. She’s working on her debut poetry collection. http://trishbennettwriter.com. |
 | Rory Duffy Rory Duffy has had work published in several journals including Southword, CrannÓg, Ropes, Riptide, The Stony Thursday Book, A New Ulster, Skylight 47, Boyne Berries & The Cormorant. His short stories have been shortlisted in Sean O'Faoláin, Frances MacManus 2016 & 2020, Cuirt, Bath Short Story Award, PJ O'Connor, among others. In 2017 Rory was nominated for a ZeBBie Award. In 2020 he was a nominee in the Forward Prize. In 2021 he was selected for the Words Ireland National Mentoring Scheme. |
 | Louise G. Cole Poet and short story writer Louise G Cole is a past winner of the New Roscommon Writing Award. She has won or been placed in local, national and international writing competitions, winning a Hennessy Award in 2018. She was chosen by Carol Ann Duffy for publication of the Laureate’s Choice pamphlet ‘Soft Touch’ in 2019. During the pandemic, Louise has been posting weekly creative writing prompts on her website, where she also explains the importance of the ‘G’ in her name (it avoids confusion with an underwear model) www.louisegcolewriter.com |
 | Bláithín Ryan Bláithín Ryan is an aspiring poet and writer, and has recently completed a BA in Writing and Literature at ATU Sligo. She grew up on the shores of Lough Ree, which inspired a deep appreciation for the local flora and fauna of County Roscommon. This closeness with nature influences her writing as well as a fascination with Irish myth and magic. Her work often fixates on small details and moments that would otherwise melt into the mundane. It blends and contrasts realism with the supernatural, and reconsiders folklore in a contemporary setting. |
ROSCOMMON CHAPBOOK BURSARY 2022 has been awarded to Sinead McClure
 | Sinead McClure Sinéad McClure is a writer, radio producer and illustrator. Her work is published digitally, in print and on radio. Her work has appeared in The Stinging Fly, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Live Encounters, The Cormorant Broadsheet, Autumn Leaves Broadsheet, Drawn to the Light Press, Sonder Magazine, The Poetry Bus, Poethead, Dodging the Rain, A New Ulster, StepAway Magazine, Tiny Spoon, Vox Galvia, the Ekphrastic Review and RTEjr radio. Sinéad was the winner of the Ó Bhéal Five Word International Poetry Prize 2021. Her collaborative chapbook with Cáit O’Neill McCullagh “The songs I sing are sisters” published by Dreich Press is due to be released in Summer, 2022. |
Autumn Leaves
A ROSCOMMON BROADSHEET
poems, flash fiction, non-fiction
Deadline for receipt of submissions: 5pm on Wednesday 31st August, 2022
Roscommon County Council Arts Office is seeking submissions from Roscommon poets and authors for poems, flash fiction and non-fiction essays/meditations to be included in AUTUMN LEAVES, a Roscommon broadsheet to be published in late Autumn.
The emphasis of the broadsheet will be on unpublished work, however previously published work will be read and considered.
To qualify for submission, writers and poets must have a strong Roscommon connection (born in, living in, working in, parents or grandparents from).
Roscommon poets are being invited to submit poems no longer than 30 lines in length (there is no minimum line length) on any theme.
Roscommon fiction writers are invited to submit flash fiction pieces on any theme with a maximum word limit of 300 for each story submitted.
Roscommon non-fiction writers are invited to submit prose essays/meditations on any theme with a maximum word limit of 300 for each piece submitted.
Poets, fiction and non-fiction writers may submit up to three written pieces in total. This can be three poems, three flash fiction pieces, or three essays/meditations. Or the submission can be a combination of all three, i.e. a poem, a flash fiction and a non-fiction.
All submissions must include the writer’s name and contact details, plus confirmation that the work is the original work of the writer. Please also state if the submitted work has been published elsewhere and if so, where and when.
Email all submissions to artsofficer@roscommoncoco.ie
The deadline for receipt of applications is 5pm on Wednesday 31st August, 2022.
Enquiries to roscwir@gmail.com
AUTUMN LEAVES is edited by Gerry Boland, with poet Jane Clarke as guest editor.
2022 Chapman Bursary
The Roscommon Chapbook Bursary has been established to assist Roscommon writers with the costs associated with publishing a modest collection of poems (15 – 20) or a compact collection of short stories (3 – 6). One award of €600 will be offered in 2022.
CONDITIONS
- All applicant writers must have a connection with the county of Roscommon (born in, living in, currently working in, went to school in).
- A typical length of a chapbook is 30 pages. This is a guideline only, though submissions that fall considerably short of this, or which are considerably longer, will not be considered suitable.
- Grant aid provided by Roscommon County Council together with the Arts Council of Ireland must be acknowledged in all publicity material associated with the project and in the published chapbook. Roscommon County Council reserves the right to publicise the awarding of the bursary. The successful applicant will receive a copy of the Roscommon County Council and Arts Council logos.
- The intended work must be completed and proof of publication will be necessary for the successful applicant to claim the bursary. Two copies must be submitted to Roscommon County Council Arts Office at the time of publication.
- The Bursary Award will be adjudicated by poet and author Geraldine Mills
- All applicants will be advised of Council’s decisions in writing.
- All applications must include:
- The completed Application Form
- Proposed content of the chapbook (poems or stories)
- A current biography and/or CV, outlining details of career to date.
Application form can be downloaded here: Roscommon Chapbook Bursary - Application Form
Information Sheet is available here: Roscommon Chapbook Award - Information Sheet
Return Completed Applications to artsofficer@roscommoncoco.ie with ’Roscommon Chapbook Bursary (applicant name)’ typed in the subject box.
OR Post your entry to: ROSCOMMON CHAPBOOK BURSARY 2022, Roscommon Arts Office, Áras an Chontae, Roscommon, F42 VR98.
The closing date for receipt of completed application forms is 5pm Friday 20th May 2022.
Late applications will not be considered.
Roscommon County Council reserves the right not to award a bursary should the submissions, in the opinion of the adjudicator and the Council, not achieve a sufficiently high standard.
Adjudicator Lani O’Hanlon, a native of Galway, is the author of five collections of poetry, three collections of short stories and a children’s novel for middle-grade readers. She has been awarded many prizes and bursaries for her poetry and fiction, including the Hennessy/Tribune New Irish Writer Award, three Arts Council Bursaries and a Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship. Her fiction and poetry are taught on contemporary Irish Literature Courses at the University of Missouri, St Louis; University of Connecticut; Emory University, Atlanta; and on the Emerson College Summer School in Co Clare in Ireland. She was recently awarded an Arts Council Bursary to work on her second children’s novel.
ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2022
for Short Fiction
First Prize: €750
The ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2022 is organised as part of the county’s Literature Development Programme. It is funded by Roscommon County Council and The Arts Council of Ireland, supported by the Roscommon Herald and Shannonside FM.
The winner will receive a monetary prize of €750 and will have their winning entry printed in the Roscommon Herald.
Two runners-up will receive €100 each.
The Competition will be adjudicated by Neil Tully.
Neil won the overall prize and the short story prize at the Write by the Sea Literary Festival 2021. He also won the New Roscommon Writing Award 2021 and the Dock Arts Centre Short Story Prize 2020. He has been longlisted and shortlisted in many other competitions and his work has appeared in the Irish Independent, Quillette and elsewhere. He will complete an MA in Creative Writing at UL this year.
Closing date for entries is Friday, 20th May 2022.
THE ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD COMPETITION RULES
- Short stories only will be accepted.
- The competition is open to anyone over 18. All entrants must have a connection with the county of Roscommon (born in, living in, currently working in, went to school in).
- Previous first prize winners may enter but will not be eligible for the first prize.
- Writers may submit up to two entries.
- Typed entries (handwritten entries cannot be accepted) must be no more than 2000 words. Mark the number of words in your entry on the bottom of the page. Entries over the 2000-word limit will be automatically disqualified.
- Include your name, address and contact details, plus your connection to the county. INCLUDE THESE ON A SEPARATE PAGE, NOT ON YOUR ENTRY.
- There is no entry fee. All entries must be received by Friday, 20th May 2022.
- The competition will be adjudicated by Neil Tully. The judge’s decision is final.
- Email your entry to: artsofficer@roscommoncoco.ie . Title your email ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2022.
OR Post your entry to: ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2022, Roscommon Arts Office, Áras an Chontae, Roscommon, F42 VR98.
.
Further Information and Competition Rules can be Downloaded here: RNWA Info 2022
The names of the shortlisted writers will be announced in local media and online at http://www.roscommoncoco.ie/en/Services/Comm_Ent/Arts_Office/literature.html
Details of the awards ceremony will be announced at a later date.
Connecting communities through creative reading and writing
Produced by Roscommon County Council Arts Office, the broadsheet of poetry, flash fiction & nonfiction is a collection of 20 pieces by Roscommon writers touching on areas including humour, tragedy, traditions and memory.
This is the second year that this publication has been produced and it continues to grow in popularity.
Autumn Leaves is part of the Arts Office Literary Development Programme, funded by Roscommon County Council and the Arts Council of Ireland.
Copies of the publication were distributed as an insert in the Roscommon Herald 16th November.
DOWNLOAD AUTUMN LEAVES HERE
Roscommon Poets are invited to participate in
POETRY IN THE PARK
in Lough Key Forest & Activity Park on the afternoon of Saturday 9th October
Poetry in the Park is an opportunity for poets (and poetry lovers) in the Roscommon area to meet, to share nature poems, and to socialise. There will be a short walk, with stops along the way for the reading of nature poems. Immediately after the walk (which will be about an hour and possibly less), we will take up residence at the outdoor café for refreshments (at your expense), some more poetry readings, and plenty of chat.
You can bring along a nature poem that you have written, you can bring along a nature poem you love, or you can come along with no poems in tow and simply enjoy the walk, the poems, and the chat.
Poetry in the Park is a new initiative, the inspiration for which arose out of three Heritage Week poetry and nature walks in Lough Key, Mote Park and St John’s Wood in August 2021.
It is hoped to make Poetry in the Park a regular event, perhaps once a month, beginning in the spring of 2022.
EVENT DETAILS
When: Saturday 9th October 2021 at 2pm
Where: Meet outside the Visitor Centre in Lough Key Forest & Activity Park
There is no charge for this event and neither is there a requirement to book. However, it would be helpful to have an idea in advance of the expected numbers, so do please let Gerry Boland know if you’re coming along, either by email (roscwir@gmail.com) or by phone (087-6397557). Gerry will also answer any queries you may have.
ANNOUNCEMENT - ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2021 WINNERS
The winning entry in the NEW ROSCOMMON WRITING AWARD 2021, Neil Tully’s ‘Infinite Possibilities’ has been announced by Rhona McGrath, Arts Officer, as the deserved winner of the top prize of 
€500. This is the eighth year of what has become an important event in the literary calendar locally and nationally. There were fifty-five entries, all from writers with a strong connection to County Roscommon. The award is organised as part of the Arts Office literary development programme, funded by Roscommon County Council and The Arts Council of Ireland, and supported by the Roscommon Herald and by Shannonside FM.
Neil Tully, whose family home is originally in Roscommon, was the winner of The Dock Arts Centre Winter Writing Award 2020, and runner up in Anthology Magazine's short story prize. He is shortlisted for New Irish Writing in the Irish Independent and will begin an MA in Creative Writing at UL this year.
Four runners-up were awarded €100 each. They are Carol Beirne, John Mulligan, Patricia Bennett and Helen Cunningham.
The winning piece can be found Here: Infinite Possibilities.pdf (size 548.7 KB)
Roscommon Arts Office would like to congratulate Neil and wish him further success with future endeavours in writing.
Our Shortlisted Authors RNWA 2021:
 | Patricia (Trish) Bennett Patricia Bennett worked as an engineer for years before she began to write and perform. In 2021, she was a Winner in the Dedalus Press Local Wonders Postcard Competition, was Longlisted in the National Poetry & Mslexia Poetry competitions, Shortlisted in Trim Poetry Competition, and received Bursary and Mentoring awards from the Irish Writers Centre. trishbennettwriter.com |
Carol Beirne Carol Beirne lives in Lisacul Castlerea with her husband and menagerie of wildlife that frequent her much loved garden. After raising her family and retiring from full time work in business and finance she makes every day count by writing, painting botanicals and gardening. Her love of words has seen her being shortlisted for several literary awards. | 
|
 | Helen Cunningham After a long association with County Roscommon, Helen retired to the West of Ireland in 2017. Now, for the first time in years, she has the time to explore her creative side and has rediscovered a long forgotten passion for writing. Helen writes short stories and flash fiction gaining inspiration from the countryside, characters and communities of the border areas of Roscommon, Mayo and Sligo and from her past experience as a pharmacist in the UK. Helen was a runner up in the New Roscommon Writing Award 2020 and was shortlisted in the Hanna Greally Literary Competition 2020. |
John Mulligan Author, travel writer, journalist and columnist. Author of ‘Dancing on the Waves’ (Collins Press 2004),‘Following in the Footsteps of the Four Famous Flannerys’ (Connaught Telegraph Publications, 2007), as well as one novel (‘No Place in the Sun’). Feature writer for Farming Independent and other national newspapers. Runner up in 2011 Fish International Award for short fiction. Overall winner and also third placed for two pieces submitted to same competition in 2012. Winner of Roscommon Writing Awards 2015 and 2016, and runner up on several occasions. Judge of Roscommon Writing Awards 2018. Runner up in Scotland’s Baker Prize. Published in several anthologies in Ireland and UK as well as newspapers and magazines. Writes a weekly column for the Roscommon Herald and contributes to several National newspapers. Cartoon script writer on ‘The Bridge’ series. Lyric writer with Charlie McGettigan including ‘the Moone Boy Song’ (Sony Records). | 
|
 | Neil Tully Neil was the winner of The Dock Arts Centre Winter Writing Award 2020, and runner up in Anthology magazine's short story prize. He is shortlisted for New Irish Writing in the Irish Independent and will begin an MA in Creative Writing at UL this year. |
Winner will be announced in the Roscommon Herald on 6th July 2021
AUTUMN LEAVES
A ROSCOMMON BROADSHEET
poems, flash fiction, non-fiction
Roscommon County Council Arts Office is seeking submissions from Roscommon poets and authors for poems, flash fiction and non-fiction essays/meditations to be included in AUTUMN LEAVES, a Roscommon broadsheet to be published in late Autumn.
The emphasis of the broadsheet will be on unpublished work, however previously published work will be read and considered.
To qualify for submission, writers and poets must have a strong Roscommon connection (born in, living in, working in, parents or grandparents from).
Roscommon poets are being invited to submit poems no longer than 30 lines in length (there is no minimum line length) on any theme.
Roscommon fiction writers are invited to submit flash fiction pieces on any theme with a maximum word limit of 300 for each story submitted.
Roscommon non-fiction writers are invited to submit prose essays/meditations on a nature theme with a maximum word limit of 300 for each piece submitted.
Poets, fiction and non-fiction writers may submit up to three written pieces in total. This can be three poems, three flash fiction pieces, or three essays/meditations on nature. Or the submission can be a combination of all three, i.e. a poem, a flash fiction and a non-fiction.
All submissions must include the writer’s name and contact details, plus confirmation that the work is the original work of the writer. Please also state if the submitted work has been published elsewhere and if so, where and when.
Email all submissions to artsofficer@roscommoncoco.ie
The deadline for receipt of applications is 5pm on Tuesday 31st August, 2021.
AUTUMN LEAVES is edited by Gerry Boland, with poet Jane Clarke as guest editor.
Literary Development Programme 2021
Roscommon County Council is delighted to announce details of three of its 2021 Literary Development Programme Awards.
All entrants must have a connection with the county of Roscommon. Application forms and competition rules are available below.
The deadline for receipt of applications for each of the award categories is Monday 24th May, 2021.
ROSCOMMON CHAPBOOK BURSARY
The Roscommon Chapbook Bursary has been established to assist Roscommon writers with the costs associated with publishing a modest collection of poems (15 – 20) or a compact collection of short stories (3 – 6). One award of €500 will be offered in 2021.
CONDITIONS
- All applicant writers must have a connection with the county of Roscommon (born in, living in, currently working in, went to school in).
- A typical length of a chapbook is 30 pages. This is a guideline only, though submissions that fall considerably short of this, or which are considerably longer, will not be considered suitable.
- Grant aid provided by Roscommon County Council together with the Arts Council of Ireland must be acknowledged in all publicity material associated with the project and in the published chapbook. Roscommon County Council reserves the right to publicise the awarding of the bursary. The successful applicant will receive a copy of the Roscommon County Council and Arts Council logos.
- The intended work must be completed and proof of publication will be necessary for the successful applicant to claim the bursary. Two copies must be submitted to Roscommon County Council Arts Office at the time of publication.
- The Bursary Award will be adjudicated by poet and author Geraldine Mills
- All applicants will be advised of Council’s decisions in writing.
- All applications must include:
- The completed Application Form
- Proposed content of the chapbook (poems or stories)
- A current biography and/or CV, outlining details of career to date.
Application form can be downloaded here: Roscommon Chapbook Bursary - Application Form.doc (size 674.8 KB)
Information Sheet is available here: Roscommon Chapbook Award - Information Sheet (1).doc (size 6.8 MB)
Return Completed Applications to artsofficer@roscommoncoco.ie with ’Roscommon Chapbook Bursary (applicant name)’ typed in the subject box.
OR Post your entry to: ROSCOMMON CHAPBOOK BURSARY 2021, Roscommon Arts Office, Áras an Chontae, Roscommon, F42 VR98.
The closing date for receipt of completed application forms is 5pm Monday 24th May 2021.
Late applications will not be considered.
Roscommon County Council reserves the right not to award a bursary should the submissions, in the opinion of the adjudicator and the Council, not achieve a sufficiently high standard.
Adjudicator Geraldine Mills, a native of Galway, is the author of five collections of poetry, three collections of short stories and a children’s novel for middle-grade readers. She has been awarded many prizes and bursaries for her poetry and fiction, including the Hennessy/Tribune New Irish Writer Award, three Arts Council Bursaries and a Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship. Her fiction and poetry are taught on contemporary Irish Literature Courses at the University of Missouri, St Louis; University of Connecticut; Emory University, Atlanta; and on the Emerson College Summer School in Co Clare in Ireland. She was recently awarded an Arts Council Bursary to work on her second children’s novel.
WRITER Mentorship Programme
Roscommon County Council is pleased to announce details of its 2021 WRITER MENTORSHIP PROGRAMME. The annual award is designed to support the development of emerging and established Roscommon writers who have identified particular gaps in their knowledge and expertise. The programme achieves this by providing funding to a professional writer to help the successful applicant make the next steps in their development.
A mentor will provide an objective critique and feedback on the successful applicant’s work and/or assist her/him in the development of a specific writing project. The focus of the mentor can be on short-term objectives, such as completing a manuscript, or it can be on longer-term goals that the mentee may wish to explore. The mentor’s role is to help the mentee resolve issues and find answers to their own questions rather than resolving issues by providing the answers directly.
The programme provides a fee of €500 which is paid directly to the mentor. For this the mentee should expect to benefit from ten hours of mentor engagement, to include at the minimum four hours face-to-face (these can be onscreen meetings, if physical meetings are not possible), the remainder given over to review of work by the mentor. How the ten hours is to be divided up will be decided at the outset by both mentor and mentee.
REQUIREMENTS
- The programme is open to writers whose practice is based in Co. Roscommon.
- The mentorship must be completed before the end of 2021.
- Completed application forms must be accompanied by an up to date C.V. plus a one-page outline detailing why and in what specific way the applicant will benefit from being mentored.
Completed applications should be returned along with additional information by email to artsofficer@roscommoncoco.ie or Post to Writer Mentorship Programme, Roscommon County Council Arts Office, Áras an Chontae, Roscommon, Co. Roscommon.
Application form can be downloaded here: Mentoring Programme - Application Form.doc (size 666.6 KB)
Information Booklet available here: Mentoring Information Sheet.doc (size 77.3 KB)
The deadline for receipt of applications is 5pm on Monday, 24th May, 2021.
ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2021
ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2021
for Short Fiction and Memoir
First Prize: €500
The ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2021 is organised as part of the county’s Literature Development Programme. It is funded by Roscommon County Council and The Arts Council of Ireland, supported by the Roscommon Herald and by Shannonside FM.
The winner will receive a monetary prize of €500 and will have their winning entry printed in the Roscommon Herald. An extract will also be broadcast on Shannonside FM.
Four runners-up will receive €100 each.
The Competition will be adjudicated by Louise G Cole.
Poet and short story writer Louise G Cole is a past winner of the New Roscommon Writing Award. She has won or been placed in local, national and international writing competitions, winning a Hennessy Award in 2018. She was chosen by Carol Ann Duffy for publication of the Laureate’s Choice pamphlet ‘Soft Touch’ in 2019. During the pandemic, Louise has been posting weekly creative writing prompts on her website, where she also explains the importance of the ‘G’ in her name (it avoids confusion with an underwear model) www.louisegcolewriter.com.
Closing date for entries is Monday, 24th May 2021.
THE ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD COMPETITION RULES
- Short stories and memoir pieces only will be accepted.
- Memoir entries may be stand-alone memoir essays, or they may be an extract from a longer memoir.
- The competition is open to anyone over 18. All entrants must have a connection with the county of Roscommon (born in, living in, currently working in, went to school in).
- Previous first prize winners may enter but will not be eligible for the first prize.
- Writers may submit up to two entries.
- Typed entries (handwritten entries cannot be accepted) must be no more than 2000 words. Mark the number of words in your entry on the bottom of the page. Entries over the 2000-word limit will be automatically disqualified.
- Include your name, address and contact details, plus your connection to the county. INCLUDE THESE ON A SEPARATE PAGE, NOT ON YOUR ENTRY.
- There is no entry fee. All entries must be received by Monday, 24th May 2021.
- The competition will be adjudicated by Louise G Cole. The judge’s decision is final.
- Email your entry to: artsofficer@roscommoncoco.ie .Title your email ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2021.
OR Post your entry to: ROSCOMMON NEW WRITING AWARD 2021, Roscommon Arts Office, Áras an Chontae, Roscommon, F42 VR98.
Further Information and Competition Rules can be Downloaded here: RNWA Info 2021.doc (size 141.3 KB)
The names of the shortlisted writers will be announced in local media and online at http://www.roscommoncoco.ie/en/Services/Comm_Ent/Arts_Office/literature.htm.
Details of the awards ceremony will be announced at a later date.
AUTUMN LEAVES
Connecting communities through creative reading and writing
Produced by Roscommon County Council Arts Office, the broadsheet of poetry, flash fiction & song lyrics is a collection of 21 pieces by Roscommon writers touching on areas including humour, tragedy, traditions and memory.
Autumn Leaves is part of the Arts Office Literary Development Programme, funded by Roscommon County Council and the Arts Council of Ireland.
Arts Officer, Rhona McGrath congratulated the writers and thanked the editors Gerry Boland and Jane Clarke for their work this year and said “The broadsheet is one of the initiatives of the Arts Office to keep our communities connected through creative reading and writing. Distribution of the broadsheet widely with the Roscommon Herald on November 17th is part of the local authority’s ongoing response to COVID-19 under The Government Plan for Living with COVID-19: Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021.”
Download Autumn Leaves HERE
New Roscommon Writing Award 2020 - Winner
View the winning story in its entirety here: Life- By Anne Byrne.pdf (size 273.1 KB)
Quote from our Winner Anne Byrne
“The Award initially attracted me back in 2017, and was the stimulus to dip my pen into the world of writing. Having no success, but having learned a bit about writing, I entered again in 2018, and was delighted to be picked as first runner up and have my story published in the Anthology of Roscommon Writing 2014-2018. There is no doubt that an award like this provides great encouragement to aspiring writers like myself, and offers a great platform from which to get started. So thanks to all involved for keeping it going, and for all the other activities that help and support the arts.”
A ROSCOMMON BROADSHEET
poems, song lyrics, flash fiction
Roscommon County Council Arts Office is seeking submissions from poets, songwriters and fiction writers for poems, song lyrics and flash fiction to be included in the forthcoming ROSCOMMON BROADSHEET (working title).
The broadsheet will be published before the end of the year and will include poems, song lyrics and flash fiction by Roscommon poets, songwriters and fiction writers.
The emphasis of the broadsheet will be on unpublished work, however previously published work will be read and considered.
To qualify for submission, writers and poets must have a strong Roscommon connection (born in, living in, working in, parents or grandparents from).
Roscommon poets are being invited to submit poems no longer than 60 lines in length (there is no minimum line length).
Roscommon songwriters are invited to submit song lyrics no longer than 60 lines (there is no minimum line length).
Roscommon fiction writers are invited to submit flash fiction pieces with a maximum word limit of 300 for each story submitted.
Poets, songwriters and fiction writers may submit up to three written pieces in total. This can be three poems, three song lyrics or three flash fiction pieces. Or the submission can be a combination of all three, i.e. a poem, a song lyric and a flash fiction piece.
All submissions must include the writer’s name and contact details, plus confirmation that the work is the original work of the writer. Please also state if the submitted work has been published elsewhere and if so, where and when.
Email all submissions to artsofficer@roscommoncoco.ie The deadline for receipt of applications is Friday, 11th September, 2020.
Enquiries to roscwir@gmail.com
A ROSCOMMON BROADSHEET is edited by Roscommon County Council Literary Programme Advisor, Gerry Boland, with guest editor Jane Clarke.
Roscommon Arts Office Announces Details of its Inaugural Writer Mentorship Programme
Roscommon County Council Arts Office has released details of its inaugural WRITER MENTORSHIP PROGRAMME. The aim of the programme is to provide practical support to Roscommon writers. Mentees will have direct access to the knowledge and expertise of an experienced practitioner in their chosen field of literature.
The Writer Mentorship Programme is designed to support the development of emerging and established Roscommon writers who have identified particular gaps in their knowledge and expertise. The programme achieves this by providing funding to a leading professional to help the applicant make the next steps in their development. The mentor will provide an objective critique and feedback on the writer’s work and/or assist her or him in the development of a specific writing project. The focus of the mentor can be on short-term objectives, such as completing a manuscript, or it can be on longer-term goals that the mentee may wish to explore.
The programme provides a fee which is paid directly to the mentor. There is no charge for the mentee/writer. For this the mentee should expect to benefit from ten hours of mentor engagement, to include at the minimum four hours face-to-face, the remainder given over to review of work by the mentor.
Requirements:
- The programme is open to writers whose practice is based in County Roscommon only.
- The mentorship must be completed before 31 December 2019.
- Completed application forms must be accompanied by a sample of the writer’s work (5 pages only), an up to date CV, plus a one-page outline detailing why and in what specific way the applicant will benefit from being mentored.
Completed applications should be returned along with additional information by email to mmullins@roscommoncoco.ie or in an envelope marked ‘Writer Mentorship Programme’ to Roscommon County Council Arts Office, Civic Offices, Roscommon, Co. Roscommon.
The deadline for receipt of applications is Friday 13 September, 2019
For further information contact mmullins@roscommoncoco.ie
Mentoring Info Sheet.doc (size 37.9 KB)
Mentoring Programme Application Form.doc (size 664.1 KB)
Strokestown International Poetry Competition Shortlists Announced.
Shortlists for two of the Strokestown International Poetry Competition 2019 have now been published.
See who got to the finals for the Percy French Comic Verse Competition here: https://www.strokestownpoetry.org/percy-french-prize-2019/
and for the Duais de hÍde here: https://www.strokestownpoetry.org/duais-de-hide-2019/
The shortlist for the main International Poetry Competition will be out in February.
Meanwhile, any writers with Roscommon connections are encouraged to try for the annual Roscommon Poets’ Prize, this year judged by Iggy McGovern. Eligibility has been extended to poets who went to school in the county, as well as people resident, in education or attending a writers group here. The deadline is February 15th. Details here: https://www.strokestownpoetry.org/roscommon-poets-prize-2019/
NEW ROSCOMMON WRITING AWARD 2019
New Roscommon Writing Awards ceremony will take place at 6pm, Tuesday 18th June in King House, Boyle
NEW ROSCOMMON WRITING AWARD 2019
… SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED…
The shortlist for the 2019 NEW ROSCOMMON WRITING AWARD has just been announced.
Adjudicator Kevin Hora has selected the following writers from the 67 entries:
Louise G. Cole – Eileen Keane – Brian McClean (twice) – PJ Moore (twice) – John Mulligan (twice) – Shane Tivenan – Neil Tully. The adjudicator had no prior knowledge of the names of the entrants, as all entries were numbered, with care taken to ensure the entries remained anonymous to the adjudicator.
At the awards ceremony, which will take place at 6pm in King House, Boyle on Tuesday 18th June, the winning entry together with the 4 runners-up will be announced.
The winner will receive a cheque for €500 from Roscommon County Council and will be officially named the NEW ROSCOMMON WRITER OF 2018. The winning entry will be published in the Roscommon Herald and an extract of the story will be broadcast on the Charlie McGettigan Saturday Connection Show on Shannonside FM. The 4 runners-up will receive a cheque for €100. This award is supported by the Arts Council.
Judge, Kevin Hora commented: ‘Selecting just ten stories from so many enjoyable entries was difficult These ten stories are a diverse mix of styles and themes, all skilfully crafted, provocative and tantalising. Each one shines because it tells a story in a unique voice. Each reading offers fresh insights into one or more universal concerns – our relationships, hopes, fears and emotions.’
The awards ceremony is an open event and all are welcome to attend. For more information, please contact Mary Mullins, Arts Officer mmullins@roscommoncoco.ie
AUTUMN LEAVES
A ROSCOMMON BROADSHEET
poems, flash fiction, non-fiction
Roscommon County Council Arts Office is seeking submissions from Roscommon poets and authors for poems, flash fiction and non-fiction essays/meditations to be included in AUTUMN LEAVES, a Roscommon broadsheet to be published in late Autumn.
The emphasis of the broadsheet will be on unpublished work, however previously published work will be read and considered.
To qualify for submission, writers and poets must have a strong Roscommon connection (born in, living in, working in, parents or grandparents from).
Roscommon poets are being invited to submit poems no longer than 30 lines in length (there is no minimum line length) on any theme.
Roscommon fiction writers are invited to submit flash fiction pieces on any theme with a maximum word limit of 300 for each story submitted.
Roscommon non-fiction writers are invited to submit prose essays/meditations on a nature theme with a maximum word limit of 300 for each piece submitted.
Poets, fiction and non-fiction writers may submit up to three written pieces in total. This can be three poems, three flash fiction pieces, or three essays/meditations on nature. Or the submission can be a combination of all three, i.e. a poem, a flash fiction and a non-fiction.
All submissions must include the writer’s name and contact details, plus confirmation that the work is the original work of the writer. Please also state if the submitted work has been published elsewhere and if so, where and when.
Email all submissions to artsofficer@roscommoncoco.ie.
The deadline for receipt of applications is 5pm on Tuesday 31st August, 2021.
Full details, including the publication Autumn Leaves Broadsheet 2020, are available on the Arts page of Roscommon County Council website (http://www.roscommoncoco.ie/!83WE41).
AUTUMN LEAVES is edited by Gerry Boland, with poet Jane Clarke as guest editor.
Poet and short story writer Louise G Cole is a past winner of the New Roscommon Writing Award. She has won or been placed in local, national and international writing competitions, winning a Hennessy Award in 2018. She was chosen by Carol Ann Duffy for publication of the Laureate’s Choice pamphlet ‘Soft Touch’ in 2019. During the pandemic, Louise has been posting weekly creative writing prompts on her website, where she also explains the importance of the ‘G’ in her name (it avoids confusion with an underwear model) www.louisegcolewriter.com
+ What do you need
+Contact us
+Rhona McGrath
+P: 090 6637 321
+E: rmcgrath@roscommoncoco.ie
Roscommon County Council Arts Office, Roscommon County Council, Áras an Chontae, Roscommon. Ireland
