Ninth Annual Over The Edge Fiction Slam with Karl Parkinson

After the event’s huge success in the past eight years, Over The Edge presents its ninth annual fiction slam with Featured Reader, Karl Parkinson, at The Kitchen @ The Museum, Spanish Arch, Galway on Friday, October 13^th, 8pm.

Karl Parkinson

In 2016, New Binary Press published Karl Parkinson's debut novel, The Blocks, inspired by the author's childhood in a troubled part of inner-city Dublin. Parkinson grew up in O'Devaney Gardens, described as "one of Dublin’s most troubled and dilapidated complexes". The novel received considerable critical acclaim in Ireland. Aiden O'Reilly writes in The Irish Times that "Parkinson has set himself up unashamedly and without irony as a singer of the human soul in its contrary states of degradation and exaltation". Karl Parkinson has also published two collections of poetry, Litany of the City (Wurmpress 2013) and Butterflies of a Bad Summer (Salmon Poetry 2016). He has a regular literary column in the online publication The Dublin Inquirer.

The first twelve fiction writers to make it to The Kitchen @ The Museum on the evening of Friday, October 13^th and register will be guaranteed a place in the slam. If you want to be sure of a place, get there early! All participating writers should bring two pieces of their own fiction, as there are two rounds. The time limit in both rounds is five minutes. Extracts from longer stories are admissible. Stories do not have to be memorised. The Fiction Slam will be judged by a three person jury made up of two audience members and Karl Parkinson. Three writers will go through to the second round and the prize for the winner is a bottle of excellent red wine.

There is no entrance fee. All welcome. For further information contact 087-6431748. 

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

Over The Edge Culture Night Open-Mic at Kenny’s

Over The Edge is holding two special Culture Night open-mics - one for fiction writers, the other for poets - with prizes for the best readers, at Kennys Bookshop and Gallery in Liosbán Retail Park on Friday, September 16th.

The open-mic for fiction writers starts at 4pm. Participants should bring along two pages of a story to read. The reading will include guest appearances from Elizabeth Reapy, and Karl Parkinson, both of whom will be reading from their recently published novels. 
 

The open-mic for poets starts at 6pm. Participants poets should bring along two poems to read. The reading will include guest appearances from poets Simon Lewis, who will be reading from his recently published poetry collection, and Dani Gill, who will be reading from her first collection-in-progress ‘After Love’. 

The evening will be MC'd by Kevin Higgins and both open-mics will feature reading from their long-listed stories and poems by some of the writers on the long list for the 2016 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition, for which Kenny’s is one of the sponsors.

This reading is open to all. If you have a poem or story you want to share, come along.

IMPORTANT UPDATE for everyone who entered 2016 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year

Over The Edge is holding two special Culture Night open-mics - one for fiction writers, the other for poets - with prizes for the best readers, at Kennys Bookshop and Gallery in Liosbán Retail Park on Friday, September 16th.

The open-mic for fiction writers starts at 4pm. Participants should bring along two pages of a story to read. The reading will include guest appearances from Elizabeth Reapy, and Karl Parkinson, both of whom will be reading from their recently published novels.

The open-mic for poets starts at 6pm. Participants poets should bring along two poems to read. The reading will include guest appearances from poets Simon Lewis, who will be reading from his recently published poetry collection, and Dani Gill, who will be reading from her first collection-in-progress ‘After Love’.

The evening will be MC'd by Kevin Higgins and both open-mics will feature reading from their long-listed stories and poems by some of the writers on the long list for the 2016 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition, for which Kenny’s is one of the sponsors.

All long-listed writers, who can make it to Kenny’s on the day, are invited to come and read.

The long-list will be announced at this Thursday's Over The Edge: Open Reading in Galway City Library. (6.30-8pm).

March Over The Edge Writers' Gathering featuring Brian Kirk, Liz Quirke, Rachel Coventry, & Bogman's Cannon showcase

The March Over The Edge Writers’ Gathering presents an exciting variety of poetry by Liz Quirke, and Rachel Coventry; a reading from his recently published novel by Brian Kirk; and a special Bogman’s Cannon showcase by which will included a discussion about the work of The Bogman’s Cannon, Ireland’s leading alternative literature website, which will feature Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Karl Parkinson, & Dave Lordan The event will take place at The Kitchen @ The Museum, Spanish Arch, Galway on Friday, March 11^th, 8pm. All are welcome. There is no cover charge.

Liz Quirke is 31. She is originally from Tralee, Co Kerry and lives in Spiddal, Co Galway with her wife and daughter. Her poetry has appeared in New Irish Writing in the The Irish Times, The Best New British And Irish Poets 2016 published by Eyewear Publishing, Southword, Crannóg, Revival Literary Journal, The Stony Thursday Book, The Ofi Press and other publications. She won the 2015 Poems for Patience Competition and was shortlisted for the 2015 Cúirt New Writing Prize. She is currently working towards her first collection.

Rachel Coventry lives in Galway. Her poetry has appeared in various journals including The SHop, Stony Thursday Book, Cyphers, Crannóg, Boyne Berries, and Skylight 47. She was selected for the 2014 Poetry Ireland Introductions Series  and she is currently writing a PhD on Heidegger’s poetics at NUIG.

Brian Kirk is an award-wining poet and short story writer from Clondalkin in Dublin. He won the Jonathan Swift Creative Writing Award for Poetry in 2014, the Bailieborough Poetry Prize 2015 and The Creative Flow Poet of the Year Award 2015 at Dundalk FM. He was selected for the Poetry Ireland Introductions series in 2013, and was highly commended in the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award in 2014 and 2015. His poetry and stories have appeared in journals and anthologies in Ireland, the UK, Germany, India and USA. His poetry film Red Line Haiku was screened at The Civic Theatre in Tallaght as part of the Red Line Book Festival in October 2015 and can be viewed on Youtube. His novel, The Rising Son, is his first foray into literature for a younger audience.

Annemarie Ní Churreáin is a poet, originally from Donegal, now based in Dublin and she is the Diversity Editor of The Bogman’s Cannon.

Annemarie Ní Churreáin

Karl Parkinson is a poet and fiction writer from Dublin. He is a Facilitating Editor of The Bogman’s Cannon.

Dave Lordan is a poet and fiction writer, originally from West Cork now based in Wicklow, and is Founding Editor of The Bogman’s Cannon. 

For further information contact 087-6431748.

All Welcome. No cover charge.
 Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing financial support of the Arts Council, Poetry Ireland, and Galway City Council. 

Deborah Watkins, Karl Parkinson, June Caldwell & Eileen Sheehan for Final Over The Edge: Open Reading of 2013 PLUS End of year celebration afterwards

The December ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, December 19^th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Eileen Sheehan, June Caldwell, Karl Parkinson & Deborah Watkins. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are especially welcome. The Over The Edge Christmas celebration will take place afterwards. 

Deborah Watkins is a newcomer to the Galway writing scene although she has worked in the visual arts for over twenty years. Deborah began writing a blog about her painting work in 2012 (www.deborahwatkinspaintings.com) and was a finalist in the 2012 Irish Blog Awards. She joined a creative writing class in early 2013 and currently attends a poetry workshop in Galway, facilitated by poet and essayist Kevin Higgins. Her poem ‘Missing’ has recently been accepted for publication by the Galway poetry newspaper Skylight 47.

Karl Parkinson’s debut collection of poetry Litany of The City and Other Poems was published in 2013 by Wurmpress. His work has been published in The New planet Cabaret Anthology of new Irish writing, The Stinging Fly, Penduline, The Poetry Bus, Revival and more. His work has also been broadcast on RTE’s Arena Arts show a number of Times. He is an acclaimed performer of his work and has Performed by invitation and Events and festivals in Ireland, England, Scotland, the USA and Canada .He is one half of the spoken word duo Droppin The Act(with Dave Lordan).  He won a Balcony TV award for one of his video poems. He is the spoken word editor of Colony.ie.  

June Caldwell worked for 13 years as a freelance journalist for the UK & Irish press. She has been shortlisted for the RTÉ Guide/Penguin Short Story Competition. In 2010 she received an Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) bursary for fiction. Her work has been showcased at the Italo-Irish Literature Exchange in Nogarole Rocca / Verona (May 2012), Read For The World (June 2012) & Bloomnibus at the Irish Writers' Centre (June 2013) and at Galway Pro Choice in association with Over The Edge (August 2013). A self confessed addict of short stories, June is currently working on a collection of stories themed around 'the city', and a novel set in the Blitz in Coventry and in 1980s Dublin. She'll be reading the prologue to the book Domestic Blitz  at Over The Edge.

Eileen Sheehan is from Killarney, Co Kerry. Her collections are Song of the Midnight Fox and Down the Sunlit Hall (Doghouse Books). Anthology publications include The Watchful Heart: A New Generation of Irish Poets (ed Joan McBreen/Salmon Poetry) and TEXT: A Transition Year English Reader (ed Niall MacMonagle/ Celtic Press). She has worked as Poet in Residence with Limerick Co Council Arts Office and is on the organizing committee for Éigse Michael Hartnett Literary & Arts Festival. Her third collection, The Narrow Place of Souls, is forthcoming.

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always most 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 & The Arts Council.