31 August, 2026
Opportunities for Writers: September 2026
Our monthly list of submission windows, competitions, bursaries, residencies and general literary opportunities is now live. This list offers information on opportunities with September deadlines. For information on other upcoming opportunities, see our competitions and submissions and bursaries and funding pages.
Irish Writers Centre Climate Writing Prize
Deadline: 23rd October 2026, 5pm
Each session of the Climate Writing series will end with hosts leaving a writing prompt for attending writers. Attendees can then enter the Climate Writing Prize with up to 1,500 words of fiction or up to 60 lines of poetry based on any of the five sessions prompts. The winning piece will be awarded €250 and publication in Channel, with a runner-up receiving a course bursary worth €250. The aim of the Prize is to encourage writers to develop their work beyond the sessions, and to explore the genre of climate writing.
More information here.
Opportunities:
Exploring and Thinking: Early Childhood Arts Residency Awards 2026-27
Deadline: 2nd September
The Dublin region Local Authorities and Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSC) are working in partnership to support early childhood arts practice and to increase access to quality arts experiences for children experiencing homelessness.
The partnership invites applications from artists to develop and deliver early childhood arts residencies within homeless accommodation services across the four local authority administrative areas. We invite applications from artists who propose to collaborate with other artists and/or creative practitioners.
One residency award is available in each of the following areas:
Dún Laoghaire – Rathdown County, Dublin City North, Dublin City South, South Dublin, Fingal.
More information here.
Nero Book Awards New Writers Prize 2026
Deadline: 11th September
Entrants are asked to submit a previously unpublished short story (a piece of fiction or narrative non-fiction) of max 5,000 words. It can be written for children or adult audiences and should be a self-contained piece of work.
More information here.
Visible Poetry Competition
Deadline: 11th September
In collaboration with Cork City Libraries, Visible Competitions are delighted to announce Visible a new poetry competition.
Nick Makoha will serve as an inaugural judge. The competition arises out of Cork City Libraries’ Black History Month event that celebrates literature from African diaspora authors. The booklist offered at the event will inspire poems. This is intended to be a way into writing, not an obstacle.
Anyone resident on the island of Ireland, and over the age of 18 is welcome to submit to the competition. Poems must be inspired by a work on the booklist (available to access via @visiblecompetition2026 on Instagram)
More information here.
Mediator’s Institute of Ireland, Short Story Competition
Deadline: 14th September
The MII Short Story Competition, sponsored by Brendan Schütte, invites writers across Ireland to submit a short story of up to 4,000‑words exploring conflict and its creative, surprising, or unusual resolution.
Open to both mediators and the wider public, the competition aims to connect mediation with cultural and artistic expression while raising awareness of conflict resolution.
The winning story will be widely published, with prizes of €500 for the winner and €200 and €100 for runners‑up, plus a commemorative award presented at the MII Annual Conference on 9 October
More information here.
Mslexia Women’s Fiction Novel Competition
Deadline: 21st September
Mslexia’s competition is open to unpublished fiction novels of at least 50,000 words in any genre for adult and/or young adult readers.
More information here.
Allingham Festival 2026 Poetry and Flash Fiction Competitions
Deadline: 27th September
First Prize in both Flash Fiction and Poetry is €300. Winners will be invited to read their winning entries at the Awards Ceremony on Saturday November the 7th 2026 as part of the Allingham Arts Festival programme of events.
More information here.
Eugene McCabe Short Story Competition
Deadline: 30th September
The Eugene McCabe Short Story Award is a new literary prize for unpublished short story fiction in English. Established in 2026 by Monaghan County Libraries, the award honours the legacy of Eugene McCabe, renowned novelist, short story writer, playwright, and television screenwriter, who lived in County Monaghan.
More information here.
The Moth Nature Writing Prize
Deadline: 30th September
Awarded annually to unpublished pieces of prose or poetry, the prize celebrates work which best combines exceptional literary merit with an exploration of the writers’ relationship with the natural world.
This year’s judge is poet Sean Borodale.
More information here.
Creative Writing Ink Short Story Competition
Deadline: 30th September
The Creative Writing Ink Short Story Competition 2026 is open for entries.
The deadline for receipt of all entries is September 30th, 2026, at 5 pm (GMT). Entries will only be accepted through Subfolio. Entries can be on any subject, theme or genre.
Entry fee: £12 per entry. You can submit multiple entries as long as each entry is paid for individually and includes a separate entry form.
Maximum word count is 3,000 words.
More information here.
Southword Editor’s Poetry Award
Deadline: 30th September
The winning poet will have their three poems published in Southword. If you are already a subscriber, your subscription will be extended. Once a subscriber, there is the opportunity to enter, for free, other competitions which are for subscribers only. Poems must be previously unpublished. Prize: €1000.
More information here.
The Kenyon Review: Call for Submissions
Deadline: 30th September
The Kenyon review is currently open for submissions of: fiction, flash fiction, essays, poetrys, excerpts from larger works.
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.
