Follow the link below to submit an online entry. Postal entries are also accepted and must be accompanied by an official entry form. Send to: RTÉ Short Story Competition, RTÉ Radio Centre, Donnybrook, Dublin 4.
The 2026 competition closes at midnight on Friday 15 May 2026.
More about the competition
The 2026 RTÉ Short Story Competition in honour of Francis MacManus, one of Ireland's longest established and most significant literary prizes, is now open for entries. Set up in 1986 to honour writer and broadcaster Francis MacManus, recognises and rewards the best new Irish fiction writing for radio. The top prize is now €5000. Writers over the age of 18 living in Ireland, and Irish writers around the world have until midnight on Friday 15 May 2026 to submit their short story to the competition; this year, Aingeala Flannery joins returning judges Tristan Rosenstock and Jan Carson jon the panel.
You can hear the judges launch the competition on Arena with Rick O'Shea on Tuesday 10 March and listen back to and read past winning stories at rte.ie/writing
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At a special RTÉ Arena live programme in autumn 2026, the overall winner will be awarded €5,000, while €4,000 and €3,000 will be awarded to the second and third place prize winners respectively. A further seven runners-up will receive €250 each, and all 10 shortlisted stories will be published on rte.ie/culture and broadcast in a season of new writing on RTÉ Radio 1. Listen back to last year's awards night here and see some images from the night here
The RTÉ Short Story Competition has been championing new talent for decades; past winners and shortlisted writers include Claire Keegan, Danielle McLaughlin, Anthony Glavin, Chris Binchy, Nuala O’Connor, Liz Nugent, Austin Duffy, Colin Walsh, Stephen Walsh and Sarah Gilmartin.
All shortlisted stories are produced for radio, voiced by some of Ireland’s most talented actors. In recent years these have included Marty Rea, Aaron Monaghan, Jane Brennan, Cathy Belton, Derbhle Crotty, Eamon Morrissey, Ali White, Ingrid Craigie, Janet Moran, Kathy Rose O’Brien, Peter Coonan, Emmet Kirwan and Andrew Bennett.
And if you'd like to find out more about writer and RTÉ editor Francis MacManus who's honoured in this competition, there's a great profile here from the Journal.ie some years ago.