Rick with the judges
Stephen Walsh & Sinéad Crowley
Niall McArdle
Liz Houchin with Liz Nugent
Dee Forbes
Eamon Morrissey
Janet Moran
Caitríona Ní Mhurchú
Francis MacManus Short Story Friday 11 July 2014
2019 Competition: Stories go to air!
The winning stories from this year's competition have been announced at an awards evening in RTÉ, chosen by judges Sinéad Crowley, Liz Nugent and Declan Meade from over 2000 entries, and will be broadcast weeknights on RTÉ Radio 1 at 11.20pm. To listen click the story title link after it is broadcast.
Monday 16 September 2019: 1st Prize: Honey Days by Stephen O'Reilly read by Jane Brennan. You can also read it at the journal.ie
Tuesday 17 September 2019: 2nd Prize: Vena Amoris by Niall McArdle, read by Eamon Morrissey. Read it here
Wednesday 18 September 2019: 3rd Prize: The Boxer Rebellion by Liz Houchin, read by Janet Moran. Read it here
Thursday 19 September 2019: WonderHouse (Some Assembly Required), by Stephen Walsh, read by Peter Hanly
Friday 20 September 2019: News by Sheila Barrett, read by Ali White
Monday 23 September: Out the Pontoon Road by Edward Melvin, read by Emmet Kirwan
Tuesday 24 September: Filling in Blanks by Niamh Heery, read by Ruth McGill
Wednesday 25 September: The Planters by Mel O'Doherty, read by Gary Murphy
Thursday 26 September: Toby, Toby, Toby, by Deirdre Roycroft, read by Andrew Bennett
Friday 27 September: Salt, by Tríona Walsh, read by Caitríona Ní Mhurchú
For more information on the winning stories, click here or thejournal.ie
Francis MacManus Short Story Competition
A reading of one of the 25 finalists of the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition: Bumblebee by Fiona Gartland read by Angela Harding.
Bumblebee by Fiona Gartland
A reading of one of the 25 finalists of the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition: Bumblebee by Fiona Gartland read by Angela Harding.
About the Competition
The RTÉ Radio 1 Short Story Competition has been a critically important launch pad for new and emerging writers since its inception in 1986, with a wide ranging appeal including young aspiring authors in Ireland.
A competition for original short stories for radio was first established in 1986 in honour of the RTÉ Radio Head of Features and acclaimed novelist, Francis MacManus (1909-1965). Since then, it has been a source of encouragement, support and recognition for new, emerging writers as well as established names. Past winners have gone on to receive national and international acclaim, including Claire Keegan, Molly McCloskey, Ivy Bannister, Anthony Glavin and Nuala O’Connor, and many more.
Every year, the winning and shortlisted stories are produced and broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 in a season of new writing, read by leading actors, who in recent years have included Peter Hanly, Emmet Kirwan, Cathy Belton, Ingrid Craigie, Denis Conway, Andrew Bennett, Kathy-Rose O'Brien, and many more.
This year, the full shortlist of 10 stories will be broadcast in the autumn, and will be available for download as podcasts. And for the 2019 competition, all three prizewinning stories will be available to read on thejournal.ie following broadcast.