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

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

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.

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..

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

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