August Over The Edge: Open Reading with Maeve Mulrennan, Nollaig O’Donnell, & Jo Burns

The first ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ after the summer break takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, August 29^th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Maeve Mulrennan, Nollaig O’Donnell, & Jo Burns. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. The evening will also see the announcement of the long list for the 2019 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year for which the competition judge this year is poet, fiction writer, and publisher Liz McSkeane.

Maeve Mulrennan

Maeve Mulrennan is a curator and writer based in Galway. She is the Head of Visual Art + Education in Galway Arts Centre, where she has worked since 2006. She has also worked with EVA International and Dublin City Council Culture Company this year. She is the co-curator of the youth programme for Cúirt International Festival of Literature. Maeve is also on the Board of Directors of Galway Community Circus.  Maeve is a short story writer, with fiction published in several online journals, The Doire Press 2013 Anthology, The Honest Ulsterman, for whom she also interviews writers, and The Galway Review. She holds an MA in Visual Arts Practices (Curating) from IADT Dun Laoghaire, h.Dip in Arts Administration from NUI Galway, BA (hons) in Fine Art (Painting) from Limerick School of Art and Design and  a BA(hons) in English Literature from NUI Galway. Maeve's story 'Blood Cure' won the 2018 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition and can be read here https://humag.co/prose/blood-cure

Nollaig O’Donnell lives in Galway with her husband, Richard. A teacher of Piano, French and English, Nollaig has attended Susan Millar DuMar’s Advanced Writing Class and is currently a member of Galway Write-on Group. As well as writing, Nollaig also enjoys sketching and silk painting. Nollaig O’Donnell’s first book, Something Within, was published by Veritas in 2016.  It is a compilation of some of her poetry, reflections, vignettes, sketches and paintings. Her short story, In the Pink, appeared in Write-on Anthology 2019.  More of her short stories and poems will be published in the forthcoming Write-on Anthology 2020. Nollaig has recently completed her memoir, Smiling Within, which will be published later this year.  She is currently working on her first novel. 

Jo Burns

Born in Northern Ireland, Jo Burns lives in Germany. Jo's poetry has been published in Oxford Poetry, Poetry Ireland Review, Southword, The Stinging Fly, Skylight 47 and Magma, among many others. Jo has been shortlisted for the Over The Edge Prize, Bridport Prize, Strokestown International Prize and nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Jo won the Shirley McClure Poetry Prize 2017 at the Irish Writers Festival, CA, the Magma Poetry Competition 2018 and the New Irish Writing in Germany Poetry Award 2018. Her pamphlet Circling for Gods was published by Eyewear Publishing. Her first full collection White Horses was published by Turas Press in November 2018; Kevin Higgins’s Galway Advertiser review of White Horses can be read here https://www.advertiser.ie/Galway/article/105512/love-death-shergar-and-arlene-foster   

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always most welcome. The evening will also see the announcement of the long list for this year’s Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition, which has seen a 20% increase in the number of entries compared to last year.  The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-6431748.

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

Over The Edge New Writer of the Year - WINNERS!

The winner in the Fiction category, and 2018 Over The Edge New Writer of the Year, is Maeve Mulrennan from Galway for her story 'A Blood Cure'.

Maeve Mulrennan - photo by Boyd Challenger

Maeve 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 2019. Turas Press will read, without prior commitment to publish, a collection of short stories submitted to them by Maeve.

The runner-up in the Fiction category is Aongus Murtagh, Berlin for his story 'Don’t Ask Why'.

In third place is Patrick Holloway, Brazil for his story 'Untitled'.

Highly commended in the fiction section are Theresa Sweeney, Galway for her story 'Some Young One’, & Pauline McNamee, Galway for her story ‘The Last Journey’.

The winner in the Poetry category is Morag Anderson, Scotland for her poem 'Tricky Dicky'. 

Morag Anderson

Morag receives prize money of €300 and Salmon Poetry will now read, without prior commitment to publish, a collection of poems submitted to them by Morag. Morag will also read her work at an Over The Edge event during 2019. Morag's winning poem will appear in the next issue of Skylight 47.

The runner-up in the poetry section is Sighle Meehan, Galway for her poem 'There Is No Forever'.

In third place is Caroline Bracken, Wicklow for her poem ‘Place Kanada’.

Highly commended in the poetry section are Nicola Geddes, Galway for her poem 'For Mum on Her First Birthday as a Widow '; Molly Twomey, Waterford for her poem ‘Prana’; Anne Walsh Donnelly, Mayo for her poem ‘Vows’; Linda McKenna, County Down for her poem ‘Blue’, and Vinny Steed, Galway for his poem ‘Canal Bank Hole’.

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

A huge thank you is due to our competition judge this year Rachel Coventry. 

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

June Over The Edge Writers’ Gathering presents readings by Karen McDonnell, Eamonn Lynskey, Anne Tannam, & Maeve Mulrennan & Galway launch of short story collection by June Caldwell

June Over The Edge Writers’ Gathering presents readings by Karen McDonnell, Eamonn Lynskey, Anne Tannam, & Maeve Mulrennan & the Galway launch of June Caldwell’s debut short story collection. The event will take place on Thursday, June 29th, 8pm at the Kitchen @ The Museum, Spanish Arch, Galway. All are welcome. There is no cover charge.

June Caldwell worked for many years as a freelance journalist and now writes fiction. Room Little Darker, a short story collection, was published by New Island Books in May 2017. Her short story ‘SOMAT’ was published in the award-winning anthology The Long Gaze Back, edited by Sinéad Gleeson and was chosen as a ‘favourite’ by The Sunday Times. She’s a prizewinner of the Moth International Short Story Prize and has been shortlisted for many others, including the Calvino Prize in Fabulist Fiction, the Colm Toíbín International Short Story Award, the Lorian Hemingway Prize, and the Sunday Business Post/Penguin Ireland Short Story Prize. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Queen’s University Belfast, and lives in Dublin.

June Caldwell

Bred, buttered and living in Dublin, Anne Tannam's first book of poetry Take This Life, was published by WordsOnTheStreet in 2011. Her second collection Tides ShiftingAcross My Sitting Room Floor is just published by Salmon Poetry. A spoken word artist, Anne has performed her work at Lingo, Electric Picnic, Cuirt and other festivals around Ireland and is co-founder of the renowned Dublin Writers' Forum.

Eamonn Lynskey’s poetry first appeared in the New Irish Writing pages of the Irish Press in the 1980s, edited by David Marcus, and since then widely in magazines and journals such Poetry Ireland Review, Cyphers, The SHOp, Crannóg, The Stony Thursday Book, The Stinging Fly, Boyne Berries, Orbis, Riposte Broadsheet and the Irish Times. He was a finalist in the Strokestown International Poetry Competition and in the Hennessy Awards. He has been involved in the organization of poetry events in Dublin for many years and has presented poetry programmes on local radio. He obtained an M. Phil in Creative Writing from Trinity College Dublin in 2012 and participated in the 2013 Stanza Poetry Festival in St. Andrews in Scotland. Before retirement he worked as a teacher and Adult Education organizer.  Eamonn’s third collection of poetry, It’s Time, is just published by Salmon Poetry.

Maeve Mulrennan is a curator and writer based in Galway. She is the Head of Visual Art + Education in Galway Arts Centre, where she has worked since 2006. This role includes exhibitions, critical writing, residencies and education programming. In 2008 she founded Red Bird Youth Collective, which is now a youth led art collective working in visual art, architecture, animation and film. Maeve has been on the Board of Directors of Tulca Festival of Visual Art since 2006. Maeve lectures on the MA Arts Policy & Practice in Huston School of Digital Media, NUI Galway and is an online-Lecturer with NODE Center for Curatorial Studies, Berlin. Maeve is a short story writer, with fiction published in several online journals, The Doire Press 2013 Anthology and The Galway Review. She read at the 2012 Cúirt Festival / Over The Edge showcase reading.

Karen J. McDonnell grew up in Ennis. She spent many years in Dublin working in international banking and as an actress before returning to live in the Burren in north Clare. As a mature student at NUI Galway, she focused increasingly on writing, including Notes from the Margins, a poetic song cycle about women on the edges of history, and literary non-fiction: Unsettled — a West Bank Journal. She won the 2014 WOW Poetry Award and was runner up in the 2015 Wild Atlantic Words and the 2015 Baffle poetry competitions. She was shortlisted for the 2017 Poems for Patience Award. Karen’s debut collection of poems This Little World is just published by Doire Press.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing financial support of the Arts Council,

Poetry Ireland, and Galway City Council.