RT SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2023: SHORTLIST ANNOUNCEDWINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED AT SPECIAL LIVE EVENT AND LIVE ON RT RADIO 1 ON FRIDAY 27th OCTOBER
INFO: www.rte.ie/writing
TICKETS: https://www.paviliontheatre.ie/events/view/arena-short-story
FOLLOW: #rteshortstory
Image features 2022 winner, Brendan Killeen for Big Why, Little Why' along with last year's judges.
RT has announced details of the ten exciting new stories which have been shortlisted for the RT Short Story Competition in honour of Francis MacManus 2023, from more than 1,700 entries.
The judges were writers Ferdia MacAnna, Kathleen MacMahon and Claire Kilroy.
Talking about this year's stories on behalf of the judges, Kathleen MacMahon said that the stories were a delight to read and a testament to the great Irish tradition of storytelling. There were stories that surprised us, stories that made us laugh, and stories that took the form in a new and exciting direction.
The 2023 shortlist (in alphabetical order, by title) is:
Artificial Intelligence for Psychotherapists, by Ilona Adams
Breathe, by Robin Livingstone
It All Began with the Turlough, by Caoimh n Gaffney
Mr Hoo, by John O'Donnell
Off Season, by Jamie Samson
On Craigavon Bridge, by Peter McCauley
Tessa and Vivianne, by Julie Cruickshank
The Turkish Rug, by Natalie Ryan
The Warbler, by Caitr ona McArdle
You, by Nadine O'Regan
(Details on the writers and their stories are included below. along with the RT Radio 1 broadcast schedule)
The stories will be available to read on rte.ie/culture from the weekend of 14th 15th October, and broadcast at 11.20pm each night on RT Radio 1 from Monday 16th October as part of Late Date with Cathal Murray and Fiachna Braon in. Readers on this year's series include Marty Rea, Aaron Monaghan, Janet Moran, Elaine O'Dwyer and Camille Lucy Ross.
The stories will also be regularly featured on Arena with Se n Rocks, leading up to this year's live Arena/ RT Short Story Awards evening which takes place at 7pm on Friday 27 October in the Pavilion Theatre, D n Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. On the night, we'll hear from our judges, Claire Kilroy, Ferdia MacAnna and Kathleen MacMahon, the shortlisted writers and each of the stories in live performance before the judges award their top prizes.
Tickets are available at: https://www.paviliontheatre.ie/events/view/arena-short-story.
The winning writer will receive 5,000, while the second and third placed writers will receive 4,000 and 3,000 respectively. A further seven runners-up will receive 250 each.
Sarah Binchy, series producer said: There's a freshness, assurance and playfulness to these writers' treatment of their diverse stories of innocence and experience, loss and longing and sharp alertness to the natural world. We're looking forward very much to sharing the shortlist on air with our listeners - as brought to life by our talented actors ahead of the finale in the Pavilion, where we'll hear a flavour of all the stories in live performance, gain insights from the judges on the short story form, and find out who's won the top prizes.
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, Danielle McLaughlin, Anthony Glavin, Chris Binchy, Nuala O'Connor, Liz Nugent, Colin Walsh, Stephen Walsh, Austin Duffy and Sarah Gilmartin.
For more on the RT Short Story Competition, see www.rte.ie/writing.
ABOUT THE 2023 SHORTLISTED STORIES AND THEIR AUTHORS
The broadcast schedule, as part of Late Date with Cathal Murray and Fiachna Braon in, nightly (except for Saturday 21 October) at 11.20pm starting Monday 16 October is:
Monday 16 Oct: The Turkish Rug, by Natalie Ryan, read by Andrew Bennett
Tuesday 17 Oct: Tessa and Vivianne, by Julie Cruickshank, read by Janet Moran
Wednesday 18 Oct: Off Season, by Jamie Samson, read by Rory Nolan
Thursday 19 Oct: Breathe, by Robin Livingstone, read by Marty Rea
Friday 20 October: It All Began with the Turlough, by Caoimh n Gaffney, read by Aaron Monaghan
There will be no story broadcast on Saturday 21st October
Sunday 22 October: You, by Nadine O'Regan, read by Kathy Rose O'Brien
Monday 23 October: Artificial Intelligence for Psychotherapists, by Ilona Adams, read by Camille Lucy Ross
Tuesday 24 October: On Craigavon Bridge, by Peter McCauley, read by David Pearse
Wednesday 25 October: Mr Hoo, by John O'Donnell, read by Emmet Farrell
Thursday 26 October: The Warbler, by Caitr ona McArdle, read by Elaine O'Dwyer
The Turkish Rug, by Natalie Ryan
The rug was delivered the fortnight after Samuel returned from Istanbul. He'd extended his business trip layover to visit the ancient city, taking the weekend to absorb its history and culture, to soak and be scoured clean in its baths. Helen had encouraged him to take the extra time. She'd wanted to rest on holidays nowadays, didn't fancy going here, there and everywhere. The Canaries would do her from now on
Natalie Ryan was born in Ireland, but spent her childhood in Ghana, West Africa. After an MA in Creative Writing at UCD, she won the Bryan MacMahon Short Story Award at Listowel Writers' Week (2011). A Words Ireland 2020 mentee, she has been shortlisted for The Hennessy (2015/2021) and previous Francis MacManus (2011) awards and published in The Stinging Fly Magazine and All Over Ireland, a 2015 Faber and Faber anthology. She has a boutique in Greystones but lives in Dublin with her husband and their three boys.
About the story: Natalie says: The catalyst was the image of a half-rolled Turkish rug that I saw in a bedroom once. I work in retail, the fitting room can be like the confession
