04 December, 2024
Opportunities and Competitions December 2024
Photo description: Frank O’Mahony standing in his store in Limerick (Photograph supplied by O’Mahony’s)
In 2024 we are spotlighting all the amazing independent bookshops and booksellers on the island of Ireland simply because we love them and we think you should too. O’Mahony’s Booksellers has been a steadfast fixture in Limerick City since 1902, founded by J.P. O’Mahony at 120 O’Connell Street. Originally a modest 550 square foot shop with a small team of three employees, the store has grown and evolved over the decades, becoming a cornerstone of the local community.
Each month we update our Competitions, Submissions & Opportunities webpage, along with our Bursaries & Funding webpage, to ensure we are connecting our writers with the best upcoming opportunities. Here are some of the highlights coming this month and some January submissions to consider during the holidays.
Fellowships and Other Opportunities
Deadline: Thursday 5 December 2024
NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship
The Black List has partnered with Natural Resources Defense Council’s Rewrite the Future program, The Redford Center, The CAA Foundation, and NBCUniversal to launch the fourth annual NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship. The Fellowship will grant $20,000 each to three writers/ teams to support revision of a feature screenplay or pilot that engages with climate change in a compelling way through events, actions, character, emotions, plot, and/or setting.
Deadline: Monday 9 December 2024
2025 Stinging Fly Poetry Workshop
The workshop, Jan to May, is intended for poets looking to take their work more seriously and to develop their craft while working with a group of like-minded individuals. Poets interested in submitting should be seriously working toward publishing a manuscript or presenting work to an audience, which could include the development of a collection, chapbook, or commissioned work. The workshop is not intended as a space for beginners or those who are new to writing poems. The workshop will run from the end of January until May 2025 and will be led by The Stinging Fly’s poetry editor Annemarie Ní Churreáin. Eight places are available on the workshop. Fee for the workshop is €1350. The concession rate for anyone who is unwaged or on low income is €1050. There is one free place.
Recommended Staff Picks from Trea at O’Mahony’s, Limerick City (Photograph supplied by O’Mahony’s)
Competitions
Deadline: 6 December 2024
RSL Christopher Bland Prize
An annual award of £10,000 for a debut novelist or non-fiction writer first published in any form aged 50 or over. Writers must be a citizen of, or resident in, the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland. Books must have been published for the first time in the UK or RoI within the 2023 calendar year. Books must be entered by trade publishers or agents based in the UK or RoI; each publisher, imprint of a publisher, or agent may enter two books only. Prize: £10,000. (Free to submit)
Deadline: 20 December 2024
The Griffin Poetry Prize
The Griffin Poetry Prize is awarded annually for the best collection of poetry written in, or translated into, English. The winner is announced at the Griffin Poetry Prize readings held in Canada annually in June. The Griffin Poetry Prize is pleased to announce that Nick Laird (Northern Ireland), Anne Michaels (Canada), and Tomasz Różycki (Poland) are the judges for the 2025 Griffin Poetry Prize. Entries must come from publishers only. Prize Money: C$130,000. Shortlisted poets each receive C$10,000. (Free to submit).
Submissions
Deadline: 1o December 2024
Eff-able – a spicy anthology of queer crip poetry
Celebrating bodies, sex, and freedom of expression, eff-able is an anthology of queer disabled poets that shines a light on a marginalised part of the LGBTQIA+ community. With poetry that is bold, tender, boundary-pushing and eye-opening, eff-able blows stereotypes apart by focusing on all aspects of the sexual, erotic and sensual bodily experience for queer disabled people. The anthology is due to be published in May/June 2025. Poets will be paid £40 for their contribution, and have the opportunity to receive a mentoring session in either poetry or performing from professional mentors. (Free to submit).
Deadline: 21 December 2024
Abridged 0 – 104: Legion Submission Call
Legion, the host, the multitude. The questions raised by Legion are the questions of collectivity, individuality, power, possession, control, responsibility, ethics and voice. Abridged is looking for poetry and art that explores the fear of difference, the tyranny of common sense and the voice of the crowd. You may submit up to three poems in a Word or PDF format. Art should be 300dpi or above and in jpeg or similar format. All those published receive a free copy of the magazine. (Free to submit).
Deadline: 1 January 2025
Ropes 2025
ROPES, the Review of Postgraduate English Studies at the University of Galway, is a literary journal produced annually by MA literature and publishing students. The theme for ROPES issue 33 is roots. They accept a variety of written and visual work, including, but not limited to, fiction, flash fiction, poetry, memoire and essays. Art, and photography has a deadline of 21 Feb 2025. All submissions should be original, previously unpublished work. (Free to submit).
Stephen and Clare O’Mahony with Keith Earls in O’Mahonys, Limerick City (Photograph supplied by O’Mahony’s)
Things to do over the Holidays for January deadlines:
Deadline: 5 January 2025
Public Art Commission for Esker Arts, Offally County Council
Offaly County Council Arts Office is seeking proposals from professional artists for a public art commission for Esker Arts, in conjunction with Lough Boora Sculpture Park. Proposals will be accepted from all art disciplines and practices including; visual arts, dance, film, literature, music, theatre, digital arts, performance, live art, multimedia, video art, sound art, socially engaged practice, participatory, research-based. The total budget for the project is 20,000 euro, Ex VAT, inclusive of all costs, expenses, insurance and other charges or contingencies.
Deadline: 5 January 2025
New Isles Press: Psychopomp Sìopomp Beayntee Issue 4 Anthology
Submissions are open for the fourth issue, themed “Psychopomp.” This edition promises a fantastic lineup of special featured authors and a refreshed look and format for 2025. They are looking for short stories and poetry. New Isles Press are an independent Irish publisher, entirely funded by their patrons and readers, committed to providing a platform for writers work without external influence. Their submissions are exclusively open to writers residing in Ireland and the UK. Issue 4 will feature Kate O’Shea, Wendy Erskine, Dr. Arthur Broomfield and Jordanne Kennaugh. (Free to submit).
Deadline: 8 January 2025
Irish Writers Centre’s Notre Dame Kylemore Residencies
This is the Irish Writers Centre second year partnership with Notre Dame Kylemore. Three writers will be awarded with a fully catered six-day residency opportunity from Monday 14 April to Saturday 19 April, 2025 in the beautifully restored Notre Dame Kylemore on the grounds of Kylemore Abbey in Connemara, Co. Galway. This is an open call to writers, over 18 years of age, resident on the island of Ireland, both emerging and professional writers of fiction and non-fiction only. (Free to submit).
Deadline: 20 January 2025
Artlinks Bursaries 2025
The ArtLinks partners in Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford local authorities have opened submissions for the Professional and Emerging ArtLinks Bursary Awards 2025. These Awards are designed to support artists to develop their practice by providing artists with the time and resources to think, research, reflect and critically engage with their art. The Art forms which we support are: Architecture, Circus, Dance, Film, Literature, Music, Opera, Street Performance and Spectacle, Theatre, Traditional Arts, and Visual Arts.
Deadline: Friday 31 January 2025
The Cúirt New Writing Prize
There are three categories: poetry, short fiction, and short fiction and poetry in Irish. Wendy Erskine is the short fiction judge, Victoria Kennefick is the poetry judge, and Liam Carson is the Irish language poetry and short fiction judge. Poetry entries must consist of three poems under 50 lines each. Short stories should be no longer than 2,000 words. Entry fee €10. The winner in each category will be awarded a €500 cash prize and the opportunity to read at the 40th annual Cúirt International Festival of Literature which will take place in Galway between 8th – 13th April 2025.
Deadline: 13 February 2-25
Literature Bursary Award English Language Arts Council, Ireland
The award supports professional individual writers (writing in the English language) in the development of their arts practice. The objective of the English Language Literature Bursary Award is to enable professional writers and picture book artists (working mainly through the English language) to spend more time on their creative work. The award seeks to provide writers and picture book artists with the time and resources to think, research, reflect, create and write. It enables writers and picture book artists to concentrate on their creative work for a period of time, usually by releasing them from their financial commitments.
More Staff picks from Ruth and Diarmuid at O’Mahonys, Limerick city (Photograph supplied by O’Mahony’s)
The O’Mahony business has weathered significant challenges (including both World Wars!) and expanded its operations over the decades. In 1918, J.P.’s son, Frank (F.E.), joined the company, guiding it through the turbulent early 20th century and spearheading its first major expansion in the 1960s, including the addition of a large basement to accommodate a growing schoolbook business. In the 1970s, current owner Frank (junior) O’Mahony and his brother David took the reins, overseeing further growth, including new stores in the University of Limerick, Tralee, Ennis, and the University of Galway. The shop’s reputation for its diverse book selection, vibrant author events, and extensive children’s department has made it a key player in Ireland’s book industry, and with the arrival of the youngest brother, Peter, who would develop the website and other IT systems, O’Mahonys was able to announce its official entrance into the blossoming world of eCommerce. Now in its fourth generation, with Frank’s children Stephen and Clare joining the family business, O’Mahony’s continues to thrive. The flagship store at 120 O’Connell Street spans nearly 16,000 square feet, making it one of the largest independently owned bookshops in the country. But more than just a bookshop— it’s a testament to the enduring power of independent bookstores and the communities that cherish them.
O’Mahony’s Booksellers since 1902. 120 O’Connell Street, Limerick, V94H6Y8. Telephone: +353 61 418155
Each year, the Irish Writers Centre runs up to 20 free and exciting programmes to support writers’ development. Carrying out it’s work on an all-island basis, the Irish Writers Centre offers a range of support schemes, residency opportunities, mentoring, and other development programmes. View more opportunities for writers here.
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Please get in touch with Events and Marketing Assistant Damien B. Donnelly at damien@irishwriterscentre.ie if your organisation has a competition, submission, bursary or funding opportunity for writers that you would like us to include in our monthly round-up blog post.
