If you’ve arrived at this page, it might be because you’re curious about my writing credentials.

Well, I have a few  – small but notable – literary accolades to my name. The one I keep coming back to (of course) is having a Dublin pub re-named in my honour after I won a Hennessy award for my poetry back in 2018. Oh, and the (then) UK Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy asked to see some of my poems and I ended up being published in her Laureate’s Choice series in 2019.

I don’t always celebrate the smaller achievements. But there are times when it is necessary for me to stand on the boasting box and holler – especially when there’s someone new around who thinks I can’t/don’t/haven’t…

So below is a chunk of my creative writing CV  – mostly the relevant bits from the past eight years. There was a hiatus from late 2022 to the beginning of 2023 while I played with cats, walked for miles, stared into space a lot, and wondered what the point of writing is. I didn’t figure it beyond realising writing is a compulsion – and publication and competition recognition give a satisfying shot of dopamine (check out an internet rabbit hole here for more information about happy hormones).

I am ever grateful to the Arts Council of Ireland and the Arts Office of Roscommon County Council for their generous financial support, which has allowed me to fully embrace this writing life.

So here it is, a long list: Louise G Cole – Creative Writing CV (most recent first)

• Poem Highly Commended by judge Gerard Smythe in the Goldsmith Festival Poetry Competition; poem longlisted in the Indigo Dreams Spring Poetry Competition;  participated in the Poetry in the Park event at Lough Key Forest Park, County Roscommon (May 2023)
• Residency at Tyrone Guthrie Centre funded by a bursary from Roscommon Arts Office (April 2023)
• Poetry pamphlet commended (for the third successive year) in Munster Literature Centre’s Fool for Poetry Competition, (February 2023)
• Poem published in Voices for the Silent anthology, Indigo Dreams; poem published in Roscommon Autumn Leaves broadsheet; poem published in Munster Literature Centre’s Southword 43; Runner-up in New Roscommon Writing Award (as a past winner I can’t win again!) (October 2022)
• Poem published in Dedalus Press Love Poems anthology (September 2022);
• Poem highly commended in Welsh Poetry Competition (August 2022)
• Poetry pamphlet shortlisted in Geoff Stevens Poetry Memorial Prize, Indigo Dreams; poem published in new Irish journal The Storms (July 2022).
• Poetry read at Pandemic Memorial Service, Roscommon County Council (March 2022)
• Poetry recorded for broadcast on Poetry File, Lyric FM; second poetry pamphlet commended in Munster Literature Centre’s Fool for Poetry Competition;  chosen for publication in  Arlen House anthology Washing Windows Too; poem published in Skylight 47; Under the Influence pamphlet published by Hedgehog Poetry Press (February 2022).
• Adjudicator of the Poetry Town Schools Competition for Strokestown; awarded a Literary Bursary by the Arts Council of Ireland; poem published in Bangor Literary Journal, shortlisted in Bangor Poetry Competition (October 2021)
• Longlisted in Mslexia Flash Fiction Competition; poem in Roscommon Autumn Leaves broadsheet (November 2021)
• Chosen for mentorship with Joseph Woods by Dedalus Press (June 2021)
• Adjudicator of the New Roscommon Writing Award (May 2021)
• Poetry pamphlet commended in Munster Literature Centre’s Fool for Poetry Competition; recorded a story for broadcast by Roscommon Arts Centre (February 2021)
• Poem in Emergence Anthology; runner-up in Winter Words Story Competition run by the Dock Arts Centre, Carrick on Shannon (January 2021)
• Memoir piece published in anthology for mental health charity: Havin’ A Laugh, the Book; poem in Southword 39; poem in Roscommon Autumn Leaves broadsheet (November 2020)
• Poem in anthology Chaos; shortlisted for Bridport’s Flash Fiction Competition; read for Ballina Arts Centre’s 2020 Culture Night event (September 2020)
• Joint winner of Nature Poetry Competition for the Wood for the Trees nature writing and biodiversity festival; second in the Frome Festival Short Story Competition (July 2020)
• Won Strokestown Poetry Festival Roscommon Poets’ Prize; invited to do a live poetry reading for The Holding Cell on-line (May 2020)
• Poem in Boyne Berries, the Covid Issue, launched on Poetry Day Ireland (April 2020)
• Nominated for a Forward Prize by the editors of Poetry Bus Magazine; guest reader at Poetry by the Weir in the Osta Café, Sligo (February 2020)
• Shortlisted for Allingham Festival‘s Flash Fiction Competition; chosen for mentorship with Nessa O’Mahony through Words Ireland; joint first prize for prose in the annual SiarSceal Festival/Hanna Greally Literary Awards; guest reader in King House Boyle with the Hermit Collective and the Scottish Poets’ Republic; poem in Poetry Bus 8 (October 2019)
• Guest reader at Over the Edge for Culture Night in Kenny’s Bookshop, Galway; launched Words and Images from writers and artists in Charlestown, Co Mayo (September 2019)
• Selected for Masterclass with former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins at John Hewitt International Summer School, Armagh; short story published by Cork Libraries in From the Well; performed with Hermit Collective at Boyle Arts Festival (July 2019)
• Winner of New Roscommon Writing Award with a 2,000-word short story, publication in Roscommon Herald and extracts read on Shannonside FM (June 2019)
• Poem in Ogham Stone 2019; Highly Commended in Welsh Poetry Competition (June 2019)
• UK publication of eight poems in the Laureate’s Choice Anthology featuring 20 poets chosen by Carol Ann Duffy; ran a workshop for Poetry Day Ireland in Charlestown, County Mayo; guest reader at Strokestown Poetry Festival (May 2019)
• Published in Strokestown Poetry Festival’s Anthology – guest reader at launch in Poetry Ireland; poem published in Roscommon Herald (April 2019)
• Launch in Poetry Ireland and Books Upstairs, Dublin, of Soft Touch book chosen by UK Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, endorsed by Dermot Bolger, Jane Clarke, Rita Ann Higgins (January 2019)
• Publication in New Roscommon Writing Anthology, and in Stony Thursday Book (November 2018) and in Bangor Literary Journal (December 2018)
• Launch of poetry collection Beyond the Green Bridge by poet Jane Clarke at Boyle Arts Festival; article published in Ireland’s Own (July 2018)
• Poem chosen by Eavan Boland published in Poetry Ireland Review; publication in Skylight 47, and ROPES 2018; and Strokestown International Poetry Festival Anthology (May 2018)
• Winner of 2018 Hennessy Literary Award for Emerging Poetry (March 2018)
• Shortlisted New Roscommon Writing 2017; poems published in Irish Times (October 2017)
• Arts Council of Ireland Travel and Training Award to attend Poetry Masterclass in Tŷ Newydd, the Welsh Writers’ Centre, with Gillian Clarke and Maura Dooley (October 2017)
• Selected for Creative Frame Network mentoring with Janice Fitzpatrick Simmons; shortlisted in Benedict Kiely Short Story Competition; published in Roscommon County Council’s An Image, a Poem (September 2017)
• Winner of Strokestown Poetry Festival’s Roscommon Poets’ Prize; placed third in Oliver Goldsmith Festival Poetry Competition (May 2017)
• Selected for Masterclass with UK Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy & Welsh National Poet Gillian Clarke at Tŷ Newydd (April 2017)
• Publication in Crannóg  and in Centenary in Reflection (October 2016)
• Placed second in the Exeter Flash Fiction Competition; shortlisted in Exeter Short Story Competition; longlisted in Henshaw Short Story Competition (July 2016)
• Publication and a special mention from judge Billy O’Callaghan in Bunker and Other Short Stories; placed sixth in Patrician Press Poetry Prize (June 2016)
• Winner of I Am Dublin Flash Fiction Competition (April 2016); winner of HE Bates Short Story Competition (February 2016); winner of Hanna Greally Literary Award (November 2015)
• Fiction shortlisted for Hennessy New Irish Writing Literary Award (February 2015)