Over The Edge

Aiden O’Reilly Featured Reader & Judge at Seventh Annual Over The Edge Fiction Slam at The Kitchen @ The Museum

After the event’s huge success in the past six years, Over The Edge presents its seventh annual fiction slam with Featured Reader, Aiden O’Reilly, at The Kitchen @ The Museum, Spanish, Galway on Friday, October 16^th, 8pm.

Aiden O’Reilly’s short story collection Greetings, Hero was published by Honest Publishing UK in 2014, and launched in London and in Dublin. Aiden lived for nine years in Eastern Europe. He has worked as a mathematics lecturer, translator, building-site worker, and sub-editor for a property magazine. His fiction has appeared in The Stinging Fly, The Dublin Review, The Irish Times, Prairie Schooner, 3am magazine, Unthology 4 and in several other anthologies. His plays have been given professional staged readings at The Triskel in Cork, and in Dublin. He won the biannual McLaverty Short Story Award in 2008. In 2012 he received a bursary from the Arts Council.

The first twelve fiction writers to make it to The Kitchen @ The Museum on the evening of Friday, October 16^th and register will be guaranteed a place in the slam. If you want to be sure of a place, get there early! All participating writers should bring two pieces of their own fiction, as there are two rounds. The time limit in both rounds is five minutes. Extracts from longer stories are admissible. Stories do not have to be memorised. The Fiction Slam will be judged by a three person jury made up of two audience members and Aiden O’Reilly. Three writers will go through to the second round and the prize for the winner is a bottle of wine.

There is no entrance fee. All welcome. For further information contact 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of the Arts Council, Poetry Ireland and Galway City Council.

The October ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, October 29th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Mike Gibbons, & Kitty Holland. This is a special Over The Edge event in that both featured writers primarily write non-fiction. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. This month’s open-mic will showcase, among others, some of the poetry students from this year’s MA in Writing at NUI Galway. The evening will also see the announcement of the winners in this year’s Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition, which received a large number of entries again this year. This year’s competition judge is Dave Lordan. The shortlist can be read here.

Kitty Holland

Kitty Holland is social affairs correspondent of The Irish Times. She has reported widely on such issues as homelessness, drug addiction, poverty, women’s rights, Travellers, immigrants’ rights, asylum seekers, domestic violence and gay, lesbian and transgender rights. In November 2012 she broke the story on the death of Savita Halappanavar, on October 28th 2012, at Galway University Hospital. She has been with The Irish Times since 1998, and has won a number of awards for her work including Journalist of the Year in 2013. She studied History and Politics at Trinity College, Dublin, and completed a Masters in Journalism in Dublin City University. She lives in Dublin with her two children. She is the author of Savita: The Tragedy That Shook A Nation (Transworld Ireland, 2013).

Mike Gibbons lives in Galway and is the author of Survivor. It was the heyday of the Celtic Tiger. Money was no problem and three successful young businessmen, Damian, Mark and Michael, chartered a helicopter to travel from their homes in Galway to the Tall Ships race in Waterford in July 2005. But on their way back to the west the pilot lost his way because of fog and the helicopter crashed in a forested area on the northern slopes of Slieve Aughty. Against all the odds one man survived the impact. The injuries to Michael Gibbons’s head, limbs and body were horrific and he will never completely recover, but he did survive. In Survivor Mike tells his story.

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. This month’s open-mic will feature, among others, some of the poetry students from the MA in Writing at NUI Galway. New readers are always especially welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council, Poetry Ireland, &The Arts Council.

The winner in the fiction category and 2015 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year is Paul Duffy from Wicklow for his short story 'Redolence'. Paul receives a cash prize of €700 and his short story manuscript will be read by Doire Press. Paul will be a Featured Reader at an Over The Edge: Open Reading during the first half of 2016. Paul also receives a basket of books from Kenny’s Bookshop.

The poetry winner is Bennett McNiff from Drogheda, for his poem 'Stavrogin in Iceland'. Bennett receives a cash prize of €300; his poetry manuscript will be read by Salmon Poetry.

Runners up and highly commended in Poetry:

2^nd place: Rachel Coventry from Galway for ‘What Did I Do To Deserve You’

3^rd place: Paul McCarrick from Athlone for ‘Thanks to the Internet’.

Runners up and highly commended in Fiction:

2^nd place: Dermot Duffy from Dublin for ‘Luke Kelly’s Bones’.

3^rd place: Michelle Coyne from Galwayfor ‘The Sniper’

You can read the shortlist here.

We thank our judge Dave Lordan and our sponsors: Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop; Dock No, 1, ISupply Quay Street; Ward’s Hotel; Derek Nolan TD; Clare Daly TD; and Kenny’s Bookshop & Gallery.

Susan Millar DuMars with Over The Edge co-organiser Kevin Higgins

THE CLASS TAKES PLACE on FRIDAYS, 2-4pm for 8 weeks.
STARTING FRIDAY January 22nd.

Maximum Number students: 5

CLASS DESCRIPTION: this class isfor those serious about writing short or long fiction. From week one, each student will be responsible to email their assignment to Susan Millar DuMars and their classmates by Wednesday noon. Students will also bring hard copies of the piece into class. Assignments can be up to 5 double spaced pages. They may be in response to the week’s assignment or part of something the student is working on independently. In each session we will provide feedback to each student. Susan’s feedback will be detailed as it will be based on her earlier reading of the work. Thus, each student will receive detailed feedback on a total of 40 pages of work, as well as receiving “prompts” (assignments) and enjoying the camaraderie of the class.

Price: €140 for 8 weeks payable in advance or at first class. There are no refunds. To guarantee a place you must pay in advance. If you have been struggling with a short story or a novel, this is the class for you.

The class is organised by Over The Edge literary events and will take place at 3 Carbry Road, Newcastle, Galway. Five minutes from NUI Galway. Parking available.

ABOUT THE TUTOR: Susan Millar DuMars’ debut poetry collection, Big Pink Umbrella, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2008. Her next collection, Dreams for Breakfast, appeared in April 2010. Her work features in Landing Places, Dedalus’ 2010 anthology of immigrant poetry written in Ireland; and also in The Best Of Irish Poetry 2010. A fiction writer as well, she published a collection of short stories, American Girls, with Lapwing in 2007. She published a book of short stories in 2010: Lights in the Distance, published by Doire Press. She has been the recipient of an Arts Council Literature Bursary. Susan's third collection of poetry, The God Thing, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2013; her fourth book of poems Bonfire will be published by Salmon this coming Spring. She lives in Galway, where she and her husband have run the Over the Edge readings series since 2003. Susan edited the anthology Over the Edge – The First Ten years, published by Salmon, which includes work by forty seven writers who have published a first book since they did a reading at an Over The Edge: Open Reading in Galway City Library. Susan was recently the Featured Fiction writer in the American online magazine The Atticus Review.

YOU CAN REGISTER ONLINE NOW FOR THE CLASS STARTING FRIDAY JANUARY 22ND

The November ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, November 19^th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Caroline Healy, Dagmar Drabent,& Gemma Marren. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. This month’s open-mic will continue our showcase of the poetry students from this year’s MA in Writing at NUI Galway. New readers are always especially welcome at the open-mic.

Gemma Marren was raised in London by Irish parents. She was a finalist in the Irish Writers’ Centre 2015 Novel Fair competition, with the novel The Only Child. She works as a freelance academic copy-editor and when her head is not wedged in a book, she spends her time baking cakes and playing tag rugby. She lives in the wilds of Mayo with her husband and four children.

Dagmar Drabent, originally from Hamburg, Germany, lives in Galway, for nearly 30 years. At the moment she is finishing her PhD about Swiss writer Robert Walser at NUI Galway. She is also an artist and therapist and has been writing poetry and participating in poetry workshops for the past couple of years. Her poems have been published in Crannόg, Skylight 47, Orbis, and Blue Max Review.

Caroline Healyis an award winning writer and novelist. She writes literary fiction and young adult contemporary fiction. A graduate of the Seamus Heaney Centre, Belfast she divides her time between writing and teaching. Her short story collection entitled A Stitch in Time won Doire Press’s International Chapbook Short Story Competition. Her work has featured in publications such as Wordlegs, Prole, the Irish Writers’ Centre Lonely Voice and Five Stop Stories. She is a recipient of multiple awards from the Arts Council. Her work has been showcased at many literary events across Ireland, the U.K. and America. Caroline is currently editing her second short story collection, The House of Water, as well as final edits for her next novel, published with Bloomsbury Publishing.

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. This month’s open-mic will continue our showcase of the poetry students from this year’s MA in Writing at NUI Galway. New readers are always most welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council, Poetry Ireland & The Arts Council.

Starting in late January, Galway Arts Centrepresents a daytime class for all those beginner and continuing creative writing students out there, facilitated by Susan Millar DuMars.

Susan Millar DuMars writes both poetry and fiction. A collection of her stories, Lights In The Distance, was published in December 2010 by Doire Press; she has published three collections of poetry, Big Pink Umbrella (2008), Dreams For Breakfast (2010) & The God Thing (2013) all with Salmon Poetry. Susan was the Featured Fiction writer in a recent issue of the American online magazine The Atticus Review.Her next book of poems Bone Fire, will be published by Salmon Poetry in the Spring. She is also co-organiser of the Over The Edge reading series which specifically promotes new writers. Susan edited the anthology Over the Edge – the first ten years, published by Salmon, which includes work by forty seven writers who have published a first book since they did a reading at an Over The Edge: Open Reading in Galway City Library.

The class is suitable for both beginning and continuing creative writing students, working in either poetry or fiction. Students will spend their weeks responding to writing exercises designed to inspire, rather than inhibit. In class, they will receive gentle feedback on their work from their classmates and from the teacher. The class takes place on Monday afternoons, 2.30-4pm, commencing on Monday, January 25th. It runs for 10 weeks.

The cost to participants is 110 Eurowith an 100 Euro concession price. Booking is essential as places are limited. There are no refunds once the class has started. For booking please contact Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, phone 091 565886 or email info@galwayartscentre.ie

Starting in January, Galway Arts Centreis offering aspiring poets a choice of three poetry workshops, all facilitated by poet Kevin Higgins, whose best-selling first collection, The Boy With No Face, published by Salmon Poetry, was short-listed for the 2006 Strong Award for Best First Collection by an Irish poet. Kevin’s second collection of poems, Time Gentlemen, Please, was published in 2008 by Salmon Poetry and his poetry is discussed in The Cambridge Introduction to Modern Irish Poetry. His third collection Frightening New Furniturewas published in 2010 by Salmon. His work also appears in the generation defining anthology Identity Parade –New British and Irish Poets (Ed. Roddy Lumsden, Bloodaxe, 2010) and The Hundred Years’ War: modern war poems (Ed Neil Astley, Bloodaxe April 2014). A collection of Kevin’s essays and book reviews, Mentioning The War, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2012. Kevin’s poetry has been translated into Greek, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Japanese & Portuguese. His fourth collection of poetry, The Ghost in the Lobby, was published last year by Salmon. Kevin's poetry was the subject of a paper 'The Case of Kevin Higgins, or, The Present State of Irish Poetic Satire' presented by David Wheatley at a Symposium on Satire at the University of Aberdeen. Kevin is satirist-in-residence with the alternative literature website The Bogman’s Cannon. His next book 2016 – The Selected Satires of Kevin Higginswill be published by NuaScéalta very early in 2016. Song of Songs 2:0 – New & Selected Poems will be published by Salmon in Spring 2017.

Each week Kevin will give participants a poetry writing exercise for the following week and will offer each participant constructive suggestions as to how her or his poem can become the best possible poem it can be.

Kevin is an experienced workshop facilitator and several of his students have gone on to achieve publication success. One of his workshop participants at Galway Arts Centre won the prestigious Hennessy Award for New Irish Poetry, two have won the Cúirt New Writing Prize, and yet another the Cúirt Poetry Grand Slam, while several have published collections of their poems; two being shortlisted for the Shine-Strong Award for Best First Collection of poems. In 2013 a group of his students set up the poetry newspaper Skylight 47, which publishes new poems, reviews of poetry books and opinion pieces about poetry related matters. Kevin teaches poetry on the NUI Galway Summer School programme and on the NUIG BA Creative Writing Connect programme. Kevin is also co-organiser of the successful Over The Edge reading series which specialises in promoting new writers.

Each workshop will run for ten weeks, commencing the week of January 18^th. They will take place on Tuesday evenings, 7-8.30pm (first class January 19^th); on Thursday afternoons, 2-4pm (first class January 21^st) and on Friday afternoons, 2-3.30pm (first class January 22nd).

The Tuesday evening and Friday afternoon workshops are open to both complete beginners as well as those who’ve been writing for some time. The Thursday afternoon workshop is an Advanced Poetry Workshop, suitable for those who’ve participated in poetry workshops before or had poems published in magazines. The cost to participants is €110, with an €100 concession rate.

Places must be paid for in advance. To reserve a place contact reception at Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, phone 091 565886 or email info@galwayartscentre.ie

Creative Writing for Beginnerswith Kevin Higgins takes place one evening per week (Monday) from 7-9.30pm (8 weeks) with a mid-term break. It commences on Monday, January 11^th, 2016. Advance booking is essential. Places cost €120. Kevin Higgins will provide writing exercises for, and give gentle critical feedback to, those interested in trying their hand at writing stories, poems, or memoir.

To book a place, go to http://www.gti.ie/parttime/course/detail/t/72/c/201511-004246

Intermediate Creative Writingwith Susan Millar DuMars takes place one evening per week (Tuesday) from 7-9.30pm (8 weeks) with a mid-term break. It commences on Tuesday, January 12th, 2016. Advance booking is essential. Places cost €120. This class is suitable for those who’ve participated in creative writing classes before or begun to have work published in magazines. Flexible exercises and work-shopping of assignments, together with the study of the works of published writers, will help each class member to find their own writing voice.

To book a place, go to http://www.gti.ie/parttime/course/detail/t/72/c/201511-004278

YOU CAN ALSO BOOK in person at Galway Technical Institute, Monday-Friday, (10am-4.30pm).

For further information contact Galway Technical Institute, Father Griffin Road, Galway, phone 091-581342 or email gtiadulted@gretb.ieorsee http://www.gti.ie

The December ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, December 17^th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Kim Moore, Michael Gallagher,& Felicia ‘Flish’ McCarthy. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are especially welcome. The Over The Edge Christmas celebration will take place afterwards.

Felicia ‘Flish’ McCarthy took an Honours BA and MA in English Language and Literature at Trinity College Dublin. She has lived in Dublin, Denver, & now Salthill where she works as a professional Energy Medicine Practitioner when she is not fooling around with words. She is a regular participant in poetry workshops at Galway Arts Centre. She was shortlisted for the 2015 Baillieborough Poetry Prize. Her poems have appeared in publications such as Boyne Berries, Infusions, This Never Happened II, and the RNLI anthology The Sea.

Before switching to prose, Michael Gallagher enjoyed considerable success as a scriptwriter. He has written comedy for the both the BBC and Channel Four and has co-written several plays. In 2014 he won the Galway’s Great Read creative writing competition with his short story, ‘First Light’. Michael is a modest man not given to outlandish boasts or hyperbole and is currently employed as editor of the breathtakingly brilliant free Galway magazine, Westword.

Kim Moorewas born in 1981 and lives and works in Cumbria. She is one of the leading new voices in British poetry. Her first full length collection The Art of Falling was published by Seren in April 2015. She won a New Writing North Award in 2014, an Eric Gregory Award in 2011 and the Geoffrey Dearmer Prize in 2012. In 2014 she was Poet in Residence for Ilkley Literature Festival and Digital Poet in Residence for The Poetry School. Her first pamphlet If We Could Speak Like Wolves was a winner in The Poetry Business Pamphlet Competition, judged by Carol Ann Duffy. If We Could Speak Like Wolves was chosen as an Independent Book of the Year in 2012 and was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Pamphlet Award and the Lakeland Book of the Year Award. Her work has been anthologised in Salt’s Best British Poetry 2012 and Oxfam’s Lung Jazz.

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always most welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council, Poetry Ireland, & The Arts Council.

Over The Edge just received the great news that the Arts Council are increasing the funding we will receive for our literary events in 2016 by 75% compared to this year.

Mari Maxwell & Ruth Quinlan to read with acclaimed British poet Luke Kennard at May Over The Edge: Open Reading and LAUNCH of issue 5 of Skylight 47 poetry newspaper.

The May ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, May 28^th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Luke Kennard, Ruth Quinlan & Mari Maxwell. Ruth Quinlan is the 2014 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year and this reading is part of her prize for winning the competition. Over The Edge is currently taking entries for 2015 Over The Edge New Writer of the Year; this year the competition is judged by poet, fiction writer, and literary activist Dave Lordan, who editsThe Bogman’s Cannon, by far the liveliest online literary publication in Ireland. For full details of the 2015 competition seehere.

The evening will also see the launch by British poet Luke Kennard of the latest issue (no. 5) of Skylight 47 poetry newspaper, probably Ireland’s most interesting poetry publication; this issue includes poems, reviews, an interview with a leading Irish poet, and a poetry workshop with a leading British poet.

Mari Maxwell lives in County Galway and writes fiction and poetry. She has work forthcoming in The Brasilia Review, The Ogham Stone, Macabre Maine, and Veils, Halos and Shackles International Poetry Journalon the Abuse and Oppression of Women. Her writing was highly commended in The Francis Ledwidge 2014 Poetry Award, shortlisted in the 2014 Walking on Thin Ice Short Story Contest and longlisted in the 2013 Over The Edge New Writer of the Year. She has been published in Indian Kukai, A New Ulster, Flash Flood Journal, Crannóg, and Boyne Berries. One of her stories has been shortlisted in the Cork County Library and Arts Service Short Story Competition 'From The Well.'

Ruth Quinlanis from Tralee, Co. Kerry and holds an MA in Writing from NUI Galway. She is the 2014 Over The Edge New Writer of the Year and this reading is part of her prize. Ruth also won the Hennessy First Fiction Award in 2013 and was shortlisted for the 2014 and 2012 Cúirt New Writing fiction prize. Her work has been published by the Irish Independent, Crannóg, ROPES, Skylight47, Emerge Literary Journal, Thresholds, SIN, and Scissors and Spackle. She has also contributed to three anthologies, Watching my Hands at Work: A Festschrift for Adrian Frazier (fiction), Abandoned Darlings (fiction) and Wayword Tuesdays (poetry). Recently, Ruth joined the editing team for Skylight47.

Luke Kennard

Luke Kennard is the author of numerous works of poetry and short fiction. His first collection of poems, The Solex Brothers, was published in 2005, and won him one of that year's Eric Gregory Awards. His second collection, The Harbour Beyond the Movie, made him the youngest writer to be nominated for the Forward Prize for Best Collection. He has since published two further full collections, and two pamphlets, one of which, The Necropolis Boat, was the Poetry Book Society's Pamphlet Choice in 2012. In addition to poetry, he writes criticism, short fiction, and is currently working on his first novel. He teaches English and Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. Luke Kennard's poetry has been described as “witty, extravagant and provocatively genre-bending”, and features in the anthology Identity Parade: New British & Irish Poets (Ed Roddy Lumsden, Bloodaxe 2010).

After the Featured Readers have finished some contributors to Skylight 47 will read their poems from the new issue. COPIES OF THE NEW ISSUE OF SKYLIGHT 47 WILL BE ON SALE BEFORE, AFTER AND DURING THE READING. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. All welcome. There is no cover charge. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council, Poetry Ireland, & The Arts Council.

CRITERIA: poems entered in the competition should be no more than 30 lines long. They must be the original work of the entrant. Poems previously published in magazines or poetry collections are eligible. Multiple entries are accepted; poets can enter as many poems as they wish.

PRIZE
*the winner will have her or his poem published and displayed on the Arts Corridor of University Hospital Galway as part of the 2016 Poems For Patience. Poems For Patience is a long running series which over the past decade has featured poems by leading Irish and international poets such as Seamus Heaney, Philip Schultz, Jane Hirschfield, Michael Longley, Vona Groarke, Tess Gallagher and many more. The poems after exhibition on the Arts Corridor are then displayed in waiting areas throughout Galway University Hospitals.
*the winner will be invited to read his or her winning poem at the launch of the 2016 Poems For Patience at the Cúirt International Festival of Literature in April 2016.
*the winner will be provided with accommodation in Galway for one night during the 2016 Cúirt International Festival of Literature
*the winner will be given a copy of their poem printed as a Poem for Patience poster
*the winner will be asked to submit six poems for consideration to be a Featured Reader at the Over The Edge: Open Reading series in Galway City Library.

ENTRY FEE: to enter one poem the fee is €10. If you enter two or more poems the entry fee is €7.50 per poem i.e. to enter two poems it costs €15, to enter three poems €22.50 and so on.

Payment should be made by cheque or postal order payable to Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust.

Entries should be sent by post to Margaret Flannery, Arts Director, Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust, Galway University Hospitals, University Hospital, Newcastle Road, Galway. Do not put your name on the poems; please include your contact details on a separate sheet.

THE CLOSING DATE is Friday, March 11th 2016.

THE JUDGE: The competition judge is Kevin Higgins. Kevin Higgins is Writer-in-Residence with Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust. He facilitates poetry workshops at Galway Arts Centre; teaches creative writing at Galway Technical Institute and on the Brothers of Charity Away With Words programme. Kevin also teaches poetry on the NUI Galway Summer School programme and on the NUIG BA Creative Writing Connect programme.He is the poetry critic of the Galway Advertiser. Kevin is co-organiser of Over The Edge literary events. His first collection of poems The Boy With No Face was published by Salmon in February 2005 and was short-listed for the 2006 Strong Award. His second collection, Time Gentlemen, Please, was published in March 2008 by Salmon. His work also features in the anthology Identity Parade – New British and Irish Poets(Ed Roddy Lumsden, Bloodaxe, 2010) and in The Hundred Years’ War: modern war poems (Ed Neil Astley, Bloodaxe, 2014). Frightening New Furniture, his third collection of poems, was published in 2010 by Salmon Poetry.Mentioning The War, a collection of his essays and reviews was published by Salmon in 2012. Kevin has read his work at most of the major literary festivals in Ireland and at Arts Council and Culture Ireland supported poetry events in Kansas City, USA (2006), Los Angeles, USA (2007), London, UK (2007), New York, USA (2008), Athens, Greece (2008); St. Louis, USA (2008), Chicago, USA (2009), Denver, USA (2010), Washington D.C (2011), Huntington, West Virginia, USA (2011), Geelong, Australia (2011), Canberra, Australia (2011), St. Louis, Missouri (2013), Boston, Massachusetts (2013) & Amherst, Massachusetts (2013). His poetry has been translated into Greek, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Russian, & Portuguese. Kevin’s fourth collection of poetry, The Ghost In The Lobby, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2014.Kevin is satirist-in-residence with the alternative literature website The Bogman’s Cannon. His next book 2016 – The Selected Satires of Kevin Higgins will be published by NuaScéalta very early in 2016. Song of Songs 2:0 – New & Selected Poems will be published by Salmon in Spring 2017.

For further details: Tel: +353 (0)91 544979 Email: Margaret.Flannery@hse.ie

Over The Edge Celebrates Thirteenth Birthday with Readings by Stephen De Burca, Nuala Keher, Vona Groarke who will Launch issue six of Skylight 47 (possibly Ireland’s most interesting poetry publication)

Vona Groarke

Over The Edge presents the first ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ of 2016 at Galway City Libraryon Thursday, January 21^st, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Vona Groarke, Nuala Keher, & Stephen DeDurca. The centre piece of the evening will be the launch of issue number six of Skylight 47, the exciting bi-annual poetry paper from the Skylight Poets, which will be on sale on the evening. The publication will be launched on the evening by Vona Groarke. Skylight 47 is based in Galway and publishes poems by poets from all around the globe; all poets are welcome to submit poems for consideration for future issues. For details on how to take out a subscription to Skylight 47 see here

Stephen De Burca is a 24 year old writer from Galway City. Currently a philosophy and English student at NUI Galway, Stephen was highly commended in the Over The Edge New Writer of the Year competition 2015. His writing has taken him to an art residency in Iceland in the summer of 2015 and he will be attending art residencies in France as well as the Netherlands this summer.

Nuala Keher is a native of Galway and works as Academic Director of EQUAL Ireland, a not-for-profit charitable trust. Nuala is a strong advocate for social change both in Ireland and abroad. She has been a key member of the SIPTU trade union movement and spent a year in South Sudan with the Ministry for Education. She is joint author with Eddie Higgins of the non-fiction book ‘Your Rights at Work’ (1998) published by the Institute of Public Administration, Dublin. Nuala also writes fiction and is a participant in Susan Millar DuMars’ Advanced Fiction Writing class. She has been published in Ireland’s Own and was long listed in the 2015 Over the Edge New Writer of The Year competition.

Vona Groarke was born in the Irish Midlands in 1964. She attended Trinity College, Dublin and University College, Cork. She has lived in Dublin, Cork and Dundalk and has been writer-in-residence at NUI Galway and Maynooth. Her collections published by The Gallery Press include Shale (1994), Other People’s Houses(1999), Flight (2002), shortlisted for the Forward Prize (UK) in 2002 and winner of the Michael Hartnett Award in 2003, Juniper Street(2006) and Spindrift(2009) and X (2014), both Poetry Book Society Recommendations. Her poetry prizes include the Hennessy Award, the Brendan Behan Memorial Prize, the Michael Hartnett Award, Strokestown International Poetry Award, the Stand Magazine Poetry Prize, and runner-up in the Times Literary Supplement Poetry Competition (2003). In 2008, her version of Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill’s eighteenth-century Irish poem was published as Lament for Art O’Leary. She has been Writer-in-Residence with the National University at Galway and at Maynooth, and was co-holder of the Heimbold Chair in Irish Studies at Villanova University (Spring 2004). She now lives in Manchester where she teaches in the Centre for New Writing at the University of Manchester. Vona Groarke is a member of Aosdána and is currently editor of Poetry Ireland Review. As well as reading her own work, Vona Groarke will launch the new issue of Skylight 47.

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. Contributors to the new issue of Skylight 47 are particularly welcome to read their Skylight 47 poems at the open-mic; those wishing to take part should get to Galway City Library by 6.20pm, at the latest, and give their names to Kevin Higgins, who The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing financial support of Galway City Council, Poetry Ireland, & The Arts Council.

The 2016 Over The Edge Poetry Book Showcase featuring Michelle O'Sullivan, Trevor Conway,Lorna Shaughnessy, James O’Toole, Aideen Henry, Robyn Rowland, Matt Mooney, Kate Ennals, Quincy Lehr, and the anthologiesRaving Beauties –Hallelujah for 50ft Women(Bloodaxe), AND AGAMEMNON DEAD: An Anthology of Early Twenty First Century Irish Poetry(Muavaise Graine, Paris),& 21 Poems: 21 Reasons for Choosing Jeremy Corbynwill take place at Charlie Byrne’s Bookshopon Friday, February, 12^th at 6.30pm.

In this annual retrospective of the year just past, Galway-based poets, who published a new collection of poems during 2015, are invited to read three poems from the collection in question. There will also be short readings from the anthologies Raving Beauties: Hallelujah for 50ft Women(Bloodaxe), AND AGAMEMNON DEAD: An Anthology of Early Twenty First Century Irish Poetry(Muavaise Graine, Paris); 21 Poems: 21 Reasons for Choosing Jeremy Corbyn, all of which include poems by Galway-based writers.

All welcome. There is no cover charge. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of The Arts Council, Poetry Ireland and Galway City Council.

THE CLASS TAKES PLACE on WEDNSEDAY EVENINGS, 7-9pm for 8 weeks (with a mid-term break the week of April 20th)

STARTING WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31st. Maximum Number students: 5. Each student will receive close individual attention.

CLASS DESCRIPTION: this class is for those serious about writing short or long fiction. From week one, each student will be responsible to email their assignment to Susan Millar DuMars and their classmates by Monday noon. Students will also bring hard copies of the piece into class. Assignments can be up to 5 double spaced pages. They may be in response to the week’s assignment or part of something the student is working on independently. In each session we will provide feedback to each student. Susan’s feedback will be detailed as it will be based on her earlier reading of the work. Thus, each student will receive detailed feedback on a total of 40 pages of work, as well as receiving “prompts” (assignments) and enjoying the camaraderie of the class. Price: €140 for eight weeks payable in advance or at first class. There are no refunds. To guarantee a place you must pay in advance. If you have been struggling with a short story or a novel, this is the class for you.

The class is organised by Over The Edge literary events and will take place at 3 Carbry Road, Newcastle, Galway. Five minutes from NUI Galway. Parking available. For directions see map.

ABOUT THE TUTOR: Susan Millar DuMars’ debut poetry collection, Big Pink Umbrella, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2008. Her next collection, Dreams for Breakfast, appeared in April 2010. Her work features in Landing Places, Dedalus’ 2010 anthology of immigrant poetry written in Ireland; and also in The Best Of Irish Poetry 2010. A fiction writer as well, she published a collection of short stories, American Girls, with Lapwing in 2007. She published a book of short stories in 2010: Lights in the Distance, published by Doire Press. She has been the recipient of an Arts Council Literature Bursary. Susan's third collection of poetry, The God Thing, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2013; here fourth collection, Bone Fire, will be published very soon by Salmon. She lives in Galway, where she and her husband have run the Over the Edge readings series since 2003. Susan edited the anthology Over the Edge – The First Ten years, published by Salmon, which includes work by forty seven writers who have published a first book since they did a reading at an Over The Edge: Open Reading in Galway City Library. Susan was recently the Featured Fiction writer in the American online magazine The Atticus Review.

YOU CAN REGISTER ONLINE NOW FOR THE CLASS WHICH STARTS WEDNESDAY MARCH 31st

Susan Millar DuMars with Over The Edge co-organiser Kevin Higgins

THE CLASS TAKES PLACE on FRIDAYS, 2-4pm for 8 weeks.
STARTING FRIDAY April 1st (with a mid-term break the week of April 22nd).

Maximum Number students: 5

CLASS DESCRIPTION: this class isfor those serious about writing short or long fiction. From week one, each student will be responsible to email their assignment to Susan Millar DuMars and their classmates by Wednesday noon. Students will also bring hard copies of the piece into class. Assignments can be up to 5 double spaced pages. They may be in response to the week’s assignment or part of something the student is working on independently. In each session we will provide feedback to each student. Susan’s feedback will be detailed as it will be based on her earlier reading of the work. Thus, each student will receive detailed feedback on a total of 40 pages of work, as well as receiving “prompts” (assignments) and enjoying the camaraderie of the class.

Price: €140 for 8 weeks payable in advance or at first class. There are no refunds. To guarantee a place you must pay in advance. If you have been struggling with a short story or a novel, this is the class for you.

The class is organised by Over The Edge literary events and will take place at 3 Carbry Road, Newcastle, Galway. Five minutes from NUI Galway. Parking available.

ABOUT THE TUTOR: Susan Millar DuMars’ debut poetry collection, Big Pink Umbrella, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2008. Her next collection, Dreams for Breakfast, appeared in April 2010. Her work features in Landing Places, Dedalus’ 2010 anthology of immigrant poetry written in Ireland; and also in The Best Of Irish Poetry 2010. A fiction writer as well, she published a collection of short stories, American Girls, with Lapwing in 2007. She published a book of short stories in 2010: Lights in the Distance, published by Doire Press. She has been the recipient of an Arts Council Literature Bursary. Susan's third collection of poetry, The God Thing, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2013; her fourth book of poems Bone Fire will be published by very soon by Salmon. She lives in Galway, where she and her husband have run the Over the Edge readings series since 2003. Susan edited the anthology Over the Edge – The First Ten years, published by Salmon, which includes work by forty seven writers who have published a first book since they did a reading at an Over The Edge: Open Reading in Galway City Library. Susan was recently the Featured Fiction writer in the American online magazine The Atticus Review.

YOU CAN REGISTER ONLINE NOW FOR THE CLASS STARTING FRIDAY APRIL 1st

ADVANCED FICTION DAYTIME CLASS

Creative Writing for Beginnerswith Kevin Higgins takes place one evening per week (Monday) from 7-9.30pm (8 weeks) with a mid-term break. It commences on Monday, April 4^th, 2016. Advance booking is essential. Places cost €120. Kevin Higgins will provide writing exercises for, and give gentle critical feedback to, those interested in trying their hand at writing stories, poems, or memoir.

To book a place, go to http://www.gti.ie/parttime/

Intermediate Creative Writingwith Susan Millar DuMars takes place one evening per week (Tuesday) from 7-9.30pm (8 weeks) with a mid-term break. It commences on Tuesday, April 5th, 2016. Advance booking is essential. Places cost €120. This class is suitable for those who’ve participated in creative writing classes before or begun to have work published in magazines. Flexible exercises and work-shopping of assignments, together with the study of the works of published writers, will help each class member to find their own writing voice.

To book a place, go to http://www.gti.ie/parttime/

YOU CAN ALSO BOOK in person at Galway Technical Institute, Monday-Friday, (10am-4.30pm).

For further information contact Galway Technical Institute, Father Griffin Road, Galway, phone 091-581342 or email gtiadulted@gretb.ieorsee http://www.gti.ie

Scotty Ishmael, John Valters Paintner, & Danny Morrison for February Over The Edge: Open Reading

The February ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, February 25^th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Danny Morrison, John Valters Paintner,& Scotty Ishmael. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always especially welcome at the open-mic.

Scotty Ishmael is a full-time restauranteur and part-time writer of fiction and short stories. He has owned and operated Scotty's in Galway since 1991 with his lovely wife Jenny. He is the youngest of three children from Dayton, Ohio USA. He lives in Athenry with his three children, one dog, nine cats, two rabbits, a goldfish and a pony.

John Valters Paintnerwas born in Sacramento, California. With a degree in education and theology, John taught in the States for twelve years. While teaching in Seattle, Washington John partook in a film making course at the Seattle Film Institute, which reignited a life-long passion for writing and storytelling. Since moving to Galway City, Ireland with his wife Christine, John has completed a screen writing course at NUIG and several Over the Edge courses. His work appeared in Pukka Print Magazine’s inaugural issue. John writes short plays for The Theatre Room, Galway where he won the Best Original Writing award.

Danny Morrison

Danny Morrison (b. 1953) is a writer who lives in Belfast. He is the author of four novels - West Belfast(1989); On The Back of The Swallow (1994); The Wrong Man (1997); and Rudi - In The Shadow of Knulp (2012); a prison journal/letters - Then The Walls Came Down (1999); a memoir - All The Dead Voices (2002); a play - The Wrong Man (2005), and some scenes for the play Binlids(1998); a collection of political writings - Rebel Columns (2004); and editor of a literary anthology - Hunger Strike: Reflections on the 1981 Hunger Strike (2006). His short stories have appeared in a number of publications and have been broadcast on BBC, RTE and Lyric FM. He is currently working on a fifth novel, provisionally-titled, Band On The Run; and a play, The Mental. Danny is a former National Director of Publicity for Sinn Féin and a republican political prisoner. As well as writing, he is the secretary of the Bobby Sands Trust and was for many years, until 2014, chairperson of Féile an Phobail, the community festival founded in West Belfast in 1988.

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always particularly welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council, Poetry Ireland & The Arts Council. http://overtheedgeliteraryevents.blogspot.com

The March Over The Edge Writers’ Gathering presents an exciting variety of poetry by Liz Quirke, and Rachel Coventry; a reading from his recently published novel by Brian Kirk; and a special Bogman’s Cannon showcase by which will included a discussion about the work of The Bogman’s Cannon, Ireland’s leading alternative literature website, which will feature Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Karl Parkinson, & Dave Lordan The event will take place at The Kitchen @ The Museum, Spanish Arch, Galway on Friday, March 11^th, 8pm. All are welcome. There is no cover charge.

Liz Quirkeis 31. She is originally from Tralee, Co Kerry and lives in Spiddal, Co Galway with her wife and daughter. Her poetry has appeared in New Irish Writing in the The Irish Times, The Best New British And Irish Poets 2016 published by Eyewear Publishing, Southword, Crannóg, Revival Literary Journal, The Stony Thursday Book, The Ofi Press and other publications. She won the 2015 Poems for Patience Competition and was shortlisted for the 2015 Cúirt New Writing Prize. She is currently working towards her first collection.

Rachel Coventrylives in Galway. Her poetry has appeared in various journals including The SHop, Stony Thursday Book, Cyphers, Crannóg, Boyne Berries, and Skylight 47. She was selected for the 2014 Poetry Ireland Introductions Series and she is currently writing a PhD on Heidegger’s poetics at NUIG.

Brian Kirk is an award-wining poet and short story writer from Clondalkin in Dublin. He won the Jonathan Swift Creative Writing Award for Poetry in 2014, the Bailieborough Poetry Prize 2015 and The Creative Flow Poet of the Year Award 2015 at Dundalk FM. He was selected for the Poetry Ireland Introductions series in 2013, and was highly commended in the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award in 2014 and 2015. His poetry and stories have appeared in journals and anthologies in Ireland, the UK, Germany, India and USA. His poetry film Red Line Haiku was screened at The Civic Theatre in Tallaght as part of the Red Line Book Festival in October 2015 and can be viewed on Youtube. His novel, The Rising Son, is his first foray into literature for a younger audience.

Annemarie Ní Churreáin is a poet, originally from Donegal, now based in Dublin and she is the Diversity Editor of The Bogman’s Cannon.

Annemarie Ní Churreáin

Karl Parkinson is a poet and fiction writer from Dublin. He is a Facilitating Editor of The Bogman’s Cannon.

Dave Lordan is a poet and fiction writer, originally from West Cork now based in Wicklow, and is Founding Editor of The Bogman’s Cannon.

For further information contact 087-6431748.

All Welcome. No cover charge.
Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing financial support of the Arts Council, Poetry Ireland, and Galway City Council.

2015 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year

LONGLIST

FICTION

Betsy Carreyette

Michelle Coyne

Eamonn McGuiness

Angela Finn

Paul Duffy

Melanie Lohan

Fergal Ó’Dubhghaill

Edward Jecky

Selina Oram

Margaret Cahill

Aidan Hynes

Katie McDermott

Lauren Foley

Chris Connolly

Anne Hayden

Dermot Duffy

Adam Trodd

Brian Leeson

Mark Stevenson Curry

Valerie Ryan

John Butler

A.M. Shine

Barbara Leahy

Michael Sheehan

Niall Bourke

Paul Anthony Corbett

Armel Dagorn

Anne Donnelly

Audrey Molloy

Maeve Galvin

P.J. Moore

Eleanor O’Reilly

L.S. Harding

Martin Halliday

Alex Reece Abbott

POETRY

Breda Spaight

Nollaig Rowan

Dagmar Drabent

James Anthony

Niall Bourke

Vincent Steed

Anne Irwin

Sighle Meehan

James O’Toole

Jessamine O’Connor

Stephen De Burca

Aoife Reilly

Majella Kelly

Gerard Gallen

Rachel Coventry

Kevin Murtagh

Clifton Redmond

Ruth Aylett

Annesley Downey

Hannah Kiely

Bobbie Sparrow

Judy O’Kane

Wilma Kenny

Maresa Sheehan

Maurice Devitt

Paul McCarrick

Rob Childers

Ginny Sullivan

Jayne Brogan

Dawn Wisniewski

Lindsey Bellosa

Lisa Allen

Liz Quirke

Stephanie Klapp

Helena Kilty

Bennet McNiff

Gavan Duffy

Bernie Ashe

Marion Cox

We would like to thank our competition sponsors:

Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop,

Dock No. 1, ISupply Flood Street, Ward’s Hotel, Clare Daly TD,

Kenny’s Bookshop &Derek Nolan TD

This year's competition judge is Dave Lordan

THE LONGLISTED WRITERS ARE INVITED

TO READ FROM THEIR LONGLISTED WORK

@ the Over The Edge Culture Night event

@ Kenny’s Bookshop & Gallery,

Liosbán Retail Park on Friday, September 18^th

The fiction writers reading starts 4pm.

The reading by poets: 6pm

THE SHORTLIST WILL BE ANNOUNCED @

The September Over The Edge: Open Reading

on Thursday, September 24^th

THE WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED

@ the October Over The Edge: Open Reading

in Galway City Library,

Thurs October 29^h

The March ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, March 31st, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Jane Clarke, Molly Twomey, & Eileen Keane. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are especially welcome.

Eileen P Keaneis from North Connemara, Co. Galway. She is currently studying for an MA in Writing at NUI Galway. Eileen has written and performed for theatre and stage and her CD Spaces was released in 2014. She writes Poetry, Memoir and non-fiction. She is also a Singer/Songwriter and has performed at the: Electric Picnic, Lunasa Festival Sligo, and at the Clifden Arts Festival. Her songs have featured on RTE Radio and Television. Her poems appear in the latest edition of the Galway Review and her Flash Fiction was shortlisted for Allingham Festival 2015.

Born on the twenty sixth of February 1996, Molly Twomey is currently in her second year of a Bachelor of Arts degree with Creative Writing in NUIG. She is originally from the historical and picturesque town of Lismore, Co. Waterford. Winner of the Blackwater Community School Creativity Award 2013, she writes incisively about her observations, in particular how humans relate to one another. Molly is passionately concerned with regard to health, food, nature, conservation, inter relational dynamics and compassion or lack thereof.

Jane Clarke

Originally from a farm inRoscommon, Jane Clarke now lives near Glenmalure, Co. Wicklow. She won the 2014 Listowel Writers' Week Poetry Collection Award and also the 2014 Trocaire/Poetry Ireland Competition. She also won the inaugural Poems for Patience, 2013; Listowel Writers' Week (2007) and the iYeats (2010) and was shortlisted for the 2013 & 2014 Hennessy Literary Awards. She has had poems published in Acumen, Agenda, Abridged, The North, The Rialto, Ambit, One, Poetry Wales, The Irish Times, The Irish Independent - New Irish Writing, Mslexia, and many more. Jane Clarke's first collection, The River, is published by BloodaxeBooks. Kevin Higgins’s Galway Advertiser review of The Rivercan be read here http://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/80764/jane-clarke-so-much-more-than-a-pastoral-poet

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always most welcome at the open-mic. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council, Poetry Ireland &The Arts Council.

FICTION SLAM Aiden O’Reilly Featured Reader & Judge at Seventh Annual Over The Edge Fiction Slam

October Over The Edge: Open Reading with Kitty Holland, & Mike Gibbons PLUS the announcement of the winners of the 2015 Over The Edge New Writer of the Year

2015 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year THE WINNERS!

STARTING JANUARY Over The Edge announces DAYTIME course in Advanced Fiction Writing with Susan Millar DuMars STARTS January 22nd

November Over The Edge: Open Reading with Caroline Healy, Dagmar Drabent, & Gemma Marren

New Year Daytime Creative Writing with Susan Millar DuMars at Galway Arts Centre BOOK NOW

NEW YEAR POETRY WORKSHOPS AT GALWAY ARTS CENTRE WITH KEVIN HIGGINS

NEW YEAR Beginners & Intermediate Creative Writing Classes at Galway Technical Institute BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW

Final Over The Edge: Open Reading of 2015 with leading UK poet Kim Moore, Felicia McCarthy, & Michael Gallagher

May Over The Edge: Open Reading with Luke Kennard, Ruth Quinlan, Mari Maxwell plus the LAUNCH of issue 5 of Skylight 47

Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust is seeking entries again for its exciting annual poetry competition

January Over The Edge: Open Reading with Vona Groarke, Nuala Keher, Stephen De Burca PLUS the launch of new issue of Skylight 47

2016 Over The Edge Poetry Book Showcase at Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop

STARTING LATE MARCH Over The Edge announces EVENING CLASS in advanced Fiction Writing with Susan Millar DuMars STARTS WEDNESDAY March 31st

STARTING EARLY APRIL Over The Edge announces DAYTIME course in Advanced Fiction Writing with Susan Millar DuMars STARTS April 1st

Spring Beginners & Intermediate Creative Writing Classes at Galway Technical Institute BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW

February Over The Edge: Open Reading with Danny Morrison, John Valters Paintner, & Scotty Ishmael PLUS open-mic

March Over The Edge Writers' Gathering featuring Brian Kirk, Liz Quirke, Rachel Coventry, & Bogman's Cannon showcase

2015 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year LONGLIST ANNOUNCED

March Over The Edge: Open Reading with Jane Clarke, Eileen Keane, & Molly Twomey