Eleventh Annual Cúirt Over The Edge New Writers' Showcase Reading

Since its inception in 2006 the New Writing Showcase has grown to become one of the most important platforms for emerging writers in Ireland. This year’s Cúirt Over The Edge New Writing Showcase features three participants from the Over the Edge literary series in Galway – Aoife Reilly, Erin Fornoff, & Michelle Coyne – Kathryn Guille, the winner of the Cúirt New Writing Poetry Prize 2016 and John O’Donnell, the winner of the 2016 Cúirt New Writing Fiction Prize. The MC for the event will be regular Over The Edge host Susan Millar DuMars. It takes place on Wednesday, April 20^th, 3pm, at The Town Hall Theatre. Entry is free of charge. All welcome.

Michelle Coyne, Erin Fornoff, & Aoife Reilly

Michelle Coyne lives in Galway with her husband and two small boys, and works with computer software. Michelle has had short stories published in Ropes, Crannóg, wordlegs and Silver Apples, and was Long listed for the 2014 Over the Edge New Writer of the Year Award. Her story ‘The Sniper’ came third in the 2015 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition. Michelle was a Featured Reader at the January 2015 Over The Edge: Open Reading.

Aoife Reilly is originally from Laois, but has been living in Galway since 2012. She works as a psychotherapist and teacher and has been attending Kevin Higgins’s poetry workshops at Galway Arts Centre since Autumn 2013. Aoife’s poetry has been published in Crannóg, Skylight 47, on the Poethead website, and in a wide variety of other poetry magazines recently. Aoife was a Featured Reader at the August 2015 Over The Edge: Open Reading.

Appalachian born, Dublin-based poet Erin Fornoff has performed her poetry at Glastonbury, Electric Picnic, and dozens of other festivals and events across the UK and Ireland. She has been published in The Stinging Fly, Skylight 47, New Planet Cabaret, Cyphers, and many others. In 2014 she was selected for the 2014 Poetry Ireland Introductions Series and became Artistic Director for Lingo, Ireland's first ever spoken word festival. She is also working on a novel. Erin was a Featured Reader at the February 2015 Over The Edge: Open Reading.

Kathryn Guille

Kathryn Guille is an American writer and choreographer living in Limerick City. Her screenplay, Enemy of the Freak State, has won the David Dortort Prize for Screenwriting, and her play, Venla and Henry has won the Alice Stark Award for Playwriting. Kathryn is a founding member of the New York Time’s acclaimed Ateh Theatre Group. She was an Off-Broadway and regional fight director and actress for over ten years before moving to Ireland. Kathryn holds a BFA from NYU’s TISCH School of the Arts, and an MFA in Creative Writing from The City College of New York. Kathryn is the winner of the 2016 Cúirt New Writing Poetry Prize. 

John O'Donnell

John O’Donnell’s work has been published and broadcast widely. Awards include the Irish National Poetry Prize, the Ireland Funds Prize and the Hennessy Award for Poetry in 1998. His fiction has been published in the Sunday Tribune, the Sunday Independent, The Stinging Fly, and online in Books Ireland and the Irish Times. Promise, his first short story, was published in 2011 and was broadcast on RTE’s The Book On One. In 2013 his story Shelley won the Hennessy Award for Emerging Fiction. He lives and works in Dublin. John is the winner of the 2016 Cúirt New Writing Fiction Prize.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing financial support of The Arts Council, Galway City Council, and Poetry Ireland, and our ongoing partnership with the Cúirt Festival of International Literature.

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.

January Over The Edge: Open Reading with Paula Cunningham, Michelle Coyne, & Liz Quirke

The January ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, January 22^nd, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Liz Quirke, Michelle Coyne, & Paula Cunningham. This reading marks the twelfth anniversary of the first Over The Edge reading in Galway City Library. 

Paula Cunningham was born in Omagh and lives in Belfast where she works as a dentist. Her chapbook A Dog called Chance was a winner in The Poetry Business Competition in 1999.   She has also written drama and short fiction.  Her first full-length poetry collection Heimlich's Manoeuvre, Smith/Doorstop 2013, was shortlisted for the Fenton-Aldeburgh, Seamus Heaney Centre, and Strong Shine First Collection Prizes.

Michelle Coyne has been writing intermittently since she learned to pick up a pencil, but began in earnest in January 2012. She lives in Galway with her husband and two small boys, and works with computer software for pay during the week, the commute providing ample time for working out sticky plot points. Last year, after the birth of her second son, Michelle enrolled in Susan’s intermediate writing class, and is currently taking the advanced class to help hammer her debut novel into shape.  Michelle has had short stories published in Ropes, Crannóg, wordlegs and Silver Apples, and was Long listed for the 2014 Over the Edge New Writer of the Year Award.

Liz Quirke lives in Spiddal, Co Galway with her partner and daughter. Her poems have been published in Southword, The Stony Thursday Book, The Galway Review, Boyne Berries, Revival Literary Journal, Skylight 47 and The Poetry Bus. She has been both shortlisted and longlisted in the Over The Edge New Writer of the Year Competition in 2012 and 2014 respectively. She won the 2012 Edmund Spenser Poetry Competition at the Doneraile Literary and Arts Festival. One of her poems was nominated for consideration for the 2014 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem.

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, Poetry Ireland, & The Arts Council.