Archived Announcements
- Fool for Poetry Chapbook Competition Open
The Fool for Poetry International Chapbook Competition is now open for entries. Page limit: 16 – 24Closing date: 31st August (midnight)Entry fee: €25 per manuscript The competition is open to new, emerging and established poets from any country. At least one of these winners will be the highest scoring manuscript entered by a poet with no solo… Read more: Fool for Poetry Chapbook Competition Open - Louise Hegarty to judge this year’s Ó Faoláin Competition
Louise Hegarty will judge this year’s Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition, which is open for submissions until 31st July. First prize includes €2000 and a featured reading at the Cork International Short Story Festival (14 – 17 October 2026). Last year’s winning and shortlisted stories can be read in our latest issue of Southword. Louise Hegarty’s… Read more: Louise Hegarty to judge this year’s Ó Faoláin Competition - Southword Subscriber Competition Results 2026
Every year we hold a free-to-enter flash fiction competition and poetry competition exclusively for subscribers to Southword. For each category, all current subscribers are emailed a link in the spring and may submit up to three poems and/or three pieces of flash fiction; it is judged anonymously by James O’Leary and winners are published in… Read more: Southword Subscriber Competition Results 2026 - Online Workshop with Cork International Poetry Fellow Shangyang Fang
Throughout the course, each class will begin with a discussion of a specific aspect of poetic craft and include generative writing exercises designed to inspire new work. Students will also participate in workshops of their poems each week. In addition, participants will receive a packet of poems to read and will be encouraged to write… Read more: Online Workshop with Cork International Poetry Fellow Shangyang Fang - Poetry Mentorships with Cork International Poetry Fellow Shangyang Fang
Shanyang Fang, the inaugural Cork International Poetry Fellow will be available during the months of June and July for mentoring sessions. Mr Fang will mentor three individuals, meeting each for three different sessions lasting two hours to discuss their poems. Eligible applicants for this mentorship must live in Munster and must not be receiving other… Read more: Poetry Mentorships with Cork International Poetry Fellow Shangyang Fang - Dean Browne wins Farmgate Café National Poetry Award
With sponsorship from one of Cork’s most loved restaurants, the Farmgate Café, this award is €2000 for the best full-length poetry collection in English published in 2025 by a poet residing in Ireland. 55 valid entries were received. This year’s judges were the poets Ailbhe Darcy, Maya C. Popa and Thomas Dillon Redshaw. The shortlist… Read more: Dean Browne wins Farmgate Café National Poetry Award - Change in festival lineup
The Cork International Poetry Festival reading of Shangyang Fang & Jennifer Lee Tsai at 8.30pm 13th May has been changed. Unfortunately, Shangyang Fang is unable to attend as previously advertised. However, we are happy to say that Jane Springer will now be reading alongside Jennifer Lee Tsai. https://www.corkpoetryfest.net/wednesday.html Jane Springer is author of three prize-winning poetry… Read more: Change in festival lineup - 2026 Fool for Poetry chapbooks in our bookshop
The winning chapbooks of the most recent Fool for Poetry International Chapbook Competition, Playing Paradise by Katie Hale and We Fall We Carry by Róisín Leggett Bohan are available to order now. Tickets are available for their public unveiling with readings from the poets as part of the Cork International Poetry Festival on Saturday 16th May 3.00pm (only €5… Read more: 2026 Fool for Poetry chapbooks in our bookshop - Ó Faoláin Short Story Competition Open
The Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition, which includes a first prize of €2,000, is now open for entries. Word limit: 3,000Closing date: 31st July (midnight)Entry fee: €19 per story The competition is open to original, unpublished and unbroadcast short stories in the English language of 3,000 words or fewer. More details at our competition page. - Apply for mentorships in poetry and fiction
Candidates may apply to a maximum of two mentors, but no successful candidate can receive more than one. Mentorships will consist of four face-to-face, two-hour sessions. This year, past recipients of mentorships with the Munster Literature Centre may apply again. Apply at southword.submittable.com Deadline: 30 april (midnight) Mentorships in Poetry David McLoghlin has sequenced and edited… Read more: Apply for mentorships in poetry and fiction - Prebooked Poetry Introductions Readers
friday 15th May, 2.30pm, Cork City Library | Free The Prebooked Poetry Introductions as part of the 2026 Cork International Poetry Festival involves seven individuals who have yet to publish a short chapbook or full-length collection of poems. Each poet, chosen through open submission, will read in an eight-minute reading slot. Finola Cahill is a… Read more: Prebooked Poetry Introductions Readers - Aneas: Glaoch idir 1 Aibreán agus 1 Bealtaine
Cuirfidh an iris bhliantúil litríochta Gaeilge Aneas fáilte roimh ábhar don ó scríbhneoirí na Gaeilge idir 1 Aibreán agus 1 Bealtaine. Dánta agus gearrscéalta amháin atáthar ag glacadh leo faoi láthair. Ní mór don ábhar a bheith neamhfhoilsithe. Cuirfear fáilte roimh ábhar ó scríbhneoirí bunaithe agus guthanna nua araon. Díolfar €40 ar gach dán agus €200 ar gach… Read more: Aneas: Glaoch idir 1 Aibreán agus 1 Bealtaine - 2026 Farmgate Café National Poetry Award Shortlist
The Farmgate Café National Poetry Award was established in 2019 with sponsorship from one of Cork’s most loved restaurants, The Farmgate Café. 55 valid entries were received for the Farmgate National Poetry Award for the best original collection in English (or translated into English for the first time) published by a poet living on the island of… Read more: 2026 Farmgate Café National Poetry Award Shortlist - Forward Prize Nominations
- Submit: Prebooked Poetry Readings at the Cork International Poetry Festival
This is your opportunity to apply for one of six reading slots available at the Prebooked Poetry Introductions reading at 2.30pm on Friday 15th May 2026, in Cork City Library as part of the Cork International Poetry Festival. Each poet will have the opportunity to read in a ten-minute reading slot and receive an honorarium… Read more: Submit: Prebooked Poetry Readings at the Cork International Poetry Festival - Fiction submission limit reached for Southword
Our Submittable account limit means that we can only receive 1000 submissions per month, and we have reached this limit for Southword short stories. The submission link was automatically closed and we won’t be able to accept any further submissions. - Gregory O’Donoghue Competition Results
The winner of the Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Competition, Anthony Lawrence, will read his winning poem Seeing Red along with a selection of his other work on 16th May at the 2026 Cork International Poetry Festival (website will be updated with this year’s programme at the end of February). Below, we have highlighted the first, second and… Read more: Gregory O’Donoghue Competition Results - Poetry submission limit reached for Southword
Our Submittable account limit means that we can only receive 1000 submissions per month, and we have reached this limit for Southword poetry. The submission link was automatically closed and we won’t be able to accept any further submissions. Poetry submissions to Southword are now closed. Fiction submissions to Southword will open on 1st February. - Southword Editor’s Poetry Award Result
This year’s Southword Editor’s Poetry Award has been won by José Buera for the best entry of three poems. The winning poems will be published in issue 50 of Southword (summer 2026) and he will receive €1000. Each entrant for their €24 entry fee will receive a complimentary postage-free, one-year subscription to Southword. The judge also… Read more: Southword Editor’s Poetry Award Result - Southword Poetry Podcast: Eilean Ní Chuilleanáin
Episode 29 with Eilean Ni Chuilleanáin is now available anywhere you get podcasts Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin was born in Cork City in 1942. She was a founder member of Cyphers, the literary journal (1975). Her first collection, Acts and Monuments, won the Patrick Kavanagh Award. The Gallery Press has published her nine collections of poems including The Sun-fish which… Read more: Southword Poetry Podcast: Eilean Ní Chuilleanáin