I had the thrill of reading at the Irish Writers’ Centre last night (March 15th 2016), as one of the flash fiction winners in the  Five Lamps Arts Festival’s ‘I am Dublin’ competition.

Wall to wall books and original art, and very welcoming people all around –  I had a lovely evening. I got to read my piece ‘Liffey. If he. Dares.’ which was 400 flashy words somewhere between poetry and prose, which won me €60 worth of book vouchers.

The competition was judged by Dermot Bolger & Doireann Ní Ghríofa, who apparently had a hard time choosing the four winners!

The competition encouraged writers to channel their inner Anna Livia Plurabelle and to seek inspiration in the charm of the fair city of Dublin – cracks and all.   The four winners took part in the showcase event at the Irish Writers’ Centre alongside four well-known names on the Dublin literary scene:  Gavin Corbett, Eilís Ní Dhuibhne, Colm Keegan and Paula McGrath.

I am very grateful that they allowed a blow-in to come from County Roscommon to read! I really do love Dublin, the pace, the buzz,  the old and new buildings, the charm of real Dubliners, and the cosmopolitan 21st century mix going on.   I lied to the boy in the coffee shop who asked me if  I was on holiday – he then told me loads of places to visit – an excellent ambassador for Dublin!  It’s a very lively, exciting place to visit – but I’m always glad to come home to the relative peace and space of the west.

Meanwhile, the winning stories are due to be published on www.dublin.ie over the next few weeks – a busy time for the website given the proximity to St Patrick’s Day.