Short Story CompetitioN

SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2023

Sponsored by Bridge St and Mayo Books Press

**Donal Ryan, 2023 short story competition judge.** *Pic credit: Anne Marie Ryan*

Judge: Donal Ryan

Donal Ryan, from Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, is the author of six novels and a short story collection. He has won several awards for his fiction, including the European Union Prize for Literature, the Guardian First Book Award and four Irish Book Awards, and has been shortlisted for several more, including the Costa Book Award and the Dublin International Literary Award. He was nominated for the Booker Prize in 2013 for his debut novel, The Spinning Heart, and again in 2018, for his fourth novel, From A Low and Quiet Sea. In 2021, he became the first Irish writer to be awarded the Jean Monnet Prize for European Literature. His work has been adapted for stage and screen and translated into more than 20 languages. His seventh book, The Queen of Dirt Island, was published by Doubleday in August 2022 and was an instant number one bestseller. A law graduate and former civil servant, Donal has lectured in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick since 2014 and lives in Castletroy with his wife Anne Marie and their two children.

RESULTS 2023:

Winner: Jane Babb (Dublin), ‘Must-Haves’
Judge Donal Ryan says:
It's a beautifully controlled, elegant, precise study of grief and trauma, with a sublimely muted yet powerful ending.
Runner-Up: Olivia Rana (Co. Antrim), ‘The Refugee Hotel’
Judge Donal Ryan says:
It’s a restrained, authentic and insightful portrait of displacement, and the imposturous shame it can carry.
Runner-Up: Beth Kilkenny (Dublin), ‘Everyone is Amazed’
Judge Donal Ryan says:
It’s a wonderful stream-of-consciousness, describing a woman's evening walk, charting her physical and emotional topography.
Runner-up: Gabrielle Mhic an Fhailigh (Co. Galway), ‘Fágáil/Leaving’
Judge Donal Ryan says:
It’s composed, generously and beautifully, as Gaeilge agus as Béarla, moving through the generations of occupants of a Connemara cottage, and powerfully evoking the pain of parting and exile.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE WINNING STORIES

**2019 winner Eamon McGuinness receiving his prize from Wild Atlantic Words committee member and short story competition sponsor, Kevin Swift of** Bridge St

**2020 short story competition winner Chris Kennedy**

**2021 Wild Atlantic Words short story winner Michelle Coyne, runner-up Jordan Lilis, judge JP McHugh, and writer Sally Rooney at the reading and prize-giving ceremony in Castlebar, Co. Mayo.**

**2023** **Wild Atlantic Words short story judge, Donal Ryan with winner, Jane Babb in the Festival Dome**

2023 judge, Donal Ryan with runners-up, Gabrielle Nally, Beth Kilkenny, Olivia Rana and winner, Jane Babb

**Writer Mike McCormack listening to the 2023 Wild Atlantic Words festival short story competition readings.** *Photos: John Mee Photography*

Olivia Rana being presented with her runner-up prize by Declan Swift of Bridge St, short story competition co-sponsors, at the 2023 Wild Atlantic Words festival.

**Beth Kilkenny** **being presented with her runner-up prize by Declan Swift of Bridge St, short story competition co-sponsors, at the 2023 Wild Atlantic Words festival.**

**Gabrielle Mhic an Fhailigh being presented with her runner-up prize by Declan Swift of Bridge St, short story competition co-sponsors, at the 2023 Wild Atlantic Words festival.**

Wild Atlantic Words short story competition co-sponsors, Kevin Swift of Bridge St and David Brennan of Mayo Books Press, with 2022 judge Elizabeth Reapy, winner Andrew Maguire, and runner-up Mattie Brennan at the reading and prize-giving event in the Festival Dome on Friday, 7 October 2022.

**The reading and prize-giving ceremony for the 2019 competition in The Linenhall Arts Centre**

RESULTS 2022:

First prize: ‘White Lies’ – Andrew Maguire (Co. Tyrone). Runner-up: ‘Dead Bait’ – Mattie Brennan (Co. Sligo).

The following stories also made the shortlist: ‘Beauties of Bath’ – Leo Cullen (Co. Dublin); ‘An Encounter’ – David Butler (Co. Wicklow); ‘Stewsday’ – Bryan Conlon (Co. Cork)

RESULTS 2021:

First prize: ‘Scale’ – Michelle Coyne (Galway). Runner-up: ‘Waiting’ – Jordan Lillis (Galway)

The following stories also made the shortlist: ‘25th December 2022’ – Rachel Gough (Cork); ‘Composition No.49’ – Alicia McAuley (Antrim); ‘Still Life’ – Sree Sen (Mayo); ‘De Last Snayke In Urland’ – Eoghan Collins (Dublin)

RESULTS 2020:

First prize: ‘Farmer Wife’ – Chris Kennedy (Sligo). Runners-up: ‘A Bit Part’ – Ryan Wiles (Antrim) and ‘Envy’ – Kevin Dardis (Dublin & Germany)

The following stories also made the shortlist: ‘It Would Be Nice To See You’ – Emma Flynn (Kerry); ‘Legacy’ – Rosie Cowan (Antrim); ‘The Stray’ – Kate Phelan (Wexford); ‘The Blue Star’ – Aoibheann McCann (Galway)

RESULTS 2019:

First prize: ‘Everyone Here Has A Story’ – Eamon McGuinness (Dublin); Second prize: ‘'98, '99’ – Grahame Williams (Down)

The following stories also made the shortlist: ‘A Stone's Throw Away’ – Róisín McPhilemy (Down); ‘Baby Blue’ – Adam O’Keeffe (Cork); ‘Scorched Earth’ – David Butler (Wicklow); ‘The Test’ – Rose Keating (Cork)