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Upcoming Events | SiarScéal Festival and Hanna Greally Literary Awards

Logo of SiarScéal, annual arts and literary festival

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Details of SiarScéal 2023 Announced

– Entries Now Being Accepted for Hanna Greally Literary Awards –

Logo of SiarScéal, arts and literary festival

SiarScéal, organisers of the annual festival that takes place in Roscommon, has announced its programme of events for 2023. The festival will take place at Roscommon County Library, Abbey Street, Roscommon Town on Saturday, 21 October.

The Hanna Greally Literary Awards, which takes place annually as part of the festival, is offering cash prize fund totalling €400, with overall winners in the Poetry and Prose/Short Stories categories each receiving €200. Entries are now being accepted but the closing date is Friday, 22 September and must be received on or before 5pm (Irish time).

Entry is free but limited to one per participant. Entries may be on any subject or theme but should be presented in the style of poetry (maximum of 100 lines) or prose/short story (maximum of 2000 words). Details of how to enter are available from the SiarScéal website. Winners will be announced and prizes presented at SiarScéal Festival 2023 that is taking place in October.

Also featuring as part of the festival’s programme of events is a symposium of young writers from Roscommon, Sligo and Leitrim, who will read from work contained in their own handmade book, produced with the help of artist, Vanya Ward. The occasion will also be broadcast on The Arts Programme with Ursula Ledwith on Ros FM.

SiarScéal is an annual arts and literary festival that has run every year since 2007 and takes place in Roscommon, drawing inspiration from unique culture and heritage of the Roscommon environs, together with the regional counties of Leitrim and Sligo.

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Halloween Literary Offerings

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Halloween, Hauntings, Ghosts, Vampires and Other Literary Fare

The festival that is Halloween has become so pervasive and ubiquitous to the extent that its origins have been somewhat obscured. The traditions associated with it, however, are rooted in the ancient Gaelic harvest festival of Samhain, giving it pre-Christian and pagan origins. It transitioned into the Christian milieu as All Hallow’s Eve (the day that precedes All Saints’ Day in the Christian liturgy). Irish and Scottish migrants, most likely, carried the traditions with them to the New World until, by the 20th century, it gained a worldwide following, aided no doubt by the growth of new media with vaster, more global reach – including literature but also in the form of cinema, TV, etc.

Bram Stoker and the Irishness of Dracula

Dressing up in costumes that invoke legendary characters – such as Count Dracula, for example – is just one part of the Halloween fare. Much like Halloween itself, however, the lore that surrounds the figure of Dracula has gained a life of its own – one that has come to surpass its origins which, in fact, have nothing to do with Halloween at all although, they are Irish.

Author, Dennis McIntyre in his book, Bram Stoker and the Irishness of Dracula brings it all back home as far as the world’s most enduring, much imitated but never emulated vampire story is concerned.

Once in a while, a book comes along that is definitive in its subject matter – this is one such book

Bram Stoker and the Irishness of Dracula by Dennis McIntyre is published under the imprint of The Shara Press and is available to buy online.

From the Pen of Susan R. Murphy

Susan R. Murphy reckons that she has been “addicted to horror” since an early age. “While other children played with the Ken and Barbie dolls, I played Vampires with mine!”

Over the years, her interest in horror, science fiction and mythology grew. One day, in 1993, she sat down and wrote a series of short stories on these subjects. The Immortals: Thrills, Chills, Tales of the Macabre is a collection of “truly terrifying tales”, containing a blend of ancient Greek mythology, American Gothic horror, UFO abductions, Halloween scares and campfire tales. In much the same vein is The Ghost in My House, a short story on a haunted house theme.

These and other books by Susan R. Murphy are available to buy online, in print and e-book editions.

Stories on Irish Mythological Themes

The Battle for Coman’s Wood by Mario Corrigan is a fast-paced, action-packed adventure story, told on the back of Irish mythological themes that will leave you gasping!

An American family have come to Ireland in time for Halloween, for the ancient Festival of Samhain. Their journey becomes a quest to thwart the evil plans of Queen Medbh and The Morrigan, as terrible, evil creatures issue forth from beneath the earth. Our brave heroes must face the might of these supernatural forces, in an epic showdown in Coman’s Wood in County Roscommon (the name, Roscommon deriving from the Irish Ros Comáin, meaning ‘Saint Coman’s wood’).

The Battle for Coman’s Wood by Mario Corrigan (with illustrations by David Butler) is suitable for all ages. It is published under the imprint of Do Fish Wear Pyjamas Publications and is available to buy online, in print and e-book editions.

The GhostÉire Investigates Series

Finally, for those who like to ‘keep it real’ where horror and ghostly hauntings are concerned, the GhostÉire Investigates series attempts to do just that.

GhostÉire are an Irish-based group of paranormal researchers, whose quest to find spiritual and scientific explanations for the paranormal, the supernatural and similarly unexplained phenomena take them to many locations, the length and breadth of Ireland. In their reports on their investigations into possible hauntings, they offer personal insight and suggest rational thinking towards any strange phenomena that has been observed.

These investigations have been recorded and documented in two volumes to date, comprising written and audio-visual accounts. The Rising of Haunted Ireland, published in 2016, has been followed by the publication, earlier this year, of Drowned-Out Voices, which takes up where the previous volume leaves off (an investigation into Ireland’s famous Blarney Castle).

Both The Rising of Haunted Ireland and Drowned-Out Voices by GhostÉire are published under the imprint of The Manuscript Publisher and available to buy online, in print (both paperback and hardback) and e-book editions, fully illustrated and accompanied with video footage (DVD and online video formats).

Parental Advisory: The books in the GhostÉire Investigates series are suitable for age 16 and over only. They contain strong language and possibly disturbing themes.

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Upcoming Events | SiarScéal Festival 2022

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SiarScéal Festival 2022

– including the Hanna Greally Literary Awards –

Saturday, 12 November is the date that has been announced for SiarScéal Festival 2022, which takes place at Roscommon County Library HQ, starting 10am. Details of the festival, including the full programme of events, have been posted to the festival website.

The Hanna Greally Literary Awards will be announced on the day, with a prize fund totalling €600 to be given out in cash prizes. Entries are still being accepted and the closing date is Friday, 14 October.

Entry is free but limited to one per person and may consist of poetry or prose but, should be on the theme of the competition, which is Sunlit Mornings, Ebbing Tides.

Full details, including terms and conditions and how to enter can be found on the SiarScéal website. Winners will be announced and, prizes presented at the festival in November.

SiarScéal Festival (with the associated Hanna Greally Literary Awards) has been taking place annually, in Roscommon, since 2007. The festival draws its inspiration from unique culture and heritage of the Roscommon environs, together with the regional counties of Leitrim and Sligo. Further information about SiarScéal, including how you can get involved and support their work, is available from their website.

Publications sponsored by SiarScéal, reflecting the array of talent that the festival has attracted over the years, are on sale and available to buy online from this website.

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