Submissions are now being accepted for the Cúirt New Writing Prize 2022, with a €500 cash prize being offered to the winner of two categories: poetry and short fiction.
The winner in each category will also be given the opportunity to read at the 37th annual Cúirt International Festival of Literature which will take place in Galway between Wednesday 6 and Sunday 10 April 2022.
Poet Gail McConnell will judge the poetry prize and author Lisa McInerney will judge the short Fiction.
The closing date for submissions is Monday 31 January 2022 at 5pm.
Cúirt New Writing Prize Guidelines for Entry
Poetry entries must consist of up to three poems under 50 lines each.
Short stories should be no longer than 2,000 words.
Entry costs €10 in total which covers one story or up to three poems.
Entries are welcome in English and Irish. An Irish language adviser will be approached to assess entries in the Irish language.
Writers submitting work should not have had a full collection or work published in the category in which they enter (novel or short collection for fiction, poetry collection for poetry); this does not include the publication of single poems, stories or chapbooks. If you have had single poems or stories published, you are still eligible to submit.
The story or poems submitted should not have been accepted for publication elsewhere.
There is no restriction on theme or style.
The judges’ verdict is final.
Stories cannot be altered or substituted once they have been entered.
Judging is anonymous. Name and contact details must not appear on the stories or poems.
Entries should be submitted as follows
In a single document
In .doc or .docx format
Double spaced, in 12 pt font
The title of the document should be the title of the piece or pieces.
Entries in the body of an email will not be accepted.
International writers can enter the competition, but we are unable to provide travel expenses to attend the 2022 festival, should they be successful.
Entries submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.
Entry fees will not be returned if stories are withdrawn after entering.
Entry is taken as acceptance of these rules.
Submitting Your Entry
Submissions will be accepted through Google Forms only this year. You can submit your work and details through the link here.
Fees
The entry fee for each separate submission is €10. This can be paid through the Stripe link here.
It is important to us that the prize is accessible to as many writers as possible from all backgrounds around the world. Because of this, we are offering a limited number of subsidised entries. There is capacity for 35 subsidised entries for the 2022 prize. If you would like to avail of subsidised entry, please contact info@cuirt.ie. Subsidised entries should be accompanied by an explanation of the entrant’s need for subsidised entry (up to 200 words).
Contact info@cuirt.ie for any further enquiries.
