*Roddy Doyle backs immigrant writers
RENOWNED Irish author and Booker-prize winner Roddy Doyle is to help immigrant writers in Ireland emerge through a new writing initiative which has just been launched.
The annual Metro Eireann Writing Award will be open to all people born outside Ireland but resident here for at least two years as well as people with immigrant backgrounds.
Any work can be submitted: a short story, extract of a novel (10,000 words), or a selection of poetry (maximum of 10 poems) on A4 paper with double-spaced lines. The best three as selected by Roddy Doyle, the sole judge of the competition will be awarded a total of 8,000 euro in cash prizes. First prize is 5,000 euro, while second and third place prizes are 2,000 euro and 1,000 euro respectively. Applicants must be at least 16 years of age, and the winning entries will be
published in Metro Eireann.
Speaking about the competition, Roddy Doyle who writes an exclusive monthly short story series in Metro
Eireann, Ireland’s first and only multicultural newspaper said: “We are looking for the new Irish voices stories and poetry that bring to life the experiences and feelings of the people who have come to work and live in Ireland.”
Urging entrants to submit quality writings, Doyle added that he is looking forward to judging the Metro Eireann Writing Award. “I’ll be reading them all so they’d better be brilliant,” he said.
Plenty of time has been given for entrants to write their stories, or decide which stories they want to submit for the competition. The deadline for submission of entries is 29 June 2007. Winners will be announced at the end of September 2007.
The annual Metro Eireann Writing Award will be open to all people born outside Ireland but resident here for at least two years as well as people with immigrant backgrounds.
Any work can be submitted: a short story, extract of a novel (10,000 words), or a selection of poetry (maximum of 10 poems) on A4 paper with double-spaced lines. The best three as selected by Roddy Doyle, the sole judge of the competition will be awarded a total of 8,000 euro in cash prizes. First prize is 5,000 euro, while second and third place prizes are 2,000 euro and 1,000 euro respectively. Applicants must be at least 16 years of age, and the winning entries will be
published in Metro Eireann.
Speaking about the competition, Roddy Doyle who writes an exclusive monthly short story series in Metro
Eireann, Ireland’s first and only multicultural newspaper said: “We are looking for the new Irish voices stories and poetry that bring to life the experiences and feelings of the people who have come to work and live in Ireland.”
Urging entrants to submit quality writings, Doyle added that he is looking forward to judging the Metro Eireann Writing Award. “I’ll be reading them all so they’d better be brilliant,” he said.
Plenty of time has been given for entrants to write their stories, or decide which stories they want to submit for the competition. The deadline for submission of entries is 29 June 2007. Winners will be announced at the end of September 2007.
