22 December, 2025
Opportunities for Writers: December 2025
Our monthly list of submission windows, competitions, bursaries, residencies and general literary opportunities is now live. This list offers information on opportunities with December/January deadlines. For information on other upcoming opportunities, see our competitions, submissions and opportunities and bursaries and funding pages.
Irish Writers Centre Opportunities
The National Mentoring Programme
Deadline: 31 December, 2025
The National Mentoring Programme is an opportunity open to all writers across the island of Ireland to receive sustained creative and professional mentoring from an established Irish writer of their choosing.
More information here.
Opportunities
The Moth Poetry Prize
Deadline: 31 December, 2025
The Moth Poetry Prize is one of the biggest prizes in the world for individual unpublished poems. The Prize is open to anyone (over 16) from anywhere in the world, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished. There is no line limit, and the poems can be on any subject.
Accepted forms: Poetry
Prize: Top Prize of €6,000
Entry fee: €16 per poem.
More information here.
Irish Haiku Society International Haiku Competition
Deadline: 31 December, 2025
The IHS International Haiku Competition offers prizes of €200, €60, and €40 for unpublished haiku/senryu in English. In addition there will be up to seven Highly Commended haiku/senryu. Entrants may win more than one prize.
Accepted forms: Haiku/Senryu
Entry fee: €3
More information here
Jane Anne Rothwell Award Open Call
Deadline: 9 January, 2026
The Cork Midsummer Festival is delighted to launch the seventh Open Call for the Jane Anne Rothwell Award. The Jane Anne Rothwell Award is a prize of €5,000 awarded annually to an emerging artist – either from Cork, or based in Cork – working in any discipline, who identifies as female.
Applicants should submit a short cover letter including their personal details and statement of intent, why this award would be useful at this stage of their career and a brief outline of their proposed project (max 500 words). This should be submitted along with a preliminary budget, a current CV and links to up to three examples of previous work.
More information here.
Emma O’Kane Bursary
Deadline: 12 January, 2026
The Emma O’Kane Bursary is an award for independent artists who want to think beyond the boundaries of their art form and practice and to explore dance or a physical language in their work. It honours the exceptional ethos and artistic practice of artist Emma O’Kane who died in 2021.
The Emma O’Kane Bursary is open to artists of all types and talents at any stage of their career.
More information here
Dublin Fringe Festival
Deadline: 22 January, 2026
Dublin Fringe Festival have opened applications for the 2026 edition of Dublin Fringe Festival, running from 5–20 September 2026.
More information here.
Birr Writer’s Residency Award
Deadline: 26 January, 2026
Birr Writers’ Residency offers professional writers’ accommodation and workspaces for five nights, at Brendan House in the centre of Birr, County Offaly. Selected Writers can avail of one of the following options, subject to availability. September 20 – 25, September 21 – 26, October 18 – 23, October 19 – 24.
More information here.
Sci-Fi Ireland Journal Submissions
Deadline: 31 January, 2025
Sci-Fi Ireland will be seeking submissions from for its upcoming issue publishing May 2026. Stories should be between 2000-6000 words. Stories should be Science-Fiction
or Sci-Fi crossover, including but not limited to Science-Fantasy, Science-Horror and Sci-Fi blended with folklore, myth and legend.
Sci-Fi Ireland encourages submissions as Gaeilge however, stories should be submitted with an English translation and will be published bilingually.
Accepted forms: Short fiction.
Contributor fee: £75 (Approx €85) plus print and/or digital copy.
Entry fee: None
More information here.
Please get in touch with the team at info@irishwriterscentre.ie if your organisation/journal has a competition, submission, residency, bursary or funding opportunity for writers that you would like us to include in our monthly round-up blog post.
