Image features 2022 winner, Brendan Killeen for 'Big Why, Little Why' along with last year's judges.

INFO: www.rte.ie/writing 

TICKETS: https://www.paviliontheatre.ie/events/view/arena-short-story 

FOLLOW: #rteshortstory

RTÉ has announced details of the ten exciting new stories which have been shortlisted for the RTÉ Short Story Competition in honour of Francis MacManus 2023, from more than 1,700 entries.

The judges were writers Ferdia MacAnna, Kathleen MacMahon and Claire Kilroy.

Talking about this year's stories on behalf of the judges, Kathleen MacMahon said that the stories "were a delight to read and a testament to the great Irish tradition of storytelling. There were stories that surprised us, stories that made us laugh, and stories that took the form in a new and exciting direction."

The 2023 shortlist (in alphabetical order, by title) is:

• Artificial Intelligence for Psychotherapists, by Ilona Adams
• Breathe, by Robin Livingstone
• It All Began with the Turlough, by Caoimhín Gaffney
• Mr Hoo, by John O’Donnell
• Off Season, by Jamie Samson
• On Craigavon Bridge, by Peter McCauley
• Tessa and Vivianne, by Julie Cruickshank
• The Turkish Rug, by Natalie Ryan
• The Warbler, by Caitríona McArdle
• You, by Nadine O’Regan

The stories will be available to read on rte.ie/culture from the weekend of 14th - 15th October, and broadcast at 11.20pm each night on RTÉ Radio 1 from Monday 16th October as part of Late Date with Cathal Murray and Fiachna Ó Braonáin. Readers on this year’s series include Marty Rea, Aaron Monaghan, Janet Moran, Elaine O’Dwyer and Camille Lucy Ross.

The stories will also be regularly featured on Arena with Seán Rocks, leading up to this year’s live Arena/ RTÉ Short Story Awards evening which takes place at 7pm on Friday 27 October in the Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. On the night, we’ll hear from our judges, Claire Kilroy, Ferdia MacAnna and Kathleen MacMahon, the shortlisted writers and each of the stories in live performance before the judges award their top prizes.

Tickets are available at: https://www.paviliontheatre.ie/events/view/arena-short-story.

The winning writer will receive €5,000, while the second and third placed writers will receive €4,000 and €3,000 respectively. A further seven runners-up will receive €250 each.

Sarah Binchy, series producer said: “There’s a freshness, assurance and playfulness to these writers’ treatment of their diverse stories of innocence and experience, loss and longing and sharp alertness to the natural world. We’re looking forward very much to sharing the shortlist on air with our listeners – as brought to life by our talented actors-- ahead of the finale in the Pavilion, where we’ll hear a flavour of all the stories in live performance, gain insights from the judges on the short story form, and find out who’s won the top prizes.”

Set up in 1986 to honour writer and broadcaster Francis MacManus, the RTÉ Short Story Competition has been a critically important launch pad for new and emerging writers in Ireland. Past winners and shortlisted writers include Claire Keegan, Danielle McLaughlin, Anthony Glavin, Chris Binchy, Nuala O’Connor, Liz Nugent, Colin Walsh, Stephen Walsh, Austin Duffy and Sarah Gilmartin.

For more on the RTÉ Short Story Competition, see www.rte.ie/writing.