Monday, November 1, 2010

Writing Competitions

Hi all - just a note to let you know that the Fish Short Story Competition closing date is 30th November!  Why not use this as a deadline and get something into them this month?  There are categories for poetry and flash fiction also. 


The Bridport Prize for fiction opens to entries on December 1st.  This is a prestigious and rich competition - the top prize is £5,000.  You have nothing to lose by trying!  Most of these competitions offer a critiquing option for a small charge so you can get some feedback.  Take the plunge now that the dark evenings are here!

For more information, click on the links to the left in 'Writing Competitions / Submissions Links'.

Fiona

Monday, October 18, 2010

A Pint and a Haircut - Book Launch - October 2010 - TrueIrishStories - Picasa Web Albums

A Pint and a Haircut - Book Launch - October 2010 - TrueIrishStories - Picasa Web Albums: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Click on the above link to view photo of Deirdre, Mary and Fiona at the launch of 'A Pint and a Haircut' at St Andrew's College, Blackrock, on 13 October.  Great to also see Sabine, whose piece also appears in the book.  Go out and buy it now!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

A Pint and a Haircut - time to go out and buy it!

Hi all

The book was launched last night at St Andrew's College.  Mary, Deirdre, Sabine and Fiona are all contributors.  It is on sale at Easons and all good book shops, price €12.99.  You can also buy it online from www.londubh.ie .  Proceeds go to Concern's Haiti projects.

It is packed with good stories, some as short as one page, and would make an excellent Christmas present!

Fiona

Friday, October 1, 2010

off the radar screen

Hi All,
Sorry for being off the radar screen for a while. More hospital stuff and then I got a new job. I'm working as a researcher on a drivetime radio show. I absolutely love it and fingers crossed is the start of something big for me.
I got a story accepted into A Pint and a Haircut so I'm really looking forward to seeing some of you at the launch.
Sabine- I got The Book Centre in Waterford to stock the book so I'm thinking that maybe the Kilkenny branch could do the same.
Fiona- I still have your book. If you send my your address, I'll pop it back in the post for you.

So hope everyone had a great summer and is still scribbling.
Chat soon
Deirdre

Sunday, September 19, 2010

A Pint and a Haircut - True Irish Stories for Haiti, Book Launch

The book is to be launched on Wednesday, October 13th at St Andrew's College, Booterstown, Co Dublin at 7.30pm.  Further information:

How much is the book?The book's RRP is €12.99

Where will it be on sale?All good bookshops. It is being distributed by Easons wholesalers and Argosy.
Please ask your local bookshop to order some in if they haven't already.
The ISBN number is 978-1-907535-16-1 (this is useful for your bookshop when ordering).

When will it be onsale?It should be in the shops in the next 7-10 days.

Can we buy it online?Yes - you can order it from Londubh books (www.londubh.ie)

Can we buy it at the Launch?Yes - we will have a large number of books available at the launch

How can we help publicise the book?We will have A2 posters at the launch which you can take home with you and get your local bookshop to put up.
Also - if you know anyone in working in any of the media, please be sure to tell them about the book and ask them to give it some coverage. We can provide press releases if required.
I'm happy to do any radio or tv interviews that anyone's willing to give me!

Where did you get the painting on the book cover?I came across the painting by sheer luck while googling, looking for a suitable illustration. The fantastic painting was done by an Irish artist called Eolaí gan Fhéile. You can see and buy his work at http://bicyclistic.com. Huge thanks to Eolaí gan Fhéile for generously granting permission to use his piece.
Thanks are also due to Jon Bond for his great cover design work.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Prose on The Pier Gala Reading

Congrats to Emer, Edwin, Monica and Fiona (!) for a public appearance last Saturday.  The reading was held on the East Pier at the big glass shelter.  Music was provided by the Kingstown Academy of Music.  The weather was a bit challenging but we coped like professionals!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

A Pint & a Haircut - True Irish Stories for Haiti: No going back now!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010



Well that's it then - the final proof and cover have been sent to the printer. I've been told we'll have it in the shops by Oct 4th at the latest. It's hard not to start getting excited about it all!

The book is being distributed by Argosy and Easons Wholesalers so please get down to your local bookshop and ask them to order in some copies.

Hugo Hamilton and Pat McCabe in Conversation

Last night at the County Hall in Dunlaoghaire, these two appeared as part of the on-going DLR Book Festival.  Hugo Hamilton is author of 'The Speckled People' depicting his somewhat unusual upbringing in Dun Laoghaire.  Pat McCabe is author of 'The Butcher Boy', an extraordinary journey into a disturbed mind and the cartoon-like characters in an Irish village in the 1950's.  This was a very enjoyable evening - Pat McCabe read from his just released new novel 'The Stray Sod'.  He has the capability of performing each speaker's part, even the voices of the women, in a very entertaining way.  Tonight's big event is the 'Beckett Address' which will be given by Alan Stanford.  I will be attending the 'Leviathan Policital Cabaret' at the same time.  It would be great if someone could report back on the Beckett Address as it is billed as the highlight of the festival.

 Bye for now

Fiona

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Mountains to Sea Book Festival Dun Laoghaire

The festival was officially launched by Terry Prone last night at the County Hall.  It was great to meet up with Katie again, and congratulations to Edwin, Monica, Emer and Fiona, who were all prizewinners of the Prose on the Pier competition.  There were eight winners in all, and their pieces have been published in a free-sheet being distributed throughout the festival, which runs until Sunday 12th. The eight winners will be reading their pieces at the Bandstand Shelter on the East Pier on Saturday at 2pm.

Following the launch last night, there was an event entitled 'DLR Connections', at which four locally resident writers discussed their work and their experience as locals: Denise Deegan, Martina Devlin, Patricia O'Reilly and David McWilliams.  Very enjoyable.  Make sure to check out the website: www.mountainstosea.ie for a full events list. Would be great to meet up with more classmates!
Fiona

Thursday, September 2, 2010

A Pint and a Haircut - True Irish Stories in aid of Haiti

I am pleased to say that pieces by Sabine, Mary and Fiona have been selected to appear in the collection of stories gathered by Garret Pearse which is to be published in October.  For more information visit www.trueirishstories.com.  Will update the blog when a launch date and venue has been finalised.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Fish Publishing International Short Story Contest

Hey, hope everyone is having a great summer:) Just wanted to let you know about this writing contest I heard about. Any theme, maximum 5,000 words and the deadline is November 30th. 3,OOO euro and inclusion in the annual Fish Anthology are great prizes. Here is the link anyhow that tells you more.

http://www.fishpublishing.com/short-story-competition-contest.php

All the best guys..

Monday, August 9, 2010

Facebook

Hi there, are any of you guys on facebook? There are some interesting creative writing pages and I thought it would be a good place to keep in touch :-D Jen

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Prose on the Pier Competition Dunlaoghaire

Competition deadline for this is 16 August.  Visit: www.mountainstosea.ie for more details.

Prose on the Pier: New Writing Competition


PROSE ON THE PIER
NEW WRITING COMPETITION

Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown has been the hatching ground for an incredible spread of literary talent.  The list already includes Maeve Binchy, Samuel Beckett, Colum McCann, Hugh Leonard, Flann O’Brien, Marian Keyes and Joseph O’Connor.  Each of these writers needed a first break, something to give them confidence, something to get them noticed.  In September the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival, aims to highlight new literary voices from this unique literary landscape with its exciting venture, PROSE ON THE PIER.
PROSE ON THE PIER is an open submission competition the winners of which will take part in a Showcase Reading, planned for 2pm, Saturday, September 11th, on the newly renovated East Pier sun shelter.
The Brief:
Submissions should be a max of 1,500 and must be inspired by the phrase “Mountains to Sea”. 
The Catch:
Submissions are only invited from residents of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown who have not previously published a book.  Submissions of fiction, non-fiction and memoir are all welcome, so long as they have not been previously published in any form.
The winning entrants will not only get to read their work in the Prose on the Pier event, but will also have their submissions published in a Festival Free Sheet, which will be available throughout the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival. Winners also receive a free Festival Pass. 
The Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival runs from September 7th to 12th and will feature acclaimed Irish and international writers.
The judge/event organiser of Prose on the Pier is former Writer-in-Residence for Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, Katie Donovan.  A long-time resident of DLR herself, Donovan is a poet and teaches Creative Writing at IADT Dun Laoghaire.
Submissions should be sent no later than August 16th to Tim Carey, Director, Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Country Council, Town Hall, Dun Laoghaire.
Tim Carey
Mountains to Sea,Festival Director
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council
Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin
01-2054868/tcarey@dlrcoco.ie/www.moun


Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Book recommendation (novel)

I would like to recommend 'The Lacuna' by Barbara Kingsolver.  A great read with an interesting backdrop of Mexican and U.S. history through the forties and fifties, including Trotsky's exile and murder in Mexico, through to McCarthyism and the Hollywood 'Reds under the Bed' paranoia.  It's also 'told' by an aspiring writer, which I found drew me in even more.

Fiona

Friday, June 25, 2010

Grades

Hi all

Just back from a great holiday.  Haven't a clue how to access our grades.  Anyone know how to?
Fiona

Friday, June 18, 2010

Book Festival!

Hey guys,
Just to let you all know that there's a book festival on in Dalkey starting today until Sunday. Our very own fantastic Katie is doing a poetry reading at 3 o'clock tomorrow (Saturday) in Dalkey in "On the Grapevine"! I'll be heading down hopefully anyways so maybe see some of you around!
Sinead

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Irish Times Editorial Internship Scheme

Hi everyone!
Just in case anyone's interested The Irish Times is offering 12-month internships starting in September. (The deadline to apply is June 11th.) If you go onto their website and search "editorial internship" you can find the application form. You have to submit two journalism-related pieces with your application. So obviously we all already have one. I'm trying to think of an idea for another piece to write but I haven't thought of anything so far - If anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate it! I'll be at the book launch tomorrow night so I presume I'll see some of you there!!
Sinead

Hughes & Hughes

Good news for readers in Dun Laoghaire.  I was in Hughes & Hughes store at the Pavilion on Marine Road this morning and the shelves are being re-stocked with Easons books and will re-open for business shortly.  It was very heartening to see, after months of passing empty bookshelves on the way up to the coffee shop  I understand from news reports that the remaining closed Hughes and Hughes branches are to re-open and many of the original staff will be getting their jobs back.
Fiona

Monday, May 31, 2010

Grades

Please see email on Blackboard from Katie.  Grades available from June 9th.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Holidays

Hi all

Just to let you know I will be away for a couple of weeks.

Still thinking of dropping in to the Listowel writers week.  Anyone else heading down to it?

Fiona

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

True Irish Stories - Book Title request

See www.trueirishstories.com - Garrett Pearse is looking for a title for the book for Haiti.  Anyone with ideas should email him.
Fiona

Friday, May 14, 2010

Course Notes 'expiration' 30 May

All
Please note that the IADT Course notes will be removed from view on this blog on 30 May.  If you have not already done so, please download them to your p.c.  As Katie has quite rightly pointed out, the notes are her own work and for the benefit of the class only. 

Cheers
Fiona

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Name change

Hi just to let you know that my signin name has changed from Dittany to Early Bird.  This is the result of my messing about with settings too much..... anyway, it could be worse ......like Fifi!


 Fiona

in at last

Hello all
getting started took me a while
did anyone have the same problems.

paul

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Course notes

Hi all
I have put up the IADT course notes in a blog for each genre. This way they will be available to us after our access to Blackboard expires. Any other suggestions?
Fiona

IADT Course Notes - Getting Published

Going Public - notes have been removed, please go to Blackboard on IADT site

IADT Course Notes - The Novel

The Novel - notes have been removed, please go to Blackboard on IADT site.

IADT Course Notes - Poetry

Poetry - notes have been removed, please go to Blackboard on IADT site.

IADT Course Notes - Short Fiction

Short Fiction - notes have been removed, please go to Blackboard on IADT site.

IADT Course Notes - Journalism

Writing Feature Articles - notes have been removed, please go to Blackboard on IADT site.

IADT Course Notes - Memoir

Memoir - notes have been removed, please go to Blackboard on IADT site.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

A Personal Choice: The Stories of Mary Lavin

Thursday 20 May at 1pm in the National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street.

At this event, the stories of Mary Lavin will be read by Nuala Hayes, Doireann Ní Bhriain and Elizabeth Peavoy.

This event is taking place in conjunction with the Bealtaine Festival. Admission is free and all are welcome.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Saturday, April 24, 2010

New blog

Well done on the blog. Unfortunately I'm very busy in work these times so may not get on as often as I should, the winter months suit me better. Will do my best to stay in touch. Happy writing all. Denis

Friday, April 23, 2010

Original Writers event Sat 24th April - posted by Hugh

HI Folks great work to get this up and running well done.There is an origional writing gig on in dublin this sat i plan to go.Its on in georges st ORIGIONAL WRITING is behind it.I am not great at doing these blogs so please excuse the hamfisted attempt.For anyone that is having any doubts about your own ability a book i found excellent was SOLVED by Geoffrey J Canavan,chat soon HUGH LEDDY.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Favourites List

Anyone got favourite books, authors etc? I think I can make a list of favourites. Still learning..

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Creative Writing Group Blog

This is a test for the new Dun Laoghaire Scribes blog