I spent a lovely afternoon at the Wexford Literary Festival in Enniscorthy on Sunday, having been invited to the presentation of the Colm Tóibín International Short Story Award 2017 as a shortlistee.
I know you’re probably on the edge of your seat with anticipation, but I have to let you down easy and report that I did not bring any prize home to Cork, though I did receive a very nicely done Highly Commended cert.
This year’s winner was Sally Jubb for Horses. Second place went to Rose Stevens for Variable Stars, while Helen Lahert came third for Aliens Like Myself. Being UK writers, unfortunately neither Sally nor Rose was present, though I did get to speak to Helen briefly. She was thrilled to win third prize as it was her first time entering a competition. I believe that was what she told me, anyway – she was pretty shaken at the time and we were whispering on the stage like naughty children. If so, it’s an amazing achievement.
The three winning stories are now up on the festival website here. Chairperson Carmel Harrington also mentioned that there is talk of producing an anthology, so the rest of the shortlist may be available to read some time in the not-too-distant future.
Congratulations to all who made it through the various stages. It was such an honour to be among you. And credit to all at the Wexford Literary Festival, who are exceedingly welcoming and supportive to fledgling writers.
Doesn’t seem like a year ago! Did you see Plouggshares are looking for regular (paid) bloggers. It’s on Paul McVeighs site. I thought I’d copied and pasted the link but something else appeared instead. Hope you’re Friday was good as well. Madrid was fantastic. L
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I did see something about Ploughshares. Must check it out properly, thanks, Laura. Looking forward to hearing about your Madrid adventure – hope you behaved!
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Shorty McWordherding! You could give Ross O Carroll Kelly a run for his money
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You and I really do have the same sense of humour, don’t we? 🙂
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Well done Anne, great achievement to be shortlisted for such a prize. Sounds like a brilliant (if nerve-wracking) experience. Pin that Commendation on a wall where you can see it. Ha! Shorty McWordherding! Love it…
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Thanks, Tadhg. I was delighted to be in such fine company, for sure. Am thinking of adopting Shorty McWordherding as my public writing persona, much as Beyoncé has done with Sasha Fierce…
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Well done on being shortlisted – it is an achievement –
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Thanks very much, Frank. I was really delighted
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[…] May, I was invited to the award ceremony for the Colm Tóibín International Short Story Award 2017 after my story ‘A Simple Loss of Balance’ was one of 10 shortlisted. It was my second […]
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[…] story did quite well for me last year in the 2017 Colm Tóibín International Short Story Award, earning a Highly Commended. It’s about a man who, on a perfectly average commute home from […]
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