Tag Archives: short stories

A HANDWRITTEN message from one Clare author to another has proven to be both a mystery and an inspiration for writer, Mary O’Donoghue. The North Clare woman, who is to launch a new collection of short stories in the coming days, met Tuamgraney’s Edna O’Brien in Boston at a public reading event in 2011. More than a decade later, Mary is an established writer herself, and still fondly wonders about a message from Edna which remains undeciphered. “Edna was just marvellous and she signed my book, and, to this day, there’s one little part of her message to me that I can’t read,” Mary explained. “She has lovely copperplate handwriting and I’ve shown it to a number of people, but there’s one little part that we’re never sure what that says. I kind of like not knowing what that is. The book has an even more mysterious quality for that reason. I’m an ardent fan of Edna and of her …

SIXMILEBRIDGE based author and Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) lecturer Tracy Fahey has overcome the limitations of lockdown to produce a new collection of stories entitled, I Spit Myself Out. Tracy, who is Head of Department of Fine Art and Education, at the Limerick School of Art and Design (LSAD), had to face and overcome the challenges of Covid-19 in order to produce the collection. She penned I Spit Myself Out during the anxious days of the first lockdown of 2020. Her previous book, The Unheimlich Manoeuvre, nominated in 2017 for a British Fantasy Award, explored the psychological terrors of the enclosed female domestic sphere. Tracy said that, given this preoccupation with confined spaces, writing during the pandemic wasn’t easy. “I found it difficult to write this book,” she said. “There was the cognitive dissonance of trying to stay cheerful and mentally healthy, and then the imperative of going to these dark places to write. Now that I re-read this book, the inflections of …

I squinted into the morning gloom. A mist hung over the green, obscuring the flag from view. Taking a deep breath, I fixed my eyes on the ball and drew back the club. The grip quivered between my clammy palms. I looked up towards the green again, then down at my ball. If I could just chip it out of the rough- “Hit the ruddy thing!” I flinched violently, losing my balance as my club rocketed towards the ground. It struck the ground with a jarring thud, sending me reeling. I spun away, wincing, as my ball trickled over the ridge. David fixed me with steely glare. He was dressed head-to-toe in tweed. The buttons of his waist-coat quivered beneath the weight of his paunch. He wore a deer-stalker, jammed over the crown of his head and a pair of thick leather boots. His mouth was nothing more than a thin slit beneath his thick, lustrous whiskers, curling beneath his …

As our holiday in Canada drew to an end, I longed to be alone in the perfect beauty of mountainous British Columbia. In the late evening after dinner, I excused myself from the campfire evenings and headed towards the shore, mere minutes from the campsite. Settling down by an old log, I glanced down the empty stony beach. Far out on the tranquil sea, a few kayakers paddled silently through the blue water, sending ripples across the bay. The sun hung low over the distant mountain, gently changing the Pacific waters from blue to yellow to orange. On the mainland, the distant mountains turned orange as the light hit them. Far off to the south of the hills, the faint lights of the city flickered and twinkled in the fading daylight. I sat down and leaned my head against the log. I turned it towards the sun, closed my eyes and felt the rays of its soft light as it …

ENTRIES for The Clare Champion Short Story Competition 2016 are now being accepted. Second-level students are invited to submit between 1,000 and 1,500 words on any subject of their choice, with Leaving Cert and Junior Cert categories for the young writers. The first prize is €300, with €200 for the runner-up and €100 for third place in each category. There will also be a number of prizes for highly commended short stories. Prospective entrants should submit a typed-only entry with their name, age, telephone number, school, year and English teacher’s name to Second Level Schools Short Story Competition Category (Leaving Cert or Junior Cert), The Clare Champion, Barrack Street, Ennis. The deadline is February 19, 2016. Editor of The Clare Champion Austin Hobbs said the Short Story Competition has proven to be very popular over the years, with the students, schools and parents. “It’s one of the most successful projects that we’ve ever undertaken. While we have a lot of …