2015 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year THE WINNERS!

The winner in the fiction category and 2015 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year is Paul Duffy from Wicklow for his short story 'Redolence'. Paul receives a cash prize of €700 and his short story manuscript will be read by Doire Press. Paul will be a Featured Reader at an Over The Edge: Open Reading during the first half of 2016. Paul also receives a basket of books from Kenny’s Bookshop.

The poetry winner is Bennett McNiff from Drogheda, for his poem 'Stavrogin in Iceland'. Bennett receives a cash prize of €300; his poetry manuscript will be read by Salmon Poetry.

Runners up and highly commended in Poetry:

2^nd place: Rachel Coventry from Galway for ‘What Did I Do To Deserve You’

3^rd place: Paul McCarrick from Athlone for ‘Thanks to the Internet’.

Runners up and highly commended in Fiction:

2^nd place: Dermot Duffy from Dublin for ‘Luke Kelly’s Bones’.

3^rd place: Michelle Coyne from Galway for ‘The Sniper’

You can read the shortlist here.

We thank our judge Dave Lordan and our sponsors: Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop; Dock No, 1, ISupply Quay Street; Ward’s Hotel; Derek  Nolan TD; Clare Daly TD; and Kenny’s Bookshop & Gallery.

2015 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year SHORTLIST!

FICTION

Michelle Coyne

Paul Duffy

Selina Oram

Aidan Hynes

Lauren Foley

Chris Connolly

Niall Bourke

Dermot Duffy

Adam Trodd

Brian Leeson

Mark Stevenson Curry

Paul Anthony Corbett

Maeve Galvin 

POETRY

Breda Spaight

Niall Bourke

Jessamine O’Connor

Stephen De Burca

Majella Kelly

Rachel Coventry

Wilma Kenny

Paul McCarrick

Jayne Brogan

Lisa Allen

Bennet McNiff

Bernie Ashe

We would like to thank our competition sponsors: 

Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop,  

Dock No. 1, ISupply Flood Street, Ward’s Hotel, 

Clare Daly TD,  Kenny’s Bookshop 

& Derek Nolan TD

We also thank our competition judge Dave Lordan 

for his ongoing work on the competition. 

THE WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED

@ the October Over The Edge: Open Reading

in Galway City Library,

 Thursday October 29^th 

The longlist can be viewed here.  

October Over The Edge: Open Reading with Kitty Holland, & Mike Gibbons PLUS the announcement of the winners of the 2015 Over The Edge New Writer of the Year

The October ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, October 29th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Mike Gibbons,  & Kitty Holland. This is a special Over The Edge event in that both featured writers primarily write non-fiction. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished.  This month’s open-mic will showcase, among others, some of the poetry students from this year’s MA in Writing at NUI Galway.  The evening will also see the announcement of the winners in this year’s Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition, which received a large number of entries again this year. This year’s competition judge is Dave Lordan. The shortlist can be read here.

Kitty Holland

Kitty Holland is social affairs correspondent of The Irish Times. She has reported widely on such issues as homelessness, drug addiction, poverty, women’s rights, Travellers, immigrants’ rights, asylum seekers, domestic violence and gay, lesbian and transgender rights. In November 2012 she broke the story on the death of Savita Halappanavar, on October 28th 2012, at Galway University Hospital. She has been with The Irish Times since 1998, and has won a number of awards for her work including Journalist of the Year in 2013. She studied History and Politics at Trinity College, Dublin, and completed a Masters in Journalism in Dublin City University. She lives in Dublin with her two children. She is the author of Savita: The Tragedy That Shook A Nation (Transworld Ireland, 2013). 

Mike Gibbons lives in Galway and is the author of Survivor. It was the heyday of the Celtic Tiger. Money was no problem and three successful young businessmen, Damian, Mark and Michael, chartered a helicopter to travel from their homes in Galway to the Tall Ships race in Waterford in July 2005. But on their way back to the west the pilot lost his way because of fog and the helicopter crashed in a forested area on the northern slopes of Slieve Aughty.  Against all the odds one man survived the impact. The injuries to Michael Gibbons’s head, limbs and body were horrific and he will never completely recover, but he did survive.  In Survivor Mike tells his story.

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. This month’s open-mic will feature, among others, some of the poetry students from the MA in Writing at NUI Galway.  New readers are always especially welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council, Poetry Ireland, &The Arts Council.