The 2024/25 Creative Writing Competition Supported by the All Ireland Scholarships
How can you craft a wonderful story into its shortest, leanest form? How can you capture a memory? How can you make an important declaration about the world? Flash pieces mean getting to the heart of the story or message as quickly as you can, making every word count, painting a glimpse in words that will linger in your readers’ heads long after they’ve finished reading.
The maximum limit for flash prose pieces will be 600 words and the maximum for short poetry will be 20 lines.
The secret is in finding ways of making your writing brief, concise and distilled without imposing any restrictions on your imaginations or your creativity.
All information on this year’s competition is available below.
FLASH PROSE
There are three options in the prose category:
Flash fiction: Apart from being short and concise, flash fiction must still observe the principles of storytelling: it should be well structured, and have some discernable plot with a strong hook, a developing sense of story and an impactful ending. Flash stories can be as short as a single line (keep in mind that one of the most famous and heartbreaking flash fiction stories is only six words long).
Flash creative non-fiction: This should also be structured well with a satisfying finish – and can be anything that draws from life: a piece of memoir or autobiography, a story about someone real, a moment in time captured in compressed and authentic language.
Flash op-ed: This should be an opinion piece about a matter of importance to you. It should aim to raise awareness, be persusive, convincing, heartfelt, even dazzling. But also remember to keep it brief and pared down to its most essential elements.
SHORT POETRY
Poetry is a form that invites the use of concision and economy of language, while also harnessing the power of rhythm in structure and symbolism of meaning. It can be more oblique, more lyrical, more cadenced, more nuanced in tone and structure than prose.
This is the first year we’re inviting poetry and we’re delighted that two of Ireland’s most talented poets are joining us to help pick the winners.
As Robert Frost once stated “poetry is a fresh look and a fresh listen” and that’s exactly what we’re looking for in this category; voices that have something to express or arresting images to evoke and who bring skill and vision to the shaping of language. Read some of your own favourite poetry for inspiration and attend the online workshop in December when we’ll take you through some more detailed advice.
Other submission requirements:
Entrants should specify clearly which category/subcategory they are submitting to. Entrants can submit a maximum of three pieces, (but note that successful entrants can only be awarded one prize.) Part of the application process will require entrants to upload profile pictures and to indicate their consent to allow images to be used on AIS platforms.