Shortlists, Long Lists and To do lists

My cousin Caroline in Rossnowlagh Oct 28th by my Aunty Marie 

I love October, I love autumn air, its colour and autumn clothes, back to school routine is established, I know the names and a fair bit about the students sitting in front of me and they have got their heads around their English teacher’s penchant for turning rainy day classes and days when half the class is at a match into impromptu creative writing lessons. It’s a busy month but I always feel I’m making progress in October after the go slow of August and the disorientation of back to school.

This October I've had the added satisfaction of seeing my name on the shortlist and then my Shelter placed third in the Bailieborough Poetry Festival Competition as well as seeing another poem and a flash fiction make it on to the longlists of the Allingham Festival competitions. 

North West Words on Halloween Night

North West Words Arts Night is on Friday this week, 31st October at 8pm in Cafe Blend.

Martine Madden was born in Limerick, educated in Dublin and spent her early married life working in the Middle East. From some of the Armenian Diaspora there, she learned of the Armenian Genocide which took place in the Ottoman Empire or modern-day Turkey, in 1915. A much later discovery of the photographs of German officer, Armin Wegner, prompted Martine to write about the Genocide and her novel, Anyush, was published by Brandon in May 2014.

Michael Wilson’s has been writing and performing poetry for ten years and has been published in various formats, from magazines and anthologies, to collections of his own work and CDs. He is a graduate of the Islington Mill Art Academy, a group of self-directed artists who ran residencies in various locations including Glasgow, the Lake District, and Berlin. He has just released a new CD of his poems called All Life’s Settler’s Come at Dawn, and his performance at North West Words is part of a month long Irish tour to launch the record. He has also been asked, as previous winner of the Cheltenham Literature Festival UK All Stars Slam to compete in their final slam this Autumn, as a wildcard chosen from over a decade of the long running slam’s past winners.

On the same night at 7pm is the prize award ceremony for the NWW 2014 Schools Poetry Competition.

And, don't forget that the NWW adult poetry competition is currently open for entries. The deadline is 14th November 2014, and the judge is Kate Newman from Summer Palace Press. For more details see here 

Donegal Creameries North West Words Poetry Prize 2014

This is the third year of the annual poetry prize from North West Words. They are seeking submissions of poetry both nationally and internationally. The judge, as in previous years, is the poet and Summer Palace Press co-founder, Kate Newman. Full details are available from the NWW website

The deadline for submissions is 14th November 2014, and entries must not have been previously published or have won a competition. There is an entry fee of €5 for a maximum of 3 poems, and submission must be by post. The address for entries is North West Words Poetry Prize 2014, 54, Thornberry, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. First prize is €250 and a perpetual cup. 

Good luck to anyone entering - I might be lucky enough to hear you read the winning poem at NWW Arts Night in January 2015.