A Bouquet of Literary Events

I update you about all the literary events on the horizon and share details of a new writing prize.

Speak Up Workshop Reminder

If you fancy learning how to perform your work with confidence and style, bookings are now open for the Speak Up Public Speaking for Writers workshop with actor Lynda Gough.

And the good news is, it's free. It's happening on Saturday 10 May from 10.30am to 2pm. Other arts professionals who give presentations as part of their work may also find this useful.

The booking link is here. Deborah Somers is the brains behind these workshops and I'm her copilot. If you've got further inquiries, you can contact Deborah on 0894825443 or speakupwaterford@gmail.com.

New Writing Prize – Irish Writers' Centre

If you feel you've been knocking at the doors of literary journals for years without success, you'll be heartened to hear about the New Writing Prize, being offered by the Irish Writers' Centre in association with The Stinging Fly Journal. They're inviting writers who have yet to publish a piece to submit short stories or essays of up to 1,500 words.

This is a poster for the New Writing Prize, which contains the same details as in the text about the prize.

Submissions will open on Saturday 17 May and will close on Wednesday 4 June. If you win, you'll receive mentorship with an established writer and you'll be published in The Stinging Fly, a very prestigious journal that has launched many a writing career. For more information on how to submit, click here.

Japanese Gardens Event Registration Open

You can also now book for all the events at the Sean Dunne Literary Weekend from 13-15 June in the Japanese Gardens, Tramore. Each event tells you how to register. For our Gathering event on Saturday 14 June, you're asked to register using the subject line GATHERING. If you want to read during the open mic part of the Gathering, you send a separate email with the subject line REGISTER to read.

The website is now live and you'll find all the events and registration info there. Here's the link.

SpeakEasy On the Horizon

It feels like a million years since the last SpeakEasy with Patrick Holloway, so I'm pleased to say that our next SpeakEasy is on Friday 23 May. This edition will feature poet Micheál McCann and musician Eoin Dalton. Expect to be bored rigid with details in the coming weeks.

WordNerd: Caesophile

The WordNerd is back with a delightful word that she discovered last week, one that she believes fits her perfectly. The word is Caesophile, which means a lover of cheese. It comes from the Latin for cheese, caesum. It's possible to speculate, therefore, that Caesar was a big cheese.

And finally, Poetry Day Ireland is today, as this newsletter goes out. Happy Poetry Day and if you're attending any events, I hope you enjoy them.