This article is from page 22 of the 2012-08-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 22 JPG
THE life and times of Maeve Binchy are to be honoured in County Clare following the announcement of a new short story competition at this week’s Merriman Summer School in Lisdoonvarna.
The novelist, playwright and short story writer, who passed away on July 30 following a short illness, was a long-time supporter of the Merriman Summer School and had both visited and taken part in the event on numerous occasions.
The Merriman Short Story Competition will be run by the Merriman Summer School in conjunction with the Ennis Book Club Festival and the Irish Times .
With a first prize of € 1,000, it looks set to be one of the richest short story competitions taking place in Ireland next year.
The competition was announced by multi-Tony Award-winning director Garry Hynes of Druid Thea- tre in Lisdoonvarna on Sunday.
Speaking at the closing event of this year’s Summer School, Garry Hynes said that Maeve had given inspiration and confidence to many aspiring writers, and that this competition marked Maeve’s passing in a very appropriate way.
In 2005, Maeve Binchy wrote a special short story for the Brian Merriman bicentenary celebrations. The story, entitled ‘A Week in Summer’, was read by the author at that year’s Summer School in Lis- doonvarna and was recorded live. A limited edition of the story was subsequently published in CD and booklet form and Maeve donated the royalties from the US edition of this recording to the Cumann Merriman, while she also agreed that her donation be used to award a short story prize.
Entries for the competition must be original, unpublished and unbroadcast and should not be more than 2, 500 words in length. All entries must be set in Ireland. Stories may be written in Irish or the English language. The competition is confined to writers born in or living on the island of Ireland.
The closing date for entries is October 31, 2012. The winning story will be read at the 2013 Ennis Book Club Festival and will be published in the Irish Times .
Full rules for the competition will be published on September 15 on www.merriman.ie, www.ennisbookclubfestival.com and www. clarelibrary.ie.