WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED AT SPECIAL LIVE EVENT AND LIVE ON RT RADIO 1 ON FRIDAY 21st OCTOBER
INFO: www.rte.ie/writing
TICKETS: https://www.paviliontheatre.ie/events/view/rte-arena-live
FOLLOW: #rteshortstory
Ten exciting new stories have been shortlisted for the RT Short Story Competition in honour of Francis MacManus 2022, from more than 1,700 entries, RT announces today.
The stories, selected by judges, writers Lisa McInerney, Ferdia McAnna and ilis N Dhuibhne are (in alphabetical order, by title):
A Nice Cup of Tea by Bernard Crowley
Big Why, Little Why by Brendan Killeen
Cherries by Sara Keating
Cn mharlach Uaigneach by Nicola Crean
Fire Starter by Alan McCormick
Fishing for Pike by Antoinette McCarthy
Scrappage by Aingeala Flannery
Strawberry Season by Doreen Finn
The Big House of Nora Toad by Rachel Hynes
The Coast of Africa by Julie Cruickshank
Details on the authors and their shortlisted stories, and our judges, are included below.
All 10 stories will be broadcast and podcast in a season of new writing as part of Late Date on RT Radio 1, weeknights at 11.20pm, from Monday 10th October to Thursday 20th October inclusive (except for Saturday 15th October).
The winning story along with the two other prizewinning stories selected by this year's judges will be announced at a special RT Radio 1 Arena RT Short Story Special live event in the Pavillion Theatre Dun Laoghaire at 7pm on Friday 21st October and broadcast live on RT Radio 1 as part of an Arena special programme.
The RT Radio 1 Arena live event will see host, Se n Rocks and this year's judges, Lisa McInerney, Ferdia MacAnna and ilis N Dhuibhne discuss the art of the short story, review the stories on the shortlist of this year's RT Short Story Competition in honour of Francis MacManus, and announce their overall winners, with live music and performances from leading actors.
For tickets: https://www.paviliontheatre.ie/events/view/rte-arena-live
This year, the top prize has increased to 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.
Leading up to the RT Radio 1 Arena Special, in addition to the broadcast of the stories of Late Debate, the shortlisted stories will all be made available to read on www.rte.ie/culture from Monday 10th October.
Judge for the second year running, Lisa McInerney said: What an invigorating and entertaining process deciding on our shortlist for the 2022 RT Short Story Competition in honour of Francis MacManus. I was really pleased with how the writers approached the brief-it was clear they had thought about this being a story for radio, and so we were delighted to find a host of strong characters, dynamic dialogue and vibrant settings. Our shortlist exemplifies the liveliness, wit, empathy and imagination possible in the short story, and we're really excited to share it.
Judge Ferdia MacAnna said: What a privilege to dive headlong into new work by so many talented writers. These stories take snapshots of modern Ireland in two distinct categories: nuanced evocations of an unsettled country where people struggle to carry on and make sense of their lives in the midst of loss, grief and family dysfunction, and visions of quirky, surreal, bizarre, occasionally hallucinogenic landscapes where anything can happen and does and absolutely nothing is predictable. The writers deliver with fearlessness, wry wit, insight, humour and originality as well as imaginative storytelling.
Judge ilis N Dhuibhne said: It was a true pleasure to read the stories. I was impressed by the original ideas and imagination, the mastery of the craft of composition, and above all, the vitality of the stories. Wonderfully various, there was a great deal of humour in the submissions, light-hearted and viciously dark. Selecting the top ten was not easy. There is so much talent out there! It lifts the heart to encounter it.
Sarah Binchy, series producer said: We're delighted with the range and ambition of this year's stories and can't wait to share them with our listeners. It's a particular treat after the restrictions of the past couple of years to be able to get together in person for our finale, an Arena Short Story Special live broadcast with Se n Rocks at the Pavilion Theatre in D n Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, on Friday 21 October, where we'll hear a flavour of the shortlisted stories in live performance, gain insights from the judges on the short story form and the judging process, meet the shortlisted writers 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 SHORTLISTED STORIES AND THEIR AUTHORS
Bernard Crowley
Bernard lives in Balbriggan but is originally from Crumlin and has lived many other places in between. A father of four and a grandfather of three, he describes his work life as working part time for two months of the year (at Christmas) and reading books for the other ten. He has worn many trade hats from shop owner to addiction counsellor and has now added writer to the list. A Nice Cup of Tea is his first published short story.
About Bernard's story, A Nice Cup of Tea
Bernard says: I am very proud of this story It is the whole of my writing career. I have dabbled in poetry all my life but never submitted to public scrutiny. A soundbite
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED AT SPECIAL LIVE EVENT AND LIVE ON RT RADIO 1 ON FRIDAY 21st OCTOBER 
