Category: News

These are the news….

Submissions for March Issue

Dinnseanachas or placelore was one of the earliest forms of Irish vernacular writing. Every hill, river and road had its story. They still do. Corncrake is looking for such stories – the stories that make a particular place, which would otherwise seem ordinary and insignificant – special. Whole books can and have been written about a particular village or townland, but think of the places that are special to you that are even more specific than that: this crossroads, this bend in the river, this building, this clump of trees. Perhaps it is a place where you often visit in these difficult times, or somewhere you would like to  be, but cannot go.
Though the magazine covers Fermanagh and the adjoining area, the corncrake is a migratory bird. so we will accept submissions about other places.  However, it must be a real, physical place that can be found on a map. Tell us exactly where it is, add an image if appropriate, and then write about it in 800 words or less. It may be prose or poem – myth, legend, memoir, fiction, or simply a descriptive evocation of your unique place.
Deadline 28 February

Only Three Weeks to the Deadline

Do you want a chance to perform your work or have it read in public in Enniskillen, Cavan or Ballyshannon (as part of the Allingham Festival)?
We want writing that is creative and original (but no memoir, please), and with a strong link to the Erne River. Send your poems or stories to editor@corncrakemagazine.com by September 1  to be included in Loughshore Lines, a collection of writings inspired by the Erne River.
All those chosen to take part are invited to a free Improving Your Performance Skills workshop with actor Patrick McEneaney.
Stories – maximum 2000 words, and poems – maximum 40 lines. 

Dedalus Press Spring 2021 Mentorship Programme

Name: Dedalus Press Mentorship Programme – Spring 2021
Submission Deadline: April 30th, 2021
Entry Fee: There’s no entry fee, although we ask that applicants purchase one Dedalus title from our website and include the order number in their application. There’s also a completely cost-free option to ensure accessibility.
Mentorship programme description: Are you an ‘emerging’ poet? Maybe you’ve published some individual poems here and there but have yet to publish a full-length collection? Dedalus Press is pleased to announce a call for applications for the Dedalus Press Mentorship Programme Spring 2021. We are on the lookout for up to 5 emerging poets for whom we will arrange free online mentoring sessions to be conducted by a panel of established poets. This is an excellent opportunity for ‘new’ poets to engage in a meaningful way with a more experienced figure, and to get the kind of close-up attention for their work that is not always available in a larger workshop setting. Application is open to Irish-born poets (resident anywhere) and to poets currently resident in Ireland, south or north. Applicants must be over 18 years, but applications are warmly encouraged from all age groups. We highly encourage submissions from underrepresented voices. All mentoring/tutoring fees will be paid for by us. Prospective poets are asked to submit up to 10 pages of poems (published or unpublished) for consideration.

An Experiment in Publishing

Tom Sigafoos writes:

I’ve published The Cursing Stone, an Irish historical novel, and I’d like to invite you to read it at no cost.

County Donegal, Ireland, 1884. Your island home is threatened with evictions. How far would you go to stop them?

The fates of two men – Ruari Mullan of Tory Island, and Sub-Lieutenant William Gubby of HMS Wasp – intersect in the disastrous arc of the Irish Land Wars.

If you’ll sign up to my mailing list, I’ll send you The Cursing Stone in weekly instalments. I’ll also send Bonus Materials – photos, maps and unusual background information.

There is no cost to sign up or read the instalments. If you enjoy the novel, I’ll appreciate it if you’ll write a review. That’s the entire proposal – no strings attached.

To subscribe to The Cursing Stone, please follow this link and sign up at www.tomsigafoos.com. If you change your mind, you’ll always have the option to un-subscribe.*

If you know others who’d enjoy reading a lively historical novel, please forward this invitation to them as well. Questions? Please contact me at tomsigafoos@gmail.com.

Thanks and best wishes,

Tom Sigafoos

*You’ll receive an email in your primary inbox within an hour of your subscription. Others will follow every 3-4 days. If you don’t see them, please check your alternate email folders, like Social, Promotions and Spam. If you can’t find the emails, please let me know.

Geopark Poetry Map

Write a poem to celebrate a site in Fermanagh and Cavan’s  UNESCO Geopark.

To assist all poets MAC UNESCO Global Geopark is providing a pdf map of the Geopark and accompanying background information.

The deadline for submissions is 31st May 2021. We expect the Geopark Poetry Map to go live in October in time for the UK’s Poetry Day.
If your poem is chosen there will be a payment of €40 for the rights to use the poem in conjunction with the project.

For more details  contact Bee Smith at GeoparkPoetryMap@gmail.com.

An Ambush for the Imagination

I’m a big fan of writing workshops. It doesn’t matter to me what the genre is; I find that I can always learn something new about the craft of writing. I write poetry primarily so, naturally, I am a little more excited when the session is tutored by a poet. In August 2018 Fermanagh Writers hosted well-known Dublin poet and writer Colm Keegan for a full-day workshop. Colm called it Poetry in Motion and during the course of the day he certainly kept our pens in motion. He also said it was an ambush for your imagination and that was very true in my case.

Continue reading “An Ambush for the Imagination”