Tag: news

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Teen Short Story Competition in Association with Tertulia Books – Cash Prize!

We are delighted to co-host the Teen Short Story Competition with Tertulia Books in Westport, Co. Mayo.

Our theme for this competition is ‘Waves’. Put your thinking caps on and start writing!

The competition closes on August 1st, at 6 PM.

We are thrilled to have award winning YA author Deirdre Sullivan as our guest judge.

Submit your short story to: competition.paperlanterns@gmail.com

In the body of your email, please include:

  • Your name.
  • Your age.
  • Your county of residence (you must live on the island of Ireland).
  • Your school (if applicable).
  • A little bit about yourself!

Our guest judge will read and select the winning pieces (one from each age group) from the shortlist.

The winners will be published in Issue 6 of Paper Lanterns.

The winners will receive a cash prize sponsored by Tertulia in association with Spot-Lit EU.

The winners will also receive a copy of Issue 6.

Guidelines:

  • You must be a resident on the island of Ireland.
  • You must be aged between 13-18. We have two judging categories: 13-15 years and 16-18 years.
  • Your work must be an original piece.
  • Short stories must be between 1200 and 2000 words. Please do not exceed this word count.
  • All stories will be read blind. Do not include your name or contact details within the submitted document.
  • We will not consider work that is prejudiced in nature. We will not consider work that includes, but is not limited to: sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, or classist content.
  • We cannot accept work that has already been published.
  • The judge’s decision is final. Our guest judge cannot provide feedback on any submitted or shortlisted pieces.
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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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Fund It Campaign

In light of the madness that March brought, we have had to change our plans. We had been arranging to supply our journal to approximately twenty bookshops across Ireland. Sadly, these bookshops have had to close until further notice. So, for now, we are aiming to print within the next month and we will sell directly from our website. 

We have set up a Fund It campaign to get Issue 1 over the finish line. When you donate through Fund It, you pledge money and get rewards. It is a great way to pre-order the journal!

You can find out more from one of our founders, Grace, below.

You can head to our Fund It page here – https://fundit.ie/project/paper-lanterns-ya-literary-journal-1

Thank you for the support and we can’t wait for everyone to see our first issue!

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Paper Lanterns Interviews Karina Clifford

Karina Clifford is a bookseller with Dubray Books. An avid reader, she created the #ReadIrishWomenChallenge in April 2019. Several writers and readers engaged with this challenge on social media, where a prompt would be given each day to name a book written by an Irish woman writer that fits the criteria:

“A book that made you laugh.”

“A book based on mythology.”

“An award-winning book.”

This year, the challenge will consist of a brand-new list of prompts. We spoke to Karina about her inspiration and the future of the initiative.

What inspired you to create the #ReadIrishWomenChallenge last year?

One of my main inspirations was reading Anne Enright’s essay, “Call Me George,” first published in the London Review of Books, now collected in No Authority: Writings From the Laureateship.  She wrote piercingly and persuasively about the lack of representation of women in the book reviews in Irish papers. Both books written by women and book reviews by women received far less space than similar pieces by and about men’s writing. I also participated in a March reading challenge by a UK writer in which only UK/US writers were mentioned; Irish writers seemed completely non-existent! So, the two came together in my head – I wanted to put the spotlight on Irish women writers.

Have you discovered any authors or works through this initiative that you wouldn’t have known about otherwise?

Yes! Sheila Pim was a successful crime writer in the 1940s and ‘50s. She incorporated her knowledge of botany, beekeeping, and gardening to add details to her plots – and also to give a fascinating picture of everyday Irish life during that time. I’m also delighted to say that a lot of people told me that they had encountered Irish women YA writers for the first time thanks to the challenge – and they loved them!

How do you decide what prompts to include in the challenge?

A mix of genres I’d like to highlight and areas I’d like to discover more about!

What kind of changes have you made this year and why?

I feel like books have a remarkable ability to spark and foster discussion about the world we live in, which is why one of the prompts this year is “A book about social change.” Irish society has seen a lot of changes so it will be interesting to hear about the writing that reflects this.

What do you see for the future of the #ReadIrishWomenChallenge?

I’d love to see some events tied in with the challenge, such as an evening of people gathering to read out favourite passages written by Irish women authors and discussing them. That would be amazing!