Kenmare | Arts Festival | 2026
2 to 16 August 2026
The Kate O'Riordan Prize for Short Fiction 2026
Celebrating creativity, storytelling, and new voices in fiction
Kate O’Riordan is a multi-award-winning writer of six novels. She has also written for theatre and screen. Her many television credits include Mr Selfridge, and she created Smother and Blackshore for BBC Studios/RTE. A native of Bantry, Co. Cork, Kate’s writing career took off when she won the Hennessy/Tribune prize for a short story. Since then, she has remained a keen advocate for new writing and for giving new writers their own starting chance. She currently divides her time between London and Kenmare
THE KATE O’RIORDAN PRIZE FOR SHORT FICTION
Anthology Launch
16 August 6pm at the Carnegie Arts Centre, Kenmare
Free Admission
With readings and launch of the short story anthology
Event will be about 80 minutes
THE SHORTLIST
Congratulations to all those whose stories have been shortlisted. These selected works will be published in the inaugural anthology, First Light, which will be launched at the Kenmare Arts Festival on Sunday, 16 August at 6pm at the Carnegie Arts Centre, Kenmare. Admission is free. The Kate O'Riordan Prize for Short Fiction event will include readings and the launch of the short story anthology, and will last approximately 80 minutes. Thank you for being part of this year's competition. To everyone who took the time to put their words on paper and submit to the Kate O'Riordan Short Story Competition, thank you. We appreciated every entry and genuinely enjoyed reading them.
The deep freezer in the field - Rosaleen Lynch
Combinations - Rebecca Kennedy
Bluebird - Eamonn Furey
Not quite brown bread - Derville Murphy
Reality - JoanTracey
The Reunion - Charlie Fellows
Coming Unhooked - June Hunter
038 Men Mostly - Séan Kenny
Have you lost something? - Sandra Thom-Jones
Moments - Martin Kelly
Pinching didn’t help - Mary Whelan
Different rules apply - Fiona McKay
The Fairy Hill - Hugh Dunne
Watching Dada - Alan Howley
The Taller One - David Micklem
The Poem - Maureen Meli
Heart. Break - Camilla Galbiati
Elegy - Khen Julia
1st Prize - Left-hand pages - Kate Durrant
2nd Prize - Crossing the Lexicon -Shauna Colgan
3rd Prize - Confessions from Piazza San Marco - Áine Feeney
