Competition deadline: 31st October 2023 Established to inspire creativity, great writing and to provide a platform for publication. The Anthology Flash Fiction Competition is open to original and previously unpublished flash fiction pieces on any theme or genre in the English language by writers of any nationality, living anywhere in the world. We are looking for writing that is clever and unique, inspires us, and crafts a compelling story.  Open to both new and established writers, articles submitted must not exceed 250 words. Writers can submit as many entries as they wish. Ea ..read more

Six novels have been shortlisted for the 2023 Dublin Literary Award, sponsored by Dublin City Council, which awards excellence in world literature. Celebrating 28 years, this award is the world’s most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction published in English, worth €100,000 to the winner. If the book has been translated the author receives €75,000 and the translator receives €25,000. Distinctive among literary prizes, nominations are chosen by librarians and readers from a network of libraries around the world. The 2023 Award winner will be chosen from a diverse and international ..read more

The Secret to a Bestselling Book: a Good Night’s Sleep If I haven’t slept well, I don’t write. It’s that simple. And a bad night’s sleep, though rare, does occur from time to time, which in turn, wreaks havoc with my sleep cycle, rendering me not fully operational the next day. Great sleep has been critical to my writing ability. I really can’t convey enough, just how vital sleep is to get both excellent quality writing completed, and for extended periods of time. Numerous studies show how the power of sleep maximises our ability to concentrate and improves cognitive function, thus increasing ..read more

And just like that, the World Book Titles 2023 have all but disappeared from the Top 20… Welcome back to another week in the Irish Bestsellers, where the WBD titles continue to claim all ten of the Children’s Top 10, but just pop into the Top 20 at no. 20 with Adam Kay’s Kay’s Brilliant Brains. The other big news of this week is that what seems like only five minutes after Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Slow Cooker Book by Nathan Anthony was blasting Prince Harry off the no. 1 spot, Anthony is rising again with Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Air Fryer Book at no. 1 and The Slow Cooker Book at no. 4 ..read more

Competition deadline: 8th June 2023 Inkitt’s 10 year Decade of Discovery Contest Join us in celebrating 10 years of Inkitt! Your incredible storytelling abilities are exactly what makes Inkitt so special, and we’d love to invite you to share your talents in our new contest. Inkitt was founded 10 years ago as a website for founder Ali Albazaz and his friends and family to share stories and receive feedback. Since then, Inkitt has grown, evolved, and discovered so many amazing and talented writers, on a journey to fulfill our company mission of discovering hidden talents and turning them into gl ..read more

An interview with Irish-language writer and translator Mícheál Ó hAodha on his recent translation of Eoghan Ó Tuairisc’s modernist novel An Lomnachtán (I am Lewy). https://bullaunpress.com/books/i-am-lewy/#endorsements What is the novel An Lomnachtán – recently translated into English for the first time and published as I am Lewy about? I Am Lewy is a beautifully written novel as set in a market town in the west of Ireland during the turbulent 1920s and reveals the inner, imaginative world of a six-year old boy, Loodeen Winders, whose family, like so many other Irish families of the era, is a ..read more

The British Book Awards has revealed the regional and country winners for the 2023 Independent Bookshop of the Year Award. Selected by the judges from 59 finalists announced last month, the award, sponsored by book wholesaler Gardners, celebrates those stores that continue to support their local communities with bespoke bookselling and tailored initiatives. Tom Tivnan, The Bookseller managing editor and chair of the Independent Bookshop of the Year judges, said: “Independent bookselling has come out of the other side of the pandemic at its healthiest point in decades; as a result our regional ..read more

Well, it may not feel much like March outside, but Spring is definitely on its way – in book terms, of course, that means that World Book Day sales are still going strong. Twelve of those coveted Top 20 spots are #WBD2023 titles, which we’re hoping translates into literally thousands of new books in young readers’ hands. This week’s runaway winner, though, is the amazing Liz Nugent, with her new book, Strange Sally Diamond. At the time of these charts being compiled, it had been out for a week and yet it’s clocking well over double the sales of no. 2, nearly 4,000. Picked as a ‘BBC Between The ..read more

Competition deadline: 30th June 2023 (Early Bird Entry up to 31st March 2023) The 8th To Hull And Back competition is open for entries until 30th June 2023. July 2022 saw the launch of the 8th To Hull And Back Short Story Competition, a biennial short story contest with a humorous twist that celebrates the most imaginative and amazing short stories from writers all over the world. 1st Prize: £1,200 2nd Prize: £600 3rd Prize: £300 3 x Highly Commended: £150 14 x Shortlisted: £75 20 x Longlisted: 1 x free early bird entry fee for the next competition (worth £13) That’s a total prize pot of £3,86 ..read more

Home Is Where the Haunts Are: Local Folklore As Inspiration A lady of the lake. A murdered peddler said to haunt a winding road. A ghostly soldier still on patrol even though treaties have been signed and the final shot of their war long since fired. Cryptids, spirits, possessions…more than likely, you grew up with a local tale that kept you up at night, or at least made you pick up your pace a bit as you passed a particularly decrepit house said to be haunted. Or pond, or road, or building or… well, you get the picture. Legends and folklore are everywhere. Whether passed down late at night in ..read more