RT SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2025: SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

RT SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2025: SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED AS PART OF AN RT RADIO 1 ARENA SPECIAL ON FRIDAY 24TH OCTOBER

LIVE FROM THE PAVILION THEATRE, DUN LAOGHAIRE AND ON RT RADIO 1 FROM 7PM

The Arena team have been wonderful partners of this series over the years, culminating in the annual Arena/RT Short Story live awards night in the Pavilion Theatre, and Se n Rocks was absolutely central to that, always handling proceedings with his customary warmth, humour, intelligence and grace Sarah Binchy, Producer

DETAILS: www.rte.ie/writing

TICKETS: https://www.paviliontheatre.ie/events/view/arenalive

FOLLOW: #rteshortstory

RT has announced details of the ten exciting new stories which have been shortlisted for the RT Short Story Competition 2025 in honour of Francis MacManus, from 2,200 entries submitted.

The ten shortlisted short stories were selected by this year's judges, writers Neil Hegarty, Tristan Rosenstock and Jan Carson (pictured).

New judge, Jan Carson has described this year's shortlist as eclectic, captivating and a real snapshot of the issues pertinent in contemporary Ireland . See what all three judges said about this year's stories in the Notes to Editors below.

The shortlisted stories, in alphabetical order by story title are:

A Spectrum of Sorrow, by Angela Finn

Auntie and Anto and Ivy and Ava, by Ian Feighery

Corr n na Maidine (Irish language), by Niall Siadhail

Feeding Time, by Sin ad Troy

It Must Have Come First, by Sage Omar

Kazakhstan, by Kevin McDermott

Labels, by Mary O'Rourke

Pool Story, by Jill Kenny

Witness, by Lynda McCarthy

Wolves, by Peter McCauley

***Information about the writers and their stories are included in the Notes to Editors below, along with the RT Radio 1 broadcast schedule.

All ten stories will be published on rte.ie/culture on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th October, and broadcast (read by actors) over the course of the following two weeks, from Monday 13th October on RT Radio 1's Late Date (See broadcast schedule in Notes to Editors). They'll also be featured regularly on RT Radio 1's Arena in advance of the awards event - an RT Radio 1 Arena special programme live on RT Radio 1 from the Pavilion Theatre in D n Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, at 7pm on Friday 24th October, which all the shortlisted writers are invited to attend. The event will feature readings of extracts from all ten shortlisted stories, each followed by a discussion with all three judges before they award their top prizes.

The winning writer will receive 5,000, while the second and third placed writers will receive 4,000 and 3,000 respectively. All seven runners-up will receive 300 each.

Tickets for that event are now on sale here.

Sarah Binchy, series producer said: After a bumper year for entries, I'm delighted with this year's vibrant shortlist, and looking forward very much to sharing the stories with our listeners, as voiced by our talented actors. I'd also like to acknowledge the sad recent loss of our RT Radio 1 colleague, Arena presenter Se n Rocks. The Arena team have been wonderful partners of this series over the years, culminating in the annual Arena/RT Short Story live awards night in the Pavilion Theatre, and Se n was absolutely central to that, always handling proceedings with his customary warmth, humour, intelligence and grace. We will seek to honour him by continuing this tradition in partnership with the brilliant Arena team, and with our fine judges this year: Neil Hegarty, Jan Carson and Tristan Rosenstock.

Set up in 1986 to honour writer and broadcaster Francis MacManus, the RT Short Story Competition has been a critically important launch pad for new and emerging writers in Ireland. Past winners and shortlisted writers include Claire Keegan, Molly McCloskey, Danielle McLaughlin, Anthony Glavin, Chris Binchy, Nuala O'Connor, Liz Nugent, Colin Walsh, Stephen Walsh, Austin Duffy and Sarah Gilmartin.

The RT Short Story Competition is free to enter, and open to any writer over 18 living on the island of Ireland or living abroad who holds an Irish passport. For more on the RT Short Story Competition, see www.rte.ie/writing.

ENDS

For information:

Neil O'Gorman, Corporate Communications Manager, RT | E: neil.ogorman@rte.ie

NOTES TO EDITORS

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID:

JAN CARSON (new to the judging panel)

We had a wonderful time reading, discussing and selecting the ten stories which made the shortlist for this year's RT Francis McManus Short Story Prize. The writing was notably strong and engaging with a wide-ranging variety of themes explored though it was interesting to see some re-occurring themes emerging. These included aging, experiences of mental health issues, coercive control and, of course, the family. The judging process was really enjoyable with all three judges coming to harmonious agreement on the stories which should make the shortlist. The shortlist we decided upon is eclectic, captivating and a real snapshot of the issues pertinent in contemporary Ireland. We're so looking forward to hearing these stories brought to life by a range of talented actors and seeing how the listening public responds.

TRISTAN ROSENSTOCK (new to the judging panel)

Judging this year's competition was an absolute pleasure and allowed me the opportunity to enjoy a cornucopia of new Irish writing. The ten shortlisted stories represent the breadth of voices, along with the extraordinarily high standard of writing that was there in abundance in this year's crop. Many other stories could have easily made it on this year's shortlist, such was the quality of storytelling. Caring for family members, rocky relationships and coping with grief are among the themes that were so eloquently explored by our shortlisted writers. They all ri

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