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Right Here, Right Now Flash Fiction Competition

This competition is now closed. Thank you to everyone who has submitted!

Paper Lanterns are delighted to announce our flash fiction competition! The theme is “Right Here, Right Now.”

Have you got lots of ideas about the current ways of the world around you? Are you looking for a short but sweet way to express all that you feel and think about the events in your life? Then this is the competition for you. 

Details: 

  • This competition is now closed. Thank you to everyone who has submitted!
  • The competition is open to anyone over 13 years old (teens and adults alike!)
  • Submissions are divided into two categories:
    • 13-18 years old
    • 19+ years old
  • Submission fee is €3
    • All funds raised go directly towards the production costs of our journal and paying our contributors for issue two. 
    • There will be an opportunity for you to sponsor a writer’s submission, with our “pay it forward” system. 
  • We will announce two winners in July, one in each category.

The winning stories will be published on the Paper Lanterns website and each winner will receive a €15 prize.

Rules: 

  • Flash fiction entries must be max 400 words
  • The theme “Right Here, Right Now” can be interpreted in any way you like
  • There is no limit on the number of entries
  • Entries must be suitable for a teenage audience 
  • Entries must not be published elsewhere (if you are submitting simultaneously, please let us know if you are accepted elsewhere)
  • Please submit your entry in a Microsoft Word document, size 12 font

Do NOT include your name anywhere within the flash fiction document – we want to keep the judging process anonymous!

How to submit:

Follow this easy, two-step system

Step One:

  • Donate €3 to our Ko-fi page (this counts as your submission fee!)
  • Include your full name when you donate 
  • You will be given a receipt for your donation – take a screenshot of this or save it as a PDF (very important step!)
  • Each submission costs €3 to enter (if you are entering two pieces of flash fiction, please donate €6 – for three entries, please donate €9 – and so on).
  • Our Ko-fi page: https://ko-fi.com/paperlanterns

Step Two:

  • Fill out our submission form (name, email, etc)
  • You will be asked to upload proof of your submission (the screenshot / PDF of your receipt!) 
  • Upload your flash fiction entry as a Microsoft Word doc (please label the document as follows: Flash Fiction Competition – “title of the writing piece”)
  • Do NOT have your name visible on the Word document (to keep the judging process anonymous)
  • If you are submitting multiple entries, please upload them as separate documents)
  • Our submission form: https://forms.gle/Eok7w6mkMAxy5SnS6
  • And you’re done!

Can’t afford the fee?

Accessibility is an important part of our goals here at Paper Lanterns, which is why we are implementing a “pay it forward” system for this competition. 

  • If you would like to sponsor a submission fee (or a few!) – firstly, thank you very much!
  • Secondly, you can donate on our Ko-fi page. Be sure to include your name and a note saying, “PAY IT FORWARD.”

If you are a writer who is experiencing financial difficulties and would like to avail of the Pay It Forward system, drop us an email at paperlanternsjournal@gmail.com and we will help you out. 

If you have any questions about the competition, feel free to contact us at paperlanternsjournal@gmail.com 

Good luck!

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Paper Lanterns Online Open Mic Fundraiser

Hello! Welcome to the Paper Lanterns Online Open Mic Fundraiser!

When: Thursday May 28th at 7pm
Where: From the comfort of your own home
How much: €3

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we will be hosting this fundraiser online.
So, get ready for an evening of readings; poetry, short stories, and more! We will be showcasing the works of many talented folks throughout the night. The event is open to anyone over the age of 13 years – whether you want to watch or to perform, all are welcome!

All funds raised from this event go towards the production costs and contributors fees for issue two.

So, how does it work? Follow this simple three-step process to make sure you don’t miss out on this exciting fundraising event!

STEP ONE – BUYING YOUR TICKET
Tickets cost €3 per person. This step applies to both performers and attendees.

We ask you to buy a ticket by donating €3 on our Ko-fi page. You will be sent a PayPal receipt to your email. Be sure to save this receipt, it acts as your ticket! You can take a screenshot of this receipt on your phone or computer, or you can save it as a PDF.

Of course, if you wish to donate more than €3, we will be forever grateful for your generosity!
Ticket sales will close on Thursday May 28th at 6pm (one hour before the event!)

Order your ticket here: https://bit.ly/2AyBjGO

STEP TWO – REGISTRATION
This step is important, this is how we will get you into the event! This step applies to both performers and attendees.

Fill our the registration form below, including your name and email.
You will be asked to upload your proof of purchase (the screenshot / PDF of your ticket) here. Without this, you will not be registered for the event.

Performers: you will be asked to upload / share a link to your video for the open mic. We also ask you to provide a short bio (max 100 words). You will be asked to confirm the following:
– That the content of the video is suitable for a teen audience. Paper Lanterns will review all videos and reserve the right to deny any performances that are deemed inappropriate.
– That if you are a performer under the age of 18 years, you will be asked to sign a parental consent form, without which you will not be permitted to perform.

Some tips for performers recording videos:
– Make sure you film horizontally
– Try have lots of lighting so we can see your lovely faces!
– Speak loud and clear! Good audio is key
– The deadline to submit videos is midnight on May 27th
– There is a limited number of performance slots, which will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.


Register here: https://forms.gle/zjgb9Efnf7RpNH4j8

STEP THREE – SIT BACK AND ENJOY
You’ve done all that you need to do!

We will be in touch over email just before the event starts on Thursday May 28th at 7pm. You will be given an exclusive link to watch the videos of the performers as they go live.

Thank you for your support and enthusiasm for Paper Lanterns. We are so excited to showcase lots of wonderful talent and to share an evening with you.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at paperlanternsjournal@gmail.com

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Launch of Issue 1 – Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who tuned in to our launch! We were delighted to receive such wonderful support. You can watch the launch as a playlist on our YouTube channel.

Enjoy readings from Aoife Sheehan, Celia Jenkins, John Britton, Evangeline Henry, Esmée Kidd and Joe Byrne.

Submissions for Issue 2 are open until May 13th. Find out more here.

Issue 1 is now for sale – you can buy a copy here

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A Treason of Thorns

Laura Weymouth

A Treason of Thorns

Chicken House, March 2020

Paperback, pp. 376, £9.99

ISBN 9781912626694

A Treason of Thorns is a beautiful, lyrical and suspenseful “Big House” novel with a difference. Burleigh House, like all the great houses of Victorian novels, is as much of a lead character as the people who live within its walls, but in this novel the house itself is alive with a special magic that looks after the countryside around it and the people who live on and tend to the land. However, when the caretaker of the house is put under house arrest for treason, his daughter, Violet, is banished and only allowed to return after her father has died. When she comes back to Burleigh she finds the house has fallen into disrepair and has begun to tear itself apart and poison the landscape it once made flourish.

I was really drawn to the single-minded, ruthless and fiercely loyal Violet, and I felt that the secondary characters and relationships pale in comparison to the relationship between Violet and Burleigh. They share a magical bond where one can’t seem to thrive without the other. The plot of the novel is familiar, in that there is one brave person who is determined to save something she loves, in this case her home. However, the reader’s preconceptions of this common plot is changed by how Violet interacts with the house as a living thing, and Laura Weymouth’s careful world building, rooted in Victorian ideals of the home and duty of care of the ruling classes, makes this a unique and enchanting novel worth staying up too late for.

Laura King

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Pretty Funny

Rebecca Elliott

Pretty Funny

Penguin Random House, March 2020

Paperback, Ebook, pp. 336, £7.99

ISBN 9780241374627

Haylah Swinton lives with her mother and her brother, a small dictator. At school she is called Pig, a nickname she adopts to prevent further teasing about her weight. Refreshingly though, this is not a book solely about Haylah’s weight and her size is simply a nice fun fact about her rather than the novel’s driving narrative. Her mother starts dating a man totally wrong for her – he wears shoes with no socks – and she develops crush on Leo Jackson after watching him do comedy at her school’s talent show. When she overhears Leo saying he has no inspiration for new material to perform, Haylah decides to help him out because she is pretty funny too and has her own nascent aspiration to be a comedian.

This is Rebecca Elliott’s first YA novel and the first of an upcoming series. If you enjoy feminism combined with comedy then this is the book for you. Haylah is a witty and realistic character who gets into embarrassing situations and makes mistakes. She may be overweight, but Haylah embraces her body and shows that there is so much more to a person than what they look like. Elliott’s writing is sharp and observant, with a healthy serving of jokes throughout. I particularly appreciated the novel’s ending as it affirms that standing up for and loving yourself is more important than standing on the side-lines and loving a boy. This book will have you giggling under the covers, cheering for girl power and applauding female comedians.

Evangeline Henry

Pretty Funny book cover
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Music from Another World

Robin Talley

Music from Another World

HQ Young Adult, May 2020
Paperback, pp. 384, £7.99
ISBN 9781848457218

Patti Smith says: ‘Personally [I] am not interested in people trying to pigeonhole me’. Tammy does not feel understood. The seventeen-year-old belongs to a strict, 1970s conservative Christian community who attempt to force her to be someone she is not. Solace is found in writing unposted letters to her hero, Harvey Milk, in whom she confides her biggest secret; Tammy is gay. The teen enrols in a pen-pal project and is matched with punk-loving San Franciscan, Sharon. Neither of them can believe their luck. Finally, someone understands.

Best-selling author Robin Talley treats her characters with more kindness than their repressive communities do. Talley does not pigeonhole the story’s protagonists but grants Tammy and Sharon the space, of which they have been starved, to breathe. The story is told exclusively through diary entries and letters. For the social media generation, this intimacy is reminiscent of direct messaging (or DMing). This narrative device brings an immediacy to the book, making it difficult to put down. We feel the characters’ unease as we await the next communication. Music from Another World is a book with a cinematic quality. The soundtrack is Patti Smith, Blondie and Bowie. Scenes are set in feminist bookshops, punk shows, and protest marches. It’s an empowering read with a powerful message; if you don’t fit in, why not stand out!

Brigid O’Dea, teen reviewer

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Tuesdays Are Just As Bad

Cethan Leahy
Tuesdays Are Just As Bad
Mercier Press, 2018
Paperback, pp. 255, €12.99
ISBN 9781781175644

For Adam Murphy, transitioning back to “normal” after a suicide attempt is made even more difficult by the fact that he’s being haunted by a ghostly version of himself. Adam has to reintegrate back into the life of a teenager and all it entails – school, making friends, budding romance – with this ghost that nobody else can see or hear at his shoulder. It becomes increasingly difficult to tell if its presence is good or bad, but it certainly makes life more complicated for Adam.

Told through the perspective of the ghost, Leahy tells an increasingly important story about mental health with a voice that is humorous but which never trivialises. He fleshes out his tale with a colourful cast of characters – particular joys are the irreverent Douglas and quirky goth, Aoife – who are delightful even if they tend to outshine his protagonist. Bursting with empathy, Adam (and the reader) learn that everyone has their own struggles, but this doesn’t diminish your own. The ghost’s narrative voice is a wonderful addition; it distances readers with familiar topics, allowing for a new perspective, be that on mental health or the ridiculousness teenagers can get up to.

Leahy’s light touch successfully brings this coming-of-age story together. The familiar threads of school struggles and first loves are freshened with his depiction of mental health and the rocky road of recovery – not to mention his strong dash of comedy and the paranormal. An incredibly clever book which I very much enjoyed.

Aoife Sheehan

cover of Tuesdays Are Just As Bad
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The Pure Heart

Trudi Tweedie

The Pure Heart

Chicken House, 2020

Paperback, 266 pages

ISBN 9781912626007

When teen Iseabail of Hebridean Island is summoned to the house of a wealthy merchant to be a companion for his daughter, her life takes a chilling turn. Here, Iseabail recognizes a sinister vibe and she knows there is something not quite right with the house. As Iseabail discovers more and more unnerving secrets, she wonders if she will make it back home to her beloved Hebridean Island, before it is too late.

I enjoyed the storyline of this book which I thought was very original. I was astonished by the ending which I liked as I hadn’t been expecting it. To me, the story of this novel reminded me very much of ‘Jane Eyre’ and I think that this is a worthy option for those who feel they are too young to read ‘Jane Eyre’. 

As a fourteen-year-old, I found this style of writing a little too basic and think that it is perhaps wrongly marked as ‘young adult’.  I think this book would be better suited for readers around the ages of nine to twelve.

Rebecca Downey, teen reviewer

cover of The Pure Heary
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All The Bad Apples

All The Bad Apples

Moïra Fowley-Doyle

Penguin Random House, 2019

Paperback, pp. 337, £7.99

ISBN 9780241333969

On the morning of her seventeenth birthday Deena Rys comes out to her unconventional family. Branded as a bad apple by her distant father and bullied in school for her sexual orientation, she seeks her eldest sister Mandy’s comfort. However, the next evening Mandy is missing and presumed dead. Deena begins an adventure into her family’s past in the hope of breaking a family curse which affects Rys women who contradict societal norms. The curse provides a magical backdrop and additional excitement in an already fast-paced narrative.

Moïra Fowley-Doyle’s All The Bad Apples at times feels overwhelming, but it succeeds in creating a commentary on the historical perception of women coinciding with the contemporary situation of women. Perhaps Fowley-Doyle has taken on too much, nevertheless, the supernatural element allows for the novel to take on a surreal undertone providing a different platform for tackling big contemporary issues. Deena is far from a stereotypically flawed teenage protagonist, she is a modern, refreshing and appealing character who invites the reader into her world.

I was excited by the confrontational attitude of the narrative as Fowley- Doyle does not shy away from the biggest topics of today. While there were times when it felt the novel was overreaching, it is clear the characters are serving a greater purpose by shedding a stimulating light on issues which many young people today face. This novel is for curious, intuitive and opinionated young people who wish to explore a magical female-centred text.

Lorna O’Dea