Munster Literature Centre
Ionad Litríochta an Deisceart

Author: James O’Leary

  • Submission dates for Southword

    Submission dates for Southword

    Unsolicited submissions of poetry and short fiction (for our 2025 winter issue) are open as follows: POETRY: 1st ‒ 31st January FICTION: 1st ‒ 28th February Our Submittable account limit means that we can only receive 1000 submissions per month, so if we reach this limit before the end of January (for poetry) or February…

  • Episode 19 of the Southword Poetry Podcast

    Episode 19 of the Southword Poetry Podcast

    Episode 19 with John W. Sexton is now available anywhere you get podcasts. John W. Sexton was born in 1958 and identifies with the Aisling poetic tradition. His work spans vision poetry, contemporary fabulism and tangential surrealism. He is the author of seven poetry collections including The Offspring of the Moon (Salmon Poetry 2013), Futures Pass (Salmon Poetry 2018), Visions…

  • The Farmgate Café National Poetry Award

    The Farmgate Café National Poetry Award

    postal Submissions by publishers accepted 9 – 30 January 2025 The award will be €2000 for the best full-length poetry collection published in the previous year (2024) by a poet residing in Ireland. All entered books must be in English. Translations will be accepted as long as the translated poet resides in Ireland. The judges…

  • Episode 18 of the Southword Poetry Podcast

    Episode 18 of the Southword Poetry Podcast

    Episode 18 with Gail McConnell is now available anywhere you get podcasts. Gail McConnell is from Belfast. She is the author of  of The Sun is Open (Penned in the Margins, 2021) and two poetry pamphlets: Fothermather (Ink Sweat & Tears, 2019) and Fourteen (Green Bottle Press, 2018). Fothermather was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Poetry Award. Gail’s poems have appeared in The Poetry…

  • Aneas 5

    Aneas 5

    €12.00, Southword Editions, 2024, 80 leathanach Iris nua bhliantúil atá tiomnaithe go hiomlán don gcuid is fearr de litríocht chomhaimseartha na Gaeilge í Aneas, iris a léiríonn go bhfuil neart, ealaín, pléasúr agus tathag fós ag baint le litríocht na teanga sinseartha sa tír seo. Laistigh dá clúdach geobhair filíocht, gearrscéalta agus léirmheasanna doimhne ó na scríbhneoirí…

  • Southword Festival Review winner

    Southword Festival Review winner

    This year the Munster Literature Centre offered prizes for the best reviews of the 2024 Cork International Short Story Festival, written by a current student of University College Cork. The winner, Kyle Barron, received a first prize of €350. Kyle Barron’s interest in literature began in 5th year after reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet. He entered, and…

  • Southword 47 out now

    Southword 47 out now

    €12.00, Southword Editions, 2024, 130 pages Southword is a literary journal featuring new writing from around the globe. Issue 47 includes short stories from David W. Berner and Natalia Theodoridou, poems from Jonathan Edwards and Fred Johnston, and essays from our Southword Literary Essay Competition by Camille Louise Goering and Fiona O’Rourke. Subscribe and order back…

  • Episode 17 of the Southword Poetry Podcast

    Episode 17 of the Southword Poetry Podcast

    Episode 17 with Paisley Rekdal is now available anywhere you get podcasts. Paisley Rekdal grew up in Seattle, Washington, the daughter of a Chinese American mother and a Norwegian father. She earned a BA from the University of Washington, an MA from the University of Toronto Centre for Medieval Studies, and an MFA from the…

  • 2024 Southword Editor’s Poetry Award Result

    2024 Southword Editor’s Poetry Award Result

    This year’s Southword Editor’s Poetry Award has been won by Lucy Holme for the best entry of three poems. The winning poems will be published in Southword 48 (summer 2025) and she will receive €1000. Each entrant for their €24 entry fee will receive a complimentary postage-free, one-year subscription to Southword. Winner Lucy Holme Lucy Holme…

  • 2024 Mentorship Bursary Recipients selected

    2024 Mentorship Bursary Recipients selected

    Mentorships, applied for through open submission, have been awarded to seven writers living in Munster. Mentorship in Children’s Fiction for Children or Young Adults with Eibhlís Carcione – Bursary recipients: Erin Connally Erin Connally is a writer and illustrator who has recently completed her MA in Creative Writing at University College Cork. Her writing and…