This year's competition judge John Corless
Major Sponsor: Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop,
http://www.charliebyrne.com/
http://www.charliebyrne.com/
other sponsors to date:
Derek Nolan T.D.
http://www.labour.ie/dereknolan/
Senator Lorraine Higgins
http://www.lorrainehiggins.com/
Derek Nolan T.D.
http://www.labour.ie/dereknolan/
Senator Lorraine Higgins
http://www.lorrainehiggins.com/
Ward's Hotel, Salthill
ISupply, Quay Street,
The Creole Restaurant, Dominick Street
& Trevor Sherlock
IMPORTANT UPDATE : WRITERS WHO LIVE OUTSIDE THE EURO ZONE AREA
CAN PAY THE ENTRY FEE BY SENDING US A CHEQUE [payable to Over The Edge]
FOR THE EQUIVALENT AMOUNT IN THEIR COUNTRY'S CURRENCY
i.e. U.S. Dollars, Sterling, Australian Dollars, Swiss Francs, Indian Rupee etc
You can calculate the amount by using the currency converter here http://www.xe.com/ucc/
In 2012 Over The Edge is continuing its exciting annual creative writing competition. The competition is open to both poets and fiction writers. The total prize money is €1,000. The best fiction entry will win €300. The best poetry entry will win €300. One of these will then be chosen as the overall winner and will receive an additional €400, giving the overall winner total prize money of €700 and the title Over The Edge New Writer of The Year 2012. The 2012 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year will be a Featured Reader at an Over The Edge: Open Reading to be scheduled in Galway City Library in Winter 2012/13. Salmon Poetry will read, without commitment to publish, a manuscript submitted to them by the winner in the poetry category. Doire Press will read, without commitment to publish a collection of short stories submitted to them by the winner in the fiction category. The winning poems and the winning story will both be published in a special Over The Edge Tenth Birthday anthology which will be published during 2013.
Entries should be sent to Over The Edge, New Writer of the Year competition, 3 Carbry Road, Newcastle, Galway, Ireland with an accompanying SAE. Entries will be judged anonymously, so do not put your name on your poem(s) or story. Put your contact details on a separate sheet.
Criteria: fiction of up to three thousand words, three poems of up to forty lines, or one poem of up to one hundred lines. Multiple entries are acceptable but each must be accompanied by a fee. The fee for one entry is €10. The fee for multiple entries is €7.50 per entry e.g. two entries will cost €15, three entries €22.50 and so on. Fee payable by cheque or money order to Over The Edge. To take part you must be at least sixteen years old by September 1st 2012 and not have a book published or accepted for publication in the genre in which you enter. Chapbooks excepted. Entries must not have been previously published or be currently entered in any other competition. The competition is open to writers worldwide.
The closing date is Wednesday, August 8th, 2012. A longlist will be announced at a special event in Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop at 6.30pm on Friday, August 24th, 2012. A shortlist will be announced at the Over The Edge: Open Reading in Galway City Library on Thursday, August 30th, 2012. The winners will be announced at the Over The Edge reading in Galway City Library on Thursday, September 27th, 2012.
This year’s competition judge is John Corless. John Corless lives near Claremorris, in County Mayo, and is a vastly experienced creative writing tutor. He has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Lancaster and is currently researching a PhD. Many satisfied students have taken John’s creative writing courses at GMIT Castlebar, over the past number of years. Some have gone on to win prizes and had their work published. John has also facilitated workshops with active retired groups in Ballindine and Ballinrobe also in County Mayo – both groups launching anthologies of their work. John has facilitated workshops as part of the Luisne project, and has mentored students in the UK, USA and Uganda. He has also given workshops at a number of festivals and summer schools and has worked in national and secondary schools, facilitating both creative writing and drama workshops. He has performed his work all over the country, including at the Electric Picnic, the Force 12 Festival, The Munster Literary Festival, Over The Edge, and The Whitehouse Poetry Revival. He regularly features on RTE and local radio stations. He writes poetry, drama and fiction. His work has been published internationally and he has won many prizes for his writing. John’s debut poetry collection, Are you ready? (Salmon Poetry) was published in 2009 and has sold out two print runs making it a poetry best seller. John’s poetry is a mix of political and satirical; one critic described it as Paul Durcan meets The Sawdoctors. Another said: "... he shines the tell tale torchlight of his killer wit into all the most embarrassing areas of contemporary Irish life. No-one is safe..."
N.B. ENTRIES POSTMARKED AUGUST 8TH
WILL BE ACCEPTEDFor further details contact Over The Edge on 087-6431748,
or e-mail over-the-edge-openreadings@hotmail.com
