Announcing the Irish Writers Centre New Writing Prize in association with The Stinging Fly

The New Writing Prize is an annual literary award, a collaboration between the Irish Writers Centre and The Stinging Fly, that aims to discover, promote and encourage the talents of new, undiscovered voices in Irish writing.

For this year, 2025, the prize will cater for beginner and emerging writers – specifically, writers working in either fiction or non-fiction who have yet to publish their first short story or essay (in print or online). In 2026, the competition will be open to short story writers who have not previously been published in The Stinging Fly.

Submissions for the 2025 competition will be open on Submittable from Saturday 17 May until Wednesday 4 June at 5.00pm. During this time, writers are invited to submit short stories and essays up to 1,500 words in length. The winner of the prize will receive mentoring to the value of €500 with an established writer, selected by the Irish Writers Centre. The winning entry will be published by The Stinging Fly and will receive and a contributor’s fee of €500 .

Publisher and Chief Executive of The Stinging Fly Declan Meade said:

“We’re excited to be working with the Irish Writers Centre on this new annual prize. It underscores our commitment to seeking out and nurturing the very best new writers and new writing. I hope everyone new to writing will feel encouraged to get something into us by June 4th.”

Irish Writers Centre CEO Mags McLoughlin, speaking about the award, said:

“Continuing our collaboration with The Stinging Fly, this new annual competition adds to our aim of creating opportunities for new undiscovered writers to take that next vital step.”

Who is it for?

The 2025 prize is open to beginner and emerging writers (fiction or non-fiction) aged 18 and over who are resident on the island of Ireland (or view Ireland as their home) who have yet to publish their first short story or essay in an anthology, literary journal or magazine. This criterion extends to online journals and magazines but does not include online self-publishing, e.g. blogs. Writers working in other genres (e.g. poetry, drama) are welcome to submit on the basis that this is their first time publishing a piece of fiction or non-fiction.

We encourage writers from backgrounds typically underrepresented in Irish literature to apply. We particularly invite applications from Black, POC (person of colour), Traveller, Roma, LGBTQIA+, disabled and working-class writers, and those who consider themselves to be within the target groups described in the EDI Policy on the Irish Writers Centre website.

How to Apply?

Writers are invited to submit a piece of fiction or non-fiction (i.e. a short story or essay) with a maximum word count of 1,500 words.
All work submitted must be previously unpublished (in print or online).
Alongside their creative work, writers are invited to submit a short biographical statement (max. 150 words) telling us about their writing experience to date, which writers have influenced their work, and what they’d like to accomplish with their writing.
We further ask that you supply us with:

• Your name
• Your email address
• Your postal address
• Your phone number

Writers are instructed to submit just one application per person.

Please state in your SUBMISSION FILE NAME whether your piece is a SHORT STORY or an ESSAY.

Deadline 
Applications will be accepted via Submittable from Saturday May 17 until Wednesday 4 June 2025 up to 5.00pm. This is no entry fee to apply.
Selection will be made by a panel consisting of Irish Writers Centre and The Stinging Fly team members and independent professional writers.

Please note that incomplete or late applications will not be considered.
Any questions? Contact us at projects@irishwriterscentre.ie