2014 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year: THE WINNERS

The fiction winner is Rachael Hegarty from Dublin for her short story 'Betty'. Rachael receives a cash prize of €300 and her short story manuscript will be read by Doire Press.

The poetry winner and 2014 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year is Ruth Quinlan, Galway for her poems 'The Passing', 'Home for the Holidays', and 'Painted Lady'. Ruth receives a cash prize of €700; her poetry manuscript will be read by Salmon Poetry; and she will be a Featured Reader at an Over The Edge: Open Reading during the first half of 2015. Ruth also receives a basket of books from Kenny’s Bookshop.

Highly commended in Poetry:

Maurice Devitt for ‘The Man at the Shop’

Victoria Kennefick for ‘Shanagarry’, ‘Lighthouse’, & ‘Writer's Retreat’

Angela Carr for ‘Bone Yard’, ‘CAT Scan’, ‘July, a Storm’  

Highly commended in Fiction:

Rory Duffy for ‘Young Robbins Don't Have Red Breasts’

Edel Burke for ‘Fractured’

Averil Meehan for ‘Chapter One’

You can read the shortlist here.

We thank our judge Eleanor Hooker and our sponsors: Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop; ISupply Quay Street; Ward’s Hotel; Derek  Nolan TD; Clare Daly TD; and Kenny’s Bookshop & Gallery.

Citation by Judge, Eleanor Hooker

"It was a great honour to be asked to judge the 2014 Over the Edge, New Writer Competition. Thanks to Kevin and Susan for asking me.

Writing is a transformative act; a writer takes a blank page and scratches it with words that illustrate a world peopled by characters her/his reader get to know, come to care about, or even be repulsed by, but whom, if the writer has done her/his job, the reader will continue to wonder about, after the last full stop.

Often, what successful poems, short stories and novels, have in common, is an arresting first line, verse, paragraph. However, once the writer has caught the reader’s attention, it is her/his job to carry it through, to deliver the best story/poem for that piece of writing. All of the entries on the shortlist carried through on their promise.

Writing that comes across as an academic exercise in word arrangement, will cause the reader’s bullshit alarm to sound, and that alarm may means the reader will not follow the writer to their last full stop.

2014 Over the Edge Poetry Winner &  Overall winner – Poetry Ruth Quinlan, Galway. Poems - The passing, Home for the Holidays, Painted Lady
 

The three poems in this submission resonated with me immediately. The surprise is most definitely in the turn of image; whilst the poet’s language works on behalf of the idea. Leaving prosaic noisiness behind, the words, against the natural ego of language, allow themselves to serve.  Strong emotion writes quiet, and in these poems, it hushes, it allows air to ventilate a heavy heart, it allows space between the words, room for the reader to enter, to infer.

That’s what I want from a poem; the words to work associations, ideas, stories in my imagination, not draw me back to the page, to its own cleverness.

From Home for the Holidays (a home and a history, awaiting the return of a family long left, embraces them like the love from a parent)

…to gather

and ignore the chimed appeals

of our half-filled parish church

…then

stamp our feet and huff on fingers in the hallway,

scattering the playful ghosts of childhood selves

We fling open windows and doors,

airing the house in gulping draughts,

allowing it to breathe and break

the fragile seals woven by spiders

jealously squatting in our absense

Painted Lady is about the catastrophe of aging. Sentimentality is a heartless beast; this is not a sentimental poem, it is filled, however, with the relentless heartlessness of time on the Painted Lady.

Her face and hair, once Titianesque

in rosebud curves and auburn curls

have become the illustrations

of a tattered colouring book

2014 Over the Edge fiction winner is Rachael Hegarty, Dublin.

Story Entry - 'Betty'

Betty is an engaging story, and like the telling of history from below, it takes a character that might be as invisible in real life, as they are to most of the other characters in this short story. 

The telling is such that we willingly attach ourselves to Betty as she takes us on her road trip round the 8^th floor of the Central Bank, we want to help her when her trolley snags on the foyer rug (a lovely detail).

A writerly detail that caught my attention, is the movement in the story, there is some summary, (it’s nearly impossible to avoid, though we’re constantly told it should be avoided in a short story), but there is little of what James Woods call an aspic of arrest, Rachel Hegarty has Betty move and act, there is cause and effect.

Writing has a moral obligation, a character should not be debased, or introduced for the advancement of the story, (you may wonder), if they are created, it must be for themselves. I don’t believe Betty is a vehicle for the author’s agenda on class, but as a consequence of writing about Betty, we readers recognize attitudes to class.

I like that Betty is not depicted as a perfect human being, it makes her a perfect character. When she is humiliated, she acts, takes an ultimate and surprising action that absolves us of any pity we might otherwise be compelled to feel for her.

I am certain we will be hearing more of these two writers; I look forward to following their careers.

Highly commended in Poetry:

1. Maurice Devitt – Poem, The Man at the Shop

This poem is mysterious, beautiful, surreal, with echoes for me of Popa, Simic, Helen Ivory. The poet should beware not to become opaque and lose the reader.

2. Victoria Kennefick – Poems, Shanagarry, Lighthouse, Writer's Retreat

Three striking poems, what an astounding line ‘stones/are born like grudges’, The poet should avoid overused poetic tropes, these poems own originality, trust that.

3.  Angela Carr – Poems, Bone Yard, CAT Scan, July, a Storm

Three excellent poems, with stunning opening lines that absolutely grab the reader. CAT scan is an astonishing poem, well achieved. Be cautious of over-wording a thought; be confident that your turn of image will carry it.

Highly commended in Prose:

1. Rory Duffy – Short Story, Young Robbins Don't Have Red Breasts

Utterly convincing voice of the child, beautifully observed. This story has serious potential, however, beware of formatting, layout and language, it could affect whether a reader will persist.

2. Edel Burke – Short Story, Fractured

A brilliantly told story that leads the reader and exposes the dangers of their assumptions. The writer should be on their guard against hackneyed writing or clichéd characters.

3. Averil Meehan – Story, Chapter One

This story holds us from the outset, it’s ending doesn’t maintain the promise of the opening pages. Don’t go for easy resolutions, the best stories are those unwillingly told. I wonder should the author consider keeping this a short story (the title is Chapter One…could one sustain this throughout a novel?)"

November Over The Edge: Open Reading with Teresa Sweeney, Deirdre McClay & Joseph Horgan PLUS MA in Writing Students from NUI Galway

The November ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, November 20^th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Joseph Horgan, Deirdre McClay & Teresa Sweeney. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. This month’s open-mic will continue our showcase of the poetry students from this year’s MA in Writing at NUI Galway. New readers are always especially welcome at the open-mic.  

Teresa Sweeney is from county Galway. She was short listed in this year’s Over the Edge New Writer of the Year. She has been published in Roadside Fiction, Number Eleven Magazine, Wordlegs, Boyne Berries and runner up in WOW! Awards 2011. Teresa took classes with Susan Millar DuMars including the Advanced Fiction class. She is studying an MA in Writing in NUIG this year. Teresa’s stories can be read here: http://www.teresasweeney.com   

Deirdre McClay lives in Donegal and is a member of Garden Room Writers. She has published fiction in The Irish Times, Sunday Tribune, Crannóg, Boyne Berries, Wordlegs, and The Linnet’s Wings, among others. In 2005, she was nominated for a Hennessy Award. More recently, her short stories have won in The Lonely Voice Competition, and the Allingham Festival; she has also been longlisted, shortlisted, and highly commended in national competitions. 

Joseph Horgan

Joseph Horgan was born in Birmingham, England, of Irish parents. He is a past winner of The Patrick Kavanagh Award and has been awarded an Arts Council bursary for his poetry. His first collection of poetry, Slipping Letters Beneath the Sea, was published by Doghouse in 2008. His second book, The Song at Your Backdoor, a meditation on identity and place, was published by Collins Press in 2010, and was selected as an RTE Book on One.  His most recent book, The Year I Loved England, a collaborative poetry collection with English poet Antony Owen, was published in 2014 by Pighog Press. His work has been anthologised in: Off the Wall (Marino ed Niall MacMonagle), Landing Places (Dedalus ed Eva Bourke and Borbala Farago), and Sunday Miscellany 2008-2011 (New Island ed Clíodhna Ní Anluain). He has written a weekly column for the Irish Post since 1999.
 

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. This month’s open-mic will continue our showcase of the poetry students from this year’s MA in Writing at NUI Galway. 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.

October Over The Edge Open Reading with Harry Browne, Henry McDonald & PJ Moore PLUS the announcement of the winners of the 2014 Over The Edge New Writer of the Year

Harry Browne, Henry McDonald & PJ Moore for October Over The Edge: Open Reading PLUS the announcement of the winners of the 2014 Over The Edge New Writer of the Year

The October ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, October 30th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are PJ Moore, Henry McDonald & Harry Browne. This is a special Over The Edge event in that all three 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 Eleanor Hooker. 

Harry Browne is the author The Frontman: Bono (In the Name of Power), a critical study of Bono’s extra-musical activities. In it, he criticises the singer's support for global capitalism and US militarism. Harry Browne’s journalism has appeared in CounterPunch, the Irish Times, Village magazine, the Sunday Times, Irish Daily Mail, Evening Herald, Sunday Tribune, Sunday Business Post and The Dubliner. He has made numerous appearances as a guest on radio and television programmes, served on the steering committee of the Irish Anti-War Movement in 2003-04 and is a member of Gaza Action Ireland. He has been a consulting editor on the multicultural newspaper Metro Eireann. Born in Italy in 1963, he grew up in the United States with activist parents: his mother, Flavia Alaya, is a historic-preservationist who has also campaigned for rights for immigrant detainees; his father, Henry J Browne (who died in 1980), was a radical priest in New York City.

Henry McDonald's childhood and teenage years were dominated by the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Growing up in the Markets - a working-class Catholic district of central Belfast - he witnessed IRA men and British soldiers being shot down outside his door. His home was smashed up by the British troops on Internment Day in 1971, then bombed by loyalist terrorists four years later. But despite being caught up in the maelstrom of incipient civil war, McDonald managed escape his background. He is now the Ireland correspondent of The Guardian newspaper and the author of several books, including Colours: Ireland - From Bombs to Boom and INLA - Deadly Divisions, which he co-authored with the now deceased Jack Holland. Henry also writes fiction. 

Henry McDonald

PJ Moore is an actor and writer currently living in Galway. Having previously taken a creative writing class with Susan Millar DuMars and a poetry workshop with Kevin Higgins, PJ is now the author of the no nonsense book of humorously given financial advice, offering financial freedom on a shoestring for all, 'The Justified Tight B****rd's Guide To Life' which is available online at http://www.tightbastardsguide.com and from all good bookshops. The book includes well over 300 witty money saving tips, written by an ordinary man for the ordinary man and woman. Copies will be on sale on the evening. 

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.

Madeleine D’Arcy Featured Reader & Judge at Sixth Annual Over The Edge Fiction Slam at The Kitchen @ The Museum

Madeleine D'Arcy 

After the event’s huge success in the past five years, Over The Edge presents its sixth annual fiction slam with Featured Reader, Madeleine D’Arcy, at The Kitchen @ The Museum, Spanish, Galway on Friday, October 17^th, 8pm.

Madeleine D’Arcy was born in Ireland and later spent thirteen years in the UK. She worked as a criminal legal aid solicitor and as a legal editor in London before returning to Cork City in 1999 with her husband and son. She began to write short stories in 2005. In 2010, she received the Hennessy Literary Award for First Fiction and the overall Hennessy Literary Award for New Irish Writer. Her work has also been short-listed and commended in many other competitions. Madeleine has been awarded bursaries by the Arts Council of Ireland and by Cork City Council. She is currently a scholarship student on the inaugural MA in Creative Writing at University College Cork. Her short film ‘Dog Pound’ featuring the distinguished Irish actor Frank Kelly, is now available on Youtube. WAITING FOR THE BULLET, Madeleine’s debut collection of short fiction, was published by Doire Press in April 2014.

The first twelve fiction writers to make it to The Kitchen @ The Museum on the evening of Friday, October 17^th and register will be guaranteed a place in the slam. 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 Madeleine D’Arcy. Three writers will go through to the second round and the prize for the winner is a bottle of 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.