IMPRESSIVE STORIES EXPLORING HUMAN CONNECTION SHOW WEALTH OF WRITING TALENT IN IRELAND
WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED AT SPECIAL AWARDS EVENT ON FRIDAY 29TH NOVEMBER
BROADCAST ON RT RADIO 1'S ARENA ON MONDAY 2ND DECEMBER (7PM)
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 2024 in honour of Francis MacManus, from close to 1,500 entries submitted.
The judges were writers Neil Hegarty, Claire Kilroy and Kathleen MacMahon.
The shortlisted stories, in alphabetical order by story title are:
Artifice, by Sharon Guard
Chambermaid, by Fiona O'Connor
Dead Bait, by Mattie Brennan
Dessie and Hopper, by Susanne Stich
Divination, by Stephen O'Reilly
Once Upon an Algorithm, by Ryan Delaney
Planning the Leftovers, by Sheila Barrett
The Other rla, by Emer O'Toole
The Rehearsal, by Alexis MacIsaac
Turncoat, by David Ralph
***Information about the writers and their stories are included in the NOTES below, along with the RT Radio 1 broadcast schedule.
Neil Hegarty, who joined the judging panel this year said: I'm deeply impressed by the entries submitted this year. Quite simply, it's so heartening to see the sheer quality of writing on display. I'm also struck by how these stories track emotional lives in all their variety and complexity: art acts as a barometer of society, of course, but it seems to me that the RTE Short Story Competition in particular truly mirrors the preoccupations of our society in the here and now.
Fellow judge Claire Kilroy added: There were several recurrent themes: grief, sexual politics and the differences between male and female worlds
Judge Kathleen MacMahon commented that: human connection was the subject of almost every story we read this year - the need for it, the obstacles to it. In exploring this fundamental theme, this year's Francis Mac Manus finalists showed us once again the wealth of writing talent that exists in Ireland and the ever-renewing energy to explore the landscape of our lives through words.
All ten stories will be published on rte.ie/culture on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th November, and broadcast (read by actors) over the course of the following two weeks, from Monday 18th November on RT Radio 1's Late Date. 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, presented by Se n Rocks at the Pavilion Theatre in D n Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, at 7pm on Friday 29th November, 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 250 each.
The RT Radio 1 Arena special will be broadcast at 7pm on Monday 2nd December 2024.
Tickets for that event are now on sale here
Sarah Binchy, series producer said: This is another delightfully fresh and varied clutch of stories, with great talent and verve on display from this year's writers. We're looking forward to sharing the stories on rte.ie/culture, on air and on podcast, voiced by some of Ireland's finest actors - and gathering in person with the judges, writers and audience members to award the top prizes as part of the Arena short story finale in the Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire on Friday 29th November.
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. Details of next year's competition will be announced in early 2025. 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
ABOUT THE WRITERS AND STORIES (Alphabetical order by writer's first name)
ALEXIS MACISAAC (Irish Canadian, living in Ottawa)
Alexis MacIsaac is a dual Irish Canadian citizen whose writing has been featured in Masks Literary Magazine (2023 story award winner), The Bookends Review, and Agnes and True, among others. She previously toured as a musician with Irish shows Riverdance and The High Kings. Now, she works in the civil service in Domestic Oceans Policy and lives in Ottawa with her husband, Calum, and two sons, Cillian and Rafferty. She is currently working on her first novel.
The Rehearsal
This story is meant to be read as a kind of Rorschach test. In particular, I wanted to explore how men and women can sometimes view the world very differently, and how this difference in perception often exposes the tenuousness of human connection.
DAVID RALPH (Tipperary, living in Dublin)
David Ralph is originally from Tipperary and now lives in Dublin. His stories and essays have been published in Dublin Review, Southword, Banshee, New Irish Writing, Litro, Fish Anthology, Channel. He won a New Irish Writing Award in 2020 and placed third in the 2022 Fish Memoir Prize. He works as an academic in Trinity College Dublin.
Turncoat
Turncoat is about a man who has acted against
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
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...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it's given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what ...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
With John Daro, DI Colourist at Warner Bros. Water Tower Color Tuesday 23 June, 10am-1pm or 3-6pm
Restar Corporation
Tokyo
Register here
John Daro is the ...
12/06/2026
Meet The Grumpy Onion Ireland's newest online sensation, all he wants is to ...
12/06/2026
RT stays Up All Night with brand new daily 2026 FIFA World Cup Vodcast
Adding to the fun around 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament, RT has launched a brand new d...
12/06/2026
A fentanyl countermeasure that adapts to combat future black-market drugs Scripps Research scientists developed a vaccine that teaches the immune system to rapi...
11/06/2026
The immense size of the tourney and its Atlantic-spanning operation also disting...
IMPRESSIVE STORIES EXPLORING HUMAN CONNECTION SHOW WEALTH OF WRITING TALENT IN IRELAND 
