Radio 1 88-90fm
Winners of RTÉ Radio 1 Short Story Competition 2008
The RTÉ Radio 1 Short Story Competition in Memory of Francis MacManus was founded in 1985 to promote and encourage creative writing for radio. Over the years the short story competition has resulted in the broadcast of more than 500 stories by new and emerging writers and has set many authors on the path to publication and recognition.
This is the 24th year of the competition and over 700 stories were received from all over Ireland and Irish people living abroad. The prizes for the RTÉ Radio 1 Short Story Competition in Memory of Francis MacManus are €3,000, €2,000 and €1,000 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. All 22 shortlisted stories in the competition will be broadcast in the coming months.
Speaking of the quality and diversity of this year's short stores, the judges said:
"The stories that stood out this year found an original voice that drew the reader into their unique world with subtlety and compassion. The hallmark of the shortlisted stories was an imaginative exploration of the diversity of experience as lived in the new Ireland of today. The three winning stories showed great control of the narrative, roundness of character and a skilled sense of completeness."
First prize - "Hay" by Ciarán Folan, An Spideál, Co. na Gaillimhe.
Ciaran was born in Newtowncashel, Co. Longford then later moved to An Spideal, Co Galway. Ciaran studied Science at University College Galway and currently teaches in Dublin. His first stories were published in New Irish Writing in The Irish Press and he went on to win The Francis Mac Manus Award in 1987. Ciaran was awarded an Arts Council Bursary in 2004 and further bursaries from Dublin City Council and Galway Arts Council. His collection of short stories "Freak Nights" was published in 1996.
Second prize - "Home Help" by Dolores Walshe, Virginia, Co. Cavan.
Dolores has published a novel "Where the Trees Weep" and a collection of short stories "Moonmad" with the Wolfhound Press. Her play "A Country in our Heads" was staged at Andrew's Lane Theatre in Dublin and "In the Talking Dark" was performed at The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.
Among the awards she has won are the O. W. Whithead/ Irish Pen Playwriting Award, The Irish Stage and Screenwriting Award and The Bank of Ireland Playwriting Award. She has just completed her second novel "Fragile We Are" and has twice been shortlisted for The Francis Mac Manus Award.
Third prize - "Romance" by Alastair Hadden, Ballinteer, Dublin 16.
Alastair was born in Dublin in 1984 and has lived there most of his life. He received a degree in Philosophy in Trinity College Dublin after which he worked in a wine shop. In 2007 he studied for the MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in Norwich where he was awarded The Seth Donaldson Memorial Trust Bursary on the strength of his application portfolio. After a year of living and writing in England he has returned to live in Dublin.
The winning story will be broadcast on Sunday 10th May 2009 at 7.45pm followed by the other winners and all the shortlisted stories at the same time every week.
L-R: Ciarán Folan, Julie Parsons ands Alastair Hadden. L-R: Vincent Woods (presenter The Arts Show) with Ciarán Folan, Julie Parsons and Alastair Hadden. L-R: Ciarán Folan, Julie Parsons, Alastair Hadden and Seamus Hosey. About the judges: JULIE PARSONS was born in New Zealand but grew up in Ireland. After a very successful career as a producer in RTÉ Radio and Television she turned to writing fiction. From her first novel "Mary Mary" in 1998 she has established herself as a master storyteller among Irish writers with a unique ability to create an atmosphere of suspense and unpredictability that can often transform the ordinary lives of her characters into a living nightmare. MAURICE HARMON is a former Professor of Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama at University College Dublin. Over many years he has been a distinguished scholar in Irish Literature, publishing landmark works on such writers as Austin Clarke, Thomas Kinsella, Sean O'Faolain and Samuel Beckett. He has been a Visiting Professor at Ohio State University, the University of Washington, Boston College and Kobe University in Japan. He is also a distinguished poet whose volume "The Last Regatta, Selected Poems" (1988 - 2000) has been published by Salmon Books. CLAIRE KILROY is one of Ireland's young and most acclaimed novelists. She was born in Dublin in 1973 and studied English at Trinity College. She worked in television for some years before publishing her first novel "All Summer" in 2003 which won the 2004 Rooney Prize for Literature. Her second novel "Tenderwire" a love story between an Irish violinist and her old Italian violin, was shortlisted for the 2007 Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award. Her third novel, "All Names Have Been Changed" will be published in May 2009. SEAMUS HOSEY who is Chairman of the Adjudication Panel is a Senior Producer in the Arts and Features Department of RTÉ Radio 1. He has worked as producer and organiser of The RTÉ Radio 1 Short Story Competition in memory of Francis Mac Manus since 1985, the year of its inception. Over the years he has produced such programmes as The Arts Show, The Poetry Programme, The Thomas Davis Lecture Series and several documentaries on the arts. WRITERS SHORTLISTED FOR RTÉ RADIO 1 SHORT STORY COMPETITION IN MEMORY OF FRANCIS MAC MANUS Shortlist in alphabetical order 1. "The Other Side of Nowhere" by Elizabeth Carty, Dunsaney, Co. Meath. 2. "The Body" by John Austin Connolly, Booterstown, Co. Dublin. 3. "African Finch" by Richard Cotter, Carrigline, Co. Cork. 4. "Out of Sight" by Geraldine Creed, Shankill, Dublin 18. 5. "Purgatory" by Paul Duffy, Baldoyle, Co. Dublin. 6. "Molly's Last Performance" by Des Feeney, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. 7. "Hay" by Ciaran Folan, An Spideal, Co. Na Gaillimhe. 8. "Race" by Andrew Fox, Skerries, Co. Dublin. 9. "Wish You Were" by Anthony Glavin, Whitehall, Dublin 9. 10. "Romance" by Alastair Hadden, Ballinteer, Dublin 16. 11. "Commas and Comas" by Rachel Hegarty, Raheny, Dublin 5. 12. "One In A Million" by Kay Inckle, Basin Street, Dublin 8. 13. "Hired Help" by Fidelma Kelly, Blackrock, Co. Dublin. 14. "Ten" by David Keohane, Shannon, Co. Clare. 15. "Thursday Market" by Martin Malone, Kildare Town. 16. "Tipping Point" by Anna May Mangan, Wembley, Middlesex. 17. "An Irishman in Berlin" by David Andrew Mc Ilroy, Brussels. 18. "Centre of Small Hell" by Geraldine Mills, Rosscahill, Co. Galway. 19. "Mare Rubrum" by Helena Mulkerns, Wellingtonbridge, Co. Wexford. 20. "Emperors of Speed" by Mary O'Donnell, Maynooth, Co. Kildare. 21. "Only Four Girls" by Ita Ryan, Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry. 22. "Home Help" by Dolores Walshe, Virginia, Co. Cavan. 
When: Series finished
Producer: Seamus Hosey
Broadcast Co-ordinator: Fionnuala Hayes
