2006 Fish International Poetry Prize

Competition Summary

Opens: 1 January 2006
Closing date: 31 March 2006
Judges - Leanne O'Sullivan & Michael McCarthy

A First Prize of €1,000 to the winner plus publication in the Fish 2006 Anthology. Four runners up will also be selected to appear in the Anthology and will each receive an award of €100 plus five complimentary copies of the Anthology.

All winning authors will be invited to read their work at the launch of the 2006 Fish Anthology. This will take place during the West Cork Literary Festival at Bantry House in July 2006.

The following poem is by Michael McCarthy, who will be giving the Poetry Writing Workshop at the West Cork Literary Festival. We hope it inspires you. It appears in his collection of poetry, Birds' Nests & Other Poems, published by Bradshaw Books. Leanne O'Sullivan will be giving a Youth Poetry Workshop at the Festival.

In Memoriam by Michael MCarthy

Let's say the year is twenty-one-sixteen.
The headstone says I died in twenty-thirty-six.
Though I've been dead these eighty years
I'm pleased to see I lived to ninety one.

The graveyard perched
above an S of sea where boats can rest
along a lonely curve of shore
where tourists no longer come.

Beneath my name: the dates of birth and death,
some long-forgotten lines I haven't written yet,
Beside my grave a grass-grown gravel path
unused except by fishermen at night.

I see a woman, pushing back the grass.
She's twenty-five or so,
Researching for her PhD, her subject:
Forgotten Irish Poets.

She found some poems of mine on micro-disk
buried in the archives of a library
in Edmonton Alberta, where
I was almost famous once.

She stands among small raindrops
as I once stood
in the graveyard at Drumcliff,
She weeps as I wept over Yeats.

A strand of hair clings to her face.
A briar sways in unnoticed wind.
Far below the waves say hush.
Close by a blackbird sings.

The Rules

• No entry form is needed.

• The Prize is open to writers of any nationality writing in English.

• There is no restriction on theme or style.

• There is no restriction on length - but if someone sends in The Rime of The Ancient Mariner , they probably won't win.

• The winning poems must be available for the Anthology and, therefore, must not have been published previously.

• Copyright remains with the author.

• Notification of receipt of entry will normally be by email.

• The judges' verdict is final.

• No correspondence will be entered into once work has been submitted.

• Poems cannot be altered or changed after they have been entered.

Entry Fees

The cost of an On-line entry is fixed in Euro and the translation into your local currency will be done automatically by your credit card company according to the current exchange rate.

The cost of Postal entry will be at a fixed rate in Euro, Pounds Sterling and US Dollars.

On-Line Entries

On-line entries will only be accepted if entered through our website.
Please do not send poems as email attachments.

PLEASE ENSURE THE TITLE OF THE POEM APPEARS AT THE BEGINING OF THE FIRST PAGE. PLEASE DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON THE POEM. YOUR POEM IS AUTOMATICALLY LINKED TO YOUR NAME.

On-Line Entry €
Per Entry €12.00
Entry + Critique (Optional) €37.00
2006 Fish Anthology (Optional)
(Inc. p. & p.) €10.00

Postal Entries

Poems entered by post must be submitted with a min. 12pt font, minimum 1.5 spacing and printed on one side of the paper only. PLEASE DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON THE POEM. INCLUDE ALL CONTACT DETAILS ON A SEPARATE SHEET. Include email where possible. Poems will not be returned unless a Critique is required.

Include a cheque, made payable to 'Fish Publishing', in your local currency to cover the cost of all your requirements. We also accept postal orders from Ireland and the UK.

Postal Entry € £ US$
Per Entry €12.00 £10.00 $15.00
Entry +Critique (Optional) €25.00 £18.00 $38.00
2006 Fish Anthology (Optional)
(inc p. & p.) €10.00 £10.00 $15.00

Postal entries should be sent to:

Fish Publishing,
Durrus,
Bantry,
Co. Cork,
Ireland.

(There is no postal or ZIP code). If receipt of entry, notification of results, or response to any other enquiry is required other than by email, then please send a Stamped Self-Addressed Envelope if posting from within Ireland, or International Reply Coupons if writing from any other country.

Judges

Leanne O'Sullivan, still in her early twenties, has already won most of Ireland's main poetry competitions and had poems published in many magazines. Her first collection Waiting for my Clothes, was published by Bloodaxe 2004.

Michael Mc Carthy was born in 1945 and grew up in the Parish of Caheragh. He began to write poetry in the 90¹s and won the Patrick Kavanagh Award in 1997. His collection, Birds' Nests and Other Poems , was published by Bradshaw Books. He has also written two books in verse for children, The Story of Naoh and the Ark , and The Story of Daniel in the Lion's Den, both published by Barefoot Books. He is currently working on his second collection of poetry, and also memoir and fiction. His work has been translated into sixteen languages and published world wide. His poem Noah has been translated into about fifteen (at the last count) including Irish, as well as U.S. and Australian editions. Daniel is about to come out in Chinese.

Source:
http://www.fishpublishing.com/2006-fish-international-poetry-prize.php