Great competitions and workshops on the way in Listowel Writers Week

ONE of the great competitions of Writers’ Week will be even more hotly-contested as the winner of the Eamon Keane Full Length Play receives a reading of their work by Siamsa Tíre as part of the prize — one of the new initiatives of the festival for 2012 already creating a buzz among literati nationwide.

Writers’ Week has also introduced a new travel writing workshop into its annual programme of workshops and competitions, announced this week.

Booked out each year, the workshops offer budding writers the chance to learn from some of the greatest practitioners of various forms. Among the famous names this year will be Aifric Campbell (The Semantics of Murder) teaching the novel getting started; Paul Perry teaching poetry; Mark O’halloran on writing for screen and TV and new to this year’s festival, journalist Sinéad Gleeson — familiar to audiences of RTÉ’S The View — on freelance journalism. Short fiction, theatre, creative writing and travel writing all feature in the workshops.

Meanwhile, the competitions are already attracting interest. “With over €30,000 to be won, there are a diverse range of competitions to choose from including the novel, creative writing for youth, poetry and the short story,” Máire Logue of Writers’ Week said.

“New this year, however, is the prize for the Eamon Keane fulllength play competition. As well as the usual €500 for the competition, the winner will have their play read by the cast of Siamsa Tíre as part of their New Voices Platform. This year, we have also created a special category inviting submissions in the form of the short story or poem from people with special needs of all ages.”

The closing date for entries is Friday, March 2, 2012. The festival takes place this year from May 30 to June 3. Log onto www.writersweek.ie for further details.