Announcing the 2026 Irish Writers Centre New Writing Prize in association with The Stinging Fly

The New Writing Prize is an annual literary award, now in its second year, organised as part of an ongoing collaboration between the Irish Writers Centre and The Stinging Fly. The aim of the award each year is to discover, promote and encourage the talents of new, undiscovered voices in Irish writing.

The focus for 2026 is on writers living on the island of Ireland or who consider Ireland to be their home who have not yet published fiction in print or online with The Stinging Fly.

Submissions for the 2026 competition will be open from Tuesday 16th June until Tuesday 30th June at 5.00pm.

During this time, eligible writers are invited to submit one short story up to 3,000 words in length.

Please note that the Submittable link for the competition will only be accessible through the Irish Writers Centre’s website and The Stinging Fly’s website.

There is no entry fee.

The winner of the prize will be announced in September 2026. The winning story will be published in the Winter 2026–27 issue of The Stinging Fly. The winning writer will be offered mentoring support to the value of €500 through the Irish Writers Centre’s One-to-One Mentoring programme.

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

“We are very happy to continue our collaboration with the Irish Writers Centre on this award. The standard of entries last year was extremely high. I’m looking forward to reading the stories that come through this year’s competition.”

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

“Already we feel the competition is giving undiscovered writers the chance to take that next vital step including our inaugural winner, Ellen Flanagan for her story ‘A Typical Barbie’.”

 

Who is it for?

The 2026 prize is open to beginner and emerging writers aged 18 and over who are resident on the island of Ireland (or view Ireland as their home) who have yet to publish fiction with The Stinging Fly, either in the magazine or online.

We encourage writers from backgrounds typically underrepresented in Irish literature to enter. 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 ONE short story with a maximum word count of 3000 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

 

Deadline

Applications will be accepted via Submittable from Tuesday June 16th until Tuesday June 30th 2026 up to 5.00pm (Irish time).

Please note that incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

Selection will be made by a panel consisting of Irish Writers Centre and The Stinging Fly team members and independent professional writers.

Any questions? Contact us at admin@stingingfly.org  or projects@irishwriterscentre.ie.