The An Post Irish Book Awards 2019 take place on Wednesday 20th November. The shortlists feature a diverse mix of exceptional writing from new and established writers across sixteen categories, including Novel of the Year, Children’s, Cookery, Crime Fiction, Popular Fiction, Nonfiction, Sports, Short Story, Poetry, Teen and Young Adult and Irish Language. The An Post Irish Book Awards celebrate and promote Irish writing to the widest range of readers possible. Each year it brings...

The Leaves Festival of Writing and Music, running from the 5-10th of November celebrates the diversity and richness in today’s literary, music, theatre and film scene. Leaves aims to excite and engage with audiences young and old.  Now a weeklong event with over 17 events the diverse and exciting programme has something for all genres. This year’s festival is curated by Dermot Bolger one of Ireland’s best known writers.  Dermot, in his own words describes...

Application deadline: 8th January 2020 Stonington, Connecticut, is an old Portuguese fishing village with a lot of historic points. It is situated between New York and Boston and from the point of the borough you can see Rhode Island. James Merrill was a Pulitzer prize (1977) winning poet who lived and wrote in Stonington at 107 Water Street. The house is now a designated historic landmark. Applications are now open for writer residencies at this...

Bookselling Ireland and Publishing Ireland were joined in Books Upstairs, D’Olier Street, by authors and reading advocates Rick O’Shea, Niall Breslin (Bressie) and Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen to announce the 2019 Irish Book Week dates – Saturday 26th October to Saturday 2nd November. Celebrating Irish published books, Irish authored books and Irish interest books, as well as the wonderful bookshops in which to buy them, bookshops across the country will be hosting events, window...

The Gaelic Books Council and Scottish Book Trust are seeking two unpublished writers to participate in the Gaelic New Writers Awards 2020. The annual Gaelic New Writers Awards development scheme, a collaboration between the two organisations, is now open for applications. Through this programme, two new Gaelic writers will each be awarded grants of £2,000 and professional advice regarding their work. The Awardees will receive a tailored package which can include mentoring from experienced writers...

The Sunday Times has unveiled a new online video series featuring six of Ireland’s best-known authors – and reveals what books have inspired, amused, entertained or influenced our greatest writers! Entitled ‘On the Shelf’, each video features Eithne Shortall – Chief Arts Correspondent with The Sunday Times and a novelist in her own right – visiting authors in their homes and writing rooms to check out what books line their bookshelves. Over a cup of...

Submissions deadline: 4th October 2019 The Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards exist to celebrate this most exciting of genres and seek to celebrate the best travel writing, and travel writers, in the world. The Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2020 are now open to submissions from publishers, the winners of which will be announced at a reception event at the end of February 2020. Publishers across the UK and Ireland are invited to submit titles...

Competition Deadline October 6th, 2019 Greywood Arts is delighted to announce the third annual Winter Writing Residency Award, a competition to win a one-week residency in January or February 2020. Greywood Arts is a multidisciplinary artists’ residency space in a Georgian home in Killeagh, Co. Cork, Ireland. Recently renovated for modern comfort, the 1767 building has a rich history. Initially built by a tenant of the English aristocracy, the house later became an RIC Barrack, a sawmill, and...

World Book Day, the charity behind the world’s biggest annual celebration of books and reading, has today revealed an all-encompassing range of titles for 2020 as it announced ambitious plans for next year’s campaign. Speaking at the Bookseller Children’s Conference, World Book Day Director Kirsten Grant pledged that the charity would continue its mission to get more books into the hands of more children and young people in the country than ever before and to...

ECHOES returns to Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre from the 4th – 6th October 2019. The theme of this year’s event is the concept of community in contemporary writing in Ireland and a fantastic line-up of guest speakers has been announced.  Now in its third year, ECHOES celebrates the life and work of Maeve Binchy and Irish writers and will host a series thought provoking talks, walks, debates, interviews and theatrical events. This year’s event...