I’m really happy to have a brand new story in Issue 7 of The Lonely Crowd. My thanks to fiction editor, Valerie Sirr. I can’t wait to read the issue which includes work by some great writers like Alan McMonagle, Mary Morrissy, Alison Wells, June Caldwell, James Lawless and many, many more.
I’m about to take a break for a couple of weeks so it’s an opportune time to review how things have been going in 2017 from a writing and publishing point of view. Here’s a quick rundown:
· In February my poem Somehwere In Between was placed 3rd in the North West Words Poetry Competition 2016 and was published in North West Words Issue 7 in May 2017.
· In February my short short story Boy and Man was published in Live Encounters Poetry and Writing.
· My sonnet Stateless was published in Crannóg 44 in March 2017.
· My poem Immanent was published in Skylight 47, Issue 8, in March 2017.
· My poem Unlucky In Love was published in the anthology “A Face in the Mirror a Hook on the Door” by Three Drops Press.
· My play Story was shortlisted for the Eamonn Keane Full Length Play Award at Listowel Writers Week 2017.
· My poem Evening Commute was Highly Commended in the Oliver Goldsmith Poetry Competition 2017 in May 2017.
· My poem The Couple was Highly Commended in the Robert Monteith International Poetry Competition 2017.
· My poem Senseless was published in the June 2017 issue of The Honest Ulsterman.
· My short story The Invitation was published in Issue 7 of The Lonely Crowd in June 2017, edited by Valerie Sirr.
· In June 2017 I was awarded a bursary from South Dublin County Council towards the completion of my first short story collection.
NB: It’s important to note that along with the above successes goes far more failures and rejections. All of the work that is now published was rejected in an earlier form somewhere else.
The big thing to look forward to for me in the second half of the year is the publication of my first poetry collection, After The Fall, by Salmon Poetry in September. I already have a number of readings and events planned for later in the year and I’ll post publication details as soon as I have them. See you on the other side!
