Today is the last day to vote for the Irish Short Story of the Year 2013
"Though it was autumn, the cliffside was still lush with greenery, fuchsia bright in the ditches, heathers blooming rust and orange in the bogs beyond. It was almost too beautiful, she thought, the colours too pure, the light too fantastical. It was as if she was driving through the landscape of a computer game, the steering wheel her console, and the walls of the too-white cottages might crumble as she passed, revealing dark, monstrous creatures with the gristle of Spanish sailors between their teeth. She glanced at Jonathan in the passenger seat beside her and for a moment she did not know him, and Dublin, her home, the university, all seemed very far away."
This year, sponsored by Writing.ie, there are six finalists for Irish Short Story of The Year. All can thankfully be read for free online. The Irish are the acknowledged masters of this form. Two of the six writers have graciously done Q and A sessions on The Reading Life, Danielle McClaughlin and Billy O'Callaghan. Colin Barrett has graciously agreed to also do a Q and A and I will soon post on his wonderful debut collection, Young Skins. I am looking forward to first for me readings of the other four writers.
Writing.ie Short Story of the Year Award Shortlist Revealed
In alphabetical order (click on each title for further information) the six shortlisted short stories are:
BAIT by COLIN BARRETT (From Young Skins – Stinging Fly Press)
SOFT RAIN by TRISHA MCKINNEY (RTE GUIDE)
A DIFFERENT COUNTRY by DANIELLE MCLAUGHLIN (From Issue 23 Volume Two – Winter 2013 The Stinging Fly)
HOW I BEAT THE DEVIL by PAUL MURRAY (From Town and Country: New Irish Short Stories – Faber & Faber)
THE THINGS WE LOSE, THE THINGS WE LEAVE BEHIND by BILLY O’CALLAGHAN (From The Things We Lose, The Things We Leave Behind – New Island)
THE DAY THINGS CHANGED by NIAMH O’CONNOR (From If I Was A Child Again – Poolbeg Press)
Read the individual entries here and click to go to the Irish Book Awards website to vote for your favourite!
Crannóg, Hollybough, on the RTE TEN website, on RTE Radio and in various anthologies. She has won a number of prizes for short fiction, including the Writing Spirit Award for Fiction 2010, The From the Well Short Story Competition 2012, The William Trevor/Elizabeth Bowen International Short Story Competition 2012, the Willesden Herald Short Story Competition 2012-2013 and the Merriman Short Story Competition in memory of Maeve Binchy.
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