Barry Houlihan looks at some upcoming competitions and events for short story writers

In his 1997 introduction to the Fish anthology of new short stories, the author Joseph O’Connor described the art and craft of short story writing:

“A good short story is almost always about a moment of profound realization. Or a hint of that. A quiet bomb. There is a record by the American singer Tori Amos called Little Earthquakes. That’s a good metaphor for a short story. Often, a good short story will be a little earthquake.”

It is these very tremors of truth that make the short story such a wonderful and rewarding form for both writers and readers. Over the last number of years the Irish short story has gone through a major revitalisation with anthologies, stories and individual volumes of real greatness from the likes of Anne Enright, Claire Keegan, Kevin Barry, Eìlìs Nì Dhuibhne, Philip O’Ceallaigh and many others.

At last year’s Cùirt Festival of Literature in Galway, a really insightful panel discussion chaired by Anne Enright at the Town Hall Theatre really got to grips with why exactly the short story has such a rich and powerful tradition in Ireland and offers thoughts on why now again it is proving so popular and ever as powerful. (Coverage of that event here)

Currently there are some really exciting opportunities for new writers to submit their short stories in national competitions. One such of these is being run by the Linen Hall Library in Belfast. Open to writers born in the South as well as the North of Ireland, the Michael McLaverty Short Story Competition was launched in 2006 and runs biennially. First prize is £2,000 and the winning writer will have their work published by the Linen Hall Library. Confirmed adjudicators will be Anne Tannahill, freelance editor and former MD of Blackstaff Press, and Irish novelist Jennifer Johnston.

Closing date is midnight Friday 29 June 2012 and further details can be seen here:

http://www.linenhall.com/displayNewsRecord.asp?ID=150

The Mitchelstown Literary Society has also recently announced the launch of the second William Trevor / Elizabeth Bowen International Short Story Competition.

The Society was founded to celebrate the lives and works of two of Ireland's literary greats with Mitchelstown connections. The top prize is sponsored by William Trevor himself, who was born in the north Cork town of Mitchelstown. Adjudicators are both well-known short story writers and book reviewers. A short list of approximately 25 stories will be drawn up for final adjudication by the panel of judges, which includes Ita Daly as main adjudicator. There is entry fee of €20.00 per entry and the closing date for receipt of entries is last post on Friday, 30th March 2012.

Entries, by post only, to: Trevor/Bowen International Short Story Competition, 37 Upper Cork Street, Mitchelstown, Co. Cork.

Further details can be seen here

It really is a busy time for short-story writers but given the quality of what we have read by Irish short-story writers of late, it is worth the effort. As Joseph O’Conner added:

“The short story is one of the greatest, most challenging, most infuriating forms of literature. They look so easy! That’s the thing about really good short stories. They don’t read like they were written. They read like they simply grew on the page”

Best of luck to all entrants!