David Murphy

MUNSTER LITERATURE CENTRE
IONAD LITRÍOCHTA an DEISCIRT

MLC books

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.

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DAVID MURPHY

David Murphy

Cork-born David Murphy has lived north of Dublin for more than thirty-five years; recently he has also been living in County Waterford. His latest book Walking on Ripples was published by the Liffey Press in October 2014. This is his first book to feature both fiction and non-fiction. Previous work includes a contemporary fantasy novella Bird of Prey (2011), Arkon Chronicles (also a novella, 2003) and the well received novel Longevity City (2005) each of which was published in the USA. His award-winning short fiction has been published and translated worldwide, over one hundred appearances including magazines and anthologies, two chapbooks (1995 and 1998) and a short story collection brought out first in Dublin in 2004 and re-issued 2013. The title story of that collection, Lost Notes, won the inaugural Maurice Walsh Award for short stories. He has also been short-listed for the Molly Keane and Aisling Gheal awards.

He has given readings and talks (on the history of ‘imaginative’ fiction in the Irish tradition) at bookshops, arts festivals and other events including the Frank O’Connor Festival in Cork, Limerick’s ‘On the Nail’, Waterford Writers’ Weekend, Chapter’s Lunchtime Series, Irish Writers’ Centre, Imagine, Culture Night, and various events in Bradford, Dublin, Greystones, Copenhagen and Montreal

Author Links

David Murphy Website

Albedo One Magazine