Welcome to the Munster
Literature Centre

Founded in 1993, the Munster Literature Centre (Ionad Litríochta an Deiscirt) is a non-profit arts organisation dedicated to the promotion and celebration of literature, especially that of Munster. To this end, we organise festivals, workshops, readings and competitions. Our publishing section, Southword Editions, publishes a biannual journal, poetry collections and short stories. We actively seek to support new and emerging writers and are assisted in our efforts through funding from Cork City Council, Cork County Council and the Arts Council of Ireland.Originally located in Sullivan's Quay, the centre moved to its current premises in the Frank O'Connor House (the author's birthplace) at 84 Douglas Street, in 2003.

In 2000, the Munster Literature Centre organised the first Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival, an event dedicated to the celebration of the short story and named for one of Cork's most beloved authors. The festival showcases readings, literary forums and workshops. Following continued growth and additional funding, the Cork City - Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award was introduced in 2005, coinciding with Cork's designation as that year's European Capital of Culture. The award is now recognised as the single biggest prize for a short story collection in the world and is presented at the end of the festival.In 2002, the Munster Literature Centre introduced the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Prize, an annual short story competition dedicated to one of Ireland's most accomplished story writers and theorists. This too is presented during the FOC festival. The centre also hosts the Cork Spring Literary Festival each year, at which the Gregory O'Donoghue International Poetry Prize is awarded (established 2010).

Workshops are held by featured authors in both autumn and spring, allowing the general public to receive creative guidance in an intimate setting for a minimal fee. In addition, the centre sponsors a Writer in Residence each year. We invite you to browse our website for further information regarding our events, Munster literature, and other literary information. Should you have any queries, we would be happy to hear from you.

LATEST NEWS

Cork World Book Fest 

Mon 23 - Sat 28 April

Cork World Book Fest 2018 promises to be one of the best yet with a fantastic lineup of contributors from a variety of genres. There is a wide variety of events on offer for this year’s festival, including poetry events, readings and an art installation by Cork Community Art Link and the children of St. Maries of the Isle Primary School. Visit www.corkworldbookfest.com for more information.

Click here to view the 2018 programme of events

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Matthew Sweeney’s My Life as a Painter Launch 25th April at Cork City Library

Matthew Sweeney’s palette in My Life as a Painter, his twelfth collection, features a wild mix of birds and animals: lizards, snakes, rats, camels, donkeys, feral cats, dogs and owls. One dog transmits telepathic requests for the food he wants, and there’s a parrot who speaks as ambassador for the bird world. Sweeney’s canvas here is the transhuman: where boundaries between human and non-human can’t be fixed, dreams turn into torments, secrets stay hidden, strange communiqués remain unclear, and the natural weirdness of his native Donegal verges on the surreal.

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Upcoming Southword Editions Chapbooks Launch 26th April at Cork City Library

My Life as a Stalinist by Gerry Murphy and There are Monsters in this House by James O'Leary

The Munster Literature Centre invites you to this occasion to mark new publications by two Cork poets at 5.30pm on Thursday 26th April 2018. The event takes place in the Grand Parade City Library as part of the Cork World Book Fest. The poets will read a short selection from each of their chapbooks, which will be on sale for €5. Admission is free and wine and refreshments will be available.

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Words Ireland @ ILFDublin:

A National Day for Writers

On Friday 25 May, Words Ireland is hosting a national get together for writers at IMMA in partnership with the International Literature Festival Dublin

Words Ireland is creating the ideal environment for writers - a conference where writers will gather together, reflect on their creative and professional practice, catch up with industry leaders and be inspired.

There’ll be events throughout the day, including writers’ manifestos, interviews, writers meetings and project presentations, industry insight, discussion and debate from over thirty speakers. It will be a day of information and inspiration to help you sustain and evolve your writing life.

Also, in the Great Hall at IMMA, you can sit down and chat with 40 literature organisations to find out about creative and professional opportunities, catch up with old friends and colleagues or meet new ones. There’ll be an opportunity for 10 writers to pitched published work to 10 film directors too.

Early-bird tickets are on sale now: €45 for the day, or €120 for groups of three writers (tell a writer friend!).  Ticket price includes lunch, teas and coffees, and closing drinks reception from Kinnegar Brewing. Click here for full details and booking.

Participating writers and presenters include:

Anne Enright | John Boyne | Kit de Waal | Stephen James Smith | Alan Titley | Selina Tusitala Marsh Paul McVeigh | Dani Gill | Julia Bird | Mia Gallagher | Mark O’Connell | Angela Nagle | Ashleigh Young | Sarah Webb | Oisín McGann | Sheena Wilkinson | Christodoulos Makris | Suzanne Walsh | Nathan O’Donnell | Paul Perry | Susan McKay | Damian O’Donnell | Freya McClements | Declan Meade | Julia Churchill | Andre Breedt | Neil Belton | Sarah Bannan | Marcella Bannon | Jo Mangan | Michael O’Reilly

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Meet the 2018 Frank O'Connor fellow
Carys Davies

Carys Davies has been appointed the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Fellow for 2018. The Fellowship, an initiative of the Munster Literature Centre, is funded by Cork City Council and is in its third year. Ms. Davies is a former winner of the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, winning for her second collection The Redemption of Galen Pike. Her novel West is being published by Scribners in the USA and by Granta in the UK. Ms Davies will take up a three month residency in Cork City in September. She will contribute readings to the Cork International Short Story Festival and other events. Ms Davies will give workshops at the festival and at the School of English, University College Cork. She will choose two Cork-based emerging writers to mentor. The Fellow is provided with accommodation and a stipend.

- Find out more about Davies at her website
- Read this article in the Guardian about her short story collection The Redemption of Galen Pike, winner of the 2015 Frank O'Connor award
- Find out about Davies' forthcoming novel being published by Granta in May of this year.

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The 2018 Fool for Poetry Chapbook Competition is now open for entries!

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Announcing the results of the 2018 Gregory O'Donoghue Poetry Competition

1st Prize: Robert Lipton of Richmond, California for his poem
                'Official Story'
2nd Prize: Majella Kelly of Tuam, Galway for her poem
                'Portrait of the City with Masectomy'
3rd Prize: Kim Addonizio of Oakland, Claifornia for her poem 
                'Black Hour Blues'

Read the shortlist

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Just Launched:
Issue 33 of Southword
Featuring the story that won the Sean O Faoláin prize by Louise Nealon as well as poetry by Matthew Sweeney, Eileen Sheehan and Stephen Sexton, reviews by Clíona Ní Riordáin and Matthew Geden and much more.

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Just Launched
Special end of year issue of Southword
- a retrospective special featuring Jo Shapcott, Danielle McLaughlin, Dermot Healy and many more...

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Announcing the winner of the 2017 Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition!

1st Prize goes to "What Feminism Is" by Louise Nealon from Co. Kildare, Ireland. Her winning story, along with the second prize winner “Dear Miss Jacobs” by Paul Byall from Georgia, USA, and four shortlisted stories will be published in the winter edition of Southword Literary Journal. ("Cicada" by Dean Gessie, "One Last Chance at the Night" by Rory Duffy, "The Ballad of Apollo" by Daniel Shand and "Fast-forward" by Tatiana Duvanova).

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Molly Minturn and Bernadette McCarthy have won the 2017 Fool For Poetry Competition!

Molly Minturn of Charlottesville, USA has taken first place for her manuscript Not in Heaven, and Bernadette McCarthy of Cork, Ireland was awarded second place for Bog Arabic. Both poets will receive chapbook publication, 50 copies of their chapbooks and an invitation to read at the 2018 Cork International Poetry Festival.

VIEW LONGLIST & MORE ABOUT THE COMPETITION HERE.

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The Munster Literature Centre is a not-for-profit organisation; all moneys raised from the competition benefits writers and writing.

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Frank O'Connor House, 84 Douglas Street, Cork, Ireland.

Tel. (353) 021 4312955 Email munsterlit@eircom.net