James Plunkett Short Story Award

Sponsored by the 1913 Lockout Commemoration, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature,

Dublin City Council, Dublin City Libraries and ICTU

Organised by the Irish Writers' Union in partnership with the Irish Writers' Centre.

We are delighted to announce the 2013 James Plunkett Short Story Award for new and emerging writing talent. James Plunkett was known as one of Ireland's greatest social commentators. A founder member of the Irish Writers' Union, James Plunkett's seminal work, Strumpet City, still stands as one of the great Irish works of the 20th century. This year, it is of particular importance as it allows the reader to access the story behind the 1913 Dublin Lockout.

The Award will be presented on 16th October 2013 at the Irish Writers' Centre.

1st prize: €2,000

2nd prize: €1,000

3rd prize: €500

Winners will be chosen from 9 shortlisted candidates.

The final shortlist of 9 will be generated as follows:

In the course of the year, there will be three separate competitions - each of which will lead to three winning authors being invited to read their stories at a public reading in the Irish Writers' Centre. The readings will be presented as the James Plunkett Readings and the three winning authors promoted as being short-listed for the James Plunkett Award. There will be a separate guest judge, an established short story writer, for each of these three competitions. The guest judge will speak about the stories on the night, about the short story in general, and give a guest reading from his/her own work. A fourth guest judge will select the Award winner, runner-up, and third-placed prize-winner from the nine shortlisted candidates chosen at the three previous events.

The Competition was formally launched in December by Kevin Barry at an event attended by President of ireland Michael D. Higgins.

In addition to the prize fund and the chance to speak alongside an established writer, the winners will be invited to speak at events organised by the Dublin City Library Service towards the end of the year as part of their promotion of Plunkett's Strumpet City as the 'One City, One Book' title for 2013.

Discussions are also taking place with a major publication about the possibility of publishing the winning entry. Details will follow when confirmed.

Competition Deadlines:

First James Plunkett Reading Wed 10 April
(Closing date for entries 07 Mar)

Second James Plunkett Reading Wed 5 June
(Closing date for entries 30 Apr)

Third James Plunkett Reading Wed 16 Sept
(Closing date for entries 16 Aug)

Presentation of Awards Wed 16 Oct

Entry Fee: €5 per entry

Full Details on www.ireland-writers.com