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The Lit Review |67| National Flash Fiction Day

By Conor O'Donovan

I know tis but a dream, yet feel more anguish

Than if ’twere truth.

This is no dream. It is, in fact, the Lit Review.

 

Events

If you happen to have any ideas knocking about, now could be a good time to get them out. Spiritual home of Irish lace enthusiasts, Borris House is hosting the Festival of Writing and Ideas this weekend. The house in County Carlow will host a events including talks on music, film, journalism and literature as well as exhibitions of photography and visual art.

Kevin Barry, Sinead Gleeson, Ayelet Waldman, Claire Kilroy, Danielle McLaughlin, Deborah Levy, Claire Louise Bennet, Rob Doyle, Lemn Sissay, Suliaman Addonia, Martin Amis, Donal Ryan, Sara Baume, Lucy Caldwell, Kamila Shamsie, Gavin Corbett, Joseph O’Neill and (the real) John Banville will be navigating the Blackstairs Mountains on their way to the festival.

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On Monday at half six, the Irish Writer’s Centre will host the Salmon Poetry Collections launch. Debut collections by Alvy Carragher and Phil Lynch will be available on the night.

A stage adaptation of Jamie O’Neill’s highly original 1916 tale, At Swim Two Boys opens this week at the Samuel Beckett Theatre.

This Friday will also be taking place in Dublin. Those who are in town might want to check out spoken word artist Kate Tempest at the Smock Alley Theatre.

This Monday, Ó Bhéal will be doing what they do Monday in, Monday out: gathering in the Long Valley Pub at 9:30pm for poetry readings. This time out, Julie Morrissy and Stephen Sexton will be reading.

Also, the Dublin Literary Award will be given away tomorrow night. It has the largest prize money of any literary award, with 100,000 euro up for grabs (75-25 split if it’s an English translation). You’ll prob already have th invite if you’re going though.

News

The stories to be included in the National Flash Fiction Day Anthology have been announced: 50 stories have been selected from almost 500 submissions. It will also include specially commissioned stories from established writers. The anthology will be available at the event in Bristol on the 25h June, as well as online. Irish author Nuala O’Connor has been involved in the selection process.

Situations

The Irish Writer’s Centre residencies in Cill Rialaigh are still up for grabs. Seven of you lucky auteurs will spend ten days in Cill Rialaigh between the 21st and 31st October. Applicants should send a Cover Letter, CV and up to three short writing samples to director Valerie Bistany by 5pm 10th June. The houses look very nice in fairness.

The deadline for The Moth Short Story Prize is approaching on 30th June. Entries are 12euro each and should be no longer than 6000 words. Entries can be made online, or in writing to. This year’s competition will be judged by John Boyne.

The Twitterary Review

This week on Twitter, the Lit Review has been doing some investigative work:

Joanna Walsh had a good time at Listowel Writer’s Week.

Conor O’Callaghan had to clarify a few important details.

A critical breakthrough had been made in the study of Hemingway’s short fiction.

The art of listening to poetry is alive and well.

‘John Banville’s’ identity crisis continues…

See you next week!

Featured image source: Wikimedia Commons

Conor O'Donovan 51 posts 0 comments

Conor writes and interviews people about books and storytelling. He grew up in Cork where a piece on the view from his bathroom window made it into his school yearbook. He studied English at Trinity and now works as Literature Editor for Headstuff. Spin him a yarn at [email protected]

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