The 2020 Wild Atlantic Words literary festival short story competition will be judged by award-winning writer, Lisa McInerney.
Founded in 2016, the Wild Atlantic Words literary festival takes place every October in Castlebar. The short story competition is sponsored by Bridge St bar, with prizes as follows:
- First Place: €500
- Second place: €250
A reading and the prize-giving ceremony are scheduled to take place on October 10th in the Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar. Entries are accepted up until Friday, July 31 at 5 pm. Entry forms, along with a full list of competition rules and regulations, are available on the festival’s website, www.wildatlanticwords.ie.
This year’s judge, Lisa McInerney, has had her work featured in Winter Papers, The Stinging Fly, Granta, The Guardian, Le Monde, The Irish Times, BBC Radio 4, and many more. Her story ‘Navigation’ was longlisted for the 2017 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. Her debut novel The Glorious Heresies won the 2016 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and the 2016 Desmond Elliott Prize. Her second novel, The Blood Miracles, won the 2018 RSL Encore Award.
COVID-19 restrictions permitting, this year’s literary festival will run from October 9th – 11th. The festival aims to celebrate literary heritage over a weekend of readings, recitals, debates, and reflection while acknowledging our new and emerging writers.
Previous guests have included former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, plus a host of acclaimed national and international authors, including Sally Rooney, Mike McCormack, Donal Ryan, Billy Keane, Professor Diarmaid Ferriter, Dominic Price, Senator Marie Louise O’Donnell, Pat McCabe, Mary Kennedy, Eileen Dunne, Anne Chambers and many, many more.
