2017 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year WINNERS

The winner in the Fiction category, and 2017 Over The Edge New Writer of the Year, is Micheál Ó'Síocháin from Cork for his story 'A day in the life of Frankie Bones and Little Maneen'.

Micheál Ó'Síocháin

Micheál receives €700 in prize money, a hamper of books from Kenny's Bookshop, Galway, and will be a Featured Reader at an Over The Edge: Open Reading in the first half of 2018. Doire Press will read, without prior commitment to publish, a collection of short stories submitted to them by Micheál. 

The runner-up in the Fiction category is Richard Newton - Hampshire, UK for his story 'Loose Ends'.

In third place is Kathryn Burke, Dublin for her story 'A Legacy Issue'.


Highly commended in the fiction section are Paula Conway - East Sussex, UK for her story 'Chalk Man'; Niall Bourke, London, UK for his story 'The Hands of The Andes' & Niamh MacCabe, Leitrim for her story 'Steer The Dark Skies Blue'.


The winner in the Poetry category is Caroline Am Bergris, London, UK for her poem 'Graceland'.

Caroline receives prize money of €300 and Salmon Poetry will now read, without prior commitment to publish, a collection of poems submitted to them by Caroline. Caroline will also read her work at an Over The Edge event during 2018. 

The runner-up in the poetry section is Emily Vieweg - Fargo, North Dakota, USA, for her poem 'Bipolar is...'

In third place is Evan Costigan, Kildare for his poem 'Simplex No. 15,604'.

Highly commended in the poetry section are Connie Masterson, County Galway for her poem 'Unholy'; Sighle Meehan, Galway for her poem 'Autumn'; &  Anne Walsh Donnelly, Mayo for her poem 'Odd as Fuck'.

Nicki Griffin

Judge’s comments from Nicki Griffin: 

"In the end 'graceland' came first [in the poetry section], very closely over 'Bipolar is…', because of its careful, clever, original use of language, painting an extraordinary picture of a housing estate and its residents of which the narrator is one. The situations within the poem are often desperate, yet the poem is not gloomy. This is in no way a humorous poem, yet there is a hint of an underlying humour in the descriptions of place and people, a recognition of the strength and resilience of those living in often appalling circumstances.

In the fiction section: every word in 'A day in the life of Frankie Bones and Little Maneen' counts. The characters are utterly believable, brought to life through telling detail. The story is not new, but the writing is fresh with layers of complexity illustrating an impossible dilemma for the narrator. There's a lot of dialogue in this story, written in readable dialect, which is not easy to get right, and each character has a clear, unique voice.

The overall winner was really difficult to pick. But it's 'Frankie Bones and Little Maneen'."

The shortlist from which the winners were chosen is available here. 

Over The Edge would like to thank Charlie Byrne's Bookshop, Kenny's Bookshop & Gallery, Dock No. 1 Bar & Restaurant, Ward's Hotel, Senator Trevor Ó'Clochairtaigh, and Clare Daly T.D. for sponsoring our competition this year. 

October Over The Edge: Open Reading with Angela Nagle, Fiona Neary, & Jonathan Sugarman PLUS announcement of winners of 2017 Over The Edge New Writer of the Year

The October ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, October 26th, 6.30-8.00pm. This is Over The Edge’s annual non-fiction special, at which all of the Featured Readers are writers of non-fiction; however poets and fiction writers are still welcome at the open-mic. The Featured Readers are Jonathan Sugarman,  Fiona Neary, & Angela Nagle. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished.  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 Nicki Griffin. The shortlist can be read here.

Angela Nagle is a writer for The Irish Times, Jacobin, Current Affairs magazine, and The Baffler. Her first book Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars From 4chan and Tumblr to Trump and the Alt-Right is published by Zero Books. Jacobin Magazine has said of her “Unlike much of the Left who've grown far too accustomed to marginalization and defeat, Nagle still believes in politics as the only way of changing an increasingly brutal world.” Reviewing Kill All Normies in The Stinging Fly Rob Doyle said “Angela Nagle strikes me as an uncommonly sane voice in a culture war defined by astounding cruelty, extremism and intolerance. Kill All Normies is as absorbing as it is important. I hope everyone reads it.”

Fiona Neary

Fiona Neary started doing creative writing classes at Galway Arts Centre in 2016, is no relation to Bishop Neary and absolutely, unequivocally, utterly no relation to Patrick Neary. She is a former Executive Director of the Rape Crisis Network Ireland and is currently working on a memoir.

Jonathan Sugarman

Jonathan Sugarman is a former executive at Unicredit Bank Ireland in Dublin’s IFSC who resigned in September 2007 after giving a detailed account of enormous liquidity breaches at his bank a year before the financial crash. Mr Sugarman, whose warning were ignored by the Central Bank, launched his book The Whistleblower, published with the help of Luke Flanagan MEP, last December.

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. 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.