The short story demands a level of attention from the writer that is unnervingly exact. Within a relatively short space of time a reader is propelled into a world that is unfamiliar to them. It may be breath- taking, devastating, fraught with complexities and uncomfortable to read. It will examine the fundamental elements of human existence forensically. The everyday situations that our lives centre around are smouldering embers out of which the skilful short story writer is able to produce a fire.
It has been an absolute pleasure for me to be affiliated with the Colm Tóibín International Short Story Award, and to chair the sub-committee on behalf of Wexford Literary Festival. Colm Tóibín is one of the greatest writers of all time and we are honoured that he gave his name to this prestigious award.
The standard of entries that we received for the inaugural Colm Tóibín International Short Story Award has been exceptionally high. We received over three hundred entries from writers all over the world. I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of Wexford Literary Festival to thank everyone who took the time to enter.
I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the members of the Colm Toíbín International Short Story Award sub-committee: Cat Hogan, Paul O’Reilly, Carmel Harrington and Alison Martin. The sub-committee were initial readers for the competition, and we have been meeting on a weekly basis for a number of months to discuss the stories and to compile the longlist.
The shortlist for the Colm Tóibín International Short Story Award will be announced on 23rd April 2016 and the judges will then make the final decision.
The judging panel consists of:
• Lisa Coen, a founder of Tramp Press
• Nuala O’Connor, esteemed writer and poet
• Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin, founder of The Inkwell Group and the online national writing resource magazine www.writing.ie.
Thanks again to everyone who entered.
The Wexford Literary Festival will take place on 27th-29th May 2016.
The results of the Colm Tóibín Short Story Award will be announced on 29th May at 3pm in the historic Athenaeum in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford
Thankyou,
Longlist for the Colm Tóibín International Short Story Award 2016
The List by Louise Hall
Winter 1963 by Judith Wilson
The Long Goodbye by Martin McSweeney
Another Mouth to Feed by Johanna C Leahy
Accessory by Sharon Dempsey
A Life Lesson by Anna O’Donovan
Settling by Jane Harrington
Turning Away by Sinead Slattery
The Required Distance by Jean Roarty
The Station House by Ellen Britton
The Front Pew by Sheena Lambert
Comrades in Arms by Sean Lyons
Very like a Whale by Joe Neal
Cash in hand by Jo Verity
The Alphabet Patients by Edel Williams
Cold Water Richard by Scarsbrook
It’s the little things by Anne O’Leary
The Irish Mammy; Reworked by Maire Ryan
Carmine by Richard Newton
Pietá by Jonathan de Burca Butler
Minstry of the interior by Louise Kennedy
Close by Padraic Whyte
Our Golden Finery by Riona Judge Mc Cormack
The Roundabout by Catherine Donelly
The Cube by Fergal O’Byrne
Red flags and empty nans by Wendy White
Remember that summer by Lucy Welch
A Reunion by John Clinch
Hemlock 11 by Rory Endean
The Tether by Diarmuid O’Connell
Kathleen’s lit up sky by June Caldwell
Kissing tiny flowers by Sarah Grout
Saltwater by Rose Stevens
On an earth uniformly covered by the sea by Laura Morgan
A roman candle by Sophie Kelliher
Brad Pitt in the movie Thelma and Louise by Chris Connolly
Into the Darkness by Gina Wollerman
Nobody knows the shivering stars by Niamh Mac Cabe
A meal to remember by Michael Tennyson
Home by David Butler
John-John by Pauline Clooney
Breaking Eggs by Joe Mc Kiernan
Cry of the Gull by Lorna Cooper
Freedom by Tina Sweeney
Cruel woman by Elizabeth Mc Cullum – Ryan
Cut to the bone by Stephen Leach
A Dance With Time by Zandra Carrington
Skunk and Beastie by Holly Atkinson
Kicking the Habit by Clare O’Reilly
The best photo I never took by Tom O’Brien
The Anchor by Delia Mac Taggart
Dancing Turtle by Thomas Atkinson
The Burrow by Rosemary Hennigan
An Unexpected Visitor at Elbow Lake by Louise Mangos
The Latent Test by Liam Curtin
Jimmy by Robert Fields
Camping with Daddy by Michele Sheldon
A hand to hold Ayobami Adebayo
The last post by Valerie Ryan
Into the forest by Andrea Mara
They took to the sky by Chris Pritchard
Dad’s lost soul by Lourdes Mackey
Rebirth by Anne Mc Loughlin
Anna’s picture by Mary O’Brien
Roundabouts and swings by Eleanor O’Reily
My Date with Nigella by Peter Kettle
Shrinking from Life by Catherine Talbot
