The Linen Hall has announced the launch of the Michael McLaverty Short Story Award 2025. Michael McLaverty (1904 –1992) was one of the foremost proponents of the Irish short story. His archive was lodged with the Library by the Literary Executors of Michael McLaverty in 2005. The purpose of the award is to foster and encourage the tradition of the short story. Below are the guidelines for entry.
THE PRIZE FOR THE WINNING STORY IS £2,000; with £250 for each of the two runners-up. The winning story will be published with the two runners-up in a limited anthology.
ADJUDICATORS:
Renowned writer Neil Hegarty (The Jewel; Inch Levels; The Story of Ireland) and editor Emma Warnock, No Alibis Press
ENTRY FEE:
£10 Sterling
CLOSING DATE:
Midnight 31 October 2025
Entry guidelines can be found on our website:
https://linenhall.com/michael-mclaverty-short-story-award-2025/
Adjudicators for this year’s competition are renowned writer Neil Hegarty (The Jewel; Inch Levels; The Story of Ireland) and editor Emma Warnock, No Alibis Press.
Neil Hegarty said: “It’s a great pleasure to judge this edition of the Michael McLaverty Short Story Award, and in so doing to honour a writer whose work I have always admired. This Award matters: and I’m very much looking forward to reading your entries.”
Linen Hall Librarian Samantha McCombe said: “We are privileged to hold the archive of Michael McLaverty at the Linen Hall and are delighted to celebrate his fine prose by continuing to honour Michael McLaverty’s commitment to foster and encourage creativity in the short story form.”
The inaugural competition in 2006 was won by Patrick O’Hanlon. Subsequent winners have gone on to publish further works, including: Aiden O’Reilly (2008 winner): Greetings, Hero; Michèle Forbes (2010): Ghost Moth,Edith & Oliver; Mandy Taggart (2012): The Man of the House; Annemarie Neary (2014): A Parachute in the Lime Tree, Siren, The Orphans; Kevin Doyle (2016): To Keep a Bird Singing, A River of Bodies; Eamon McGuinness (2018):
The Wrong Heroes; Niall Bourke (2020): The Erection Specialist.
Bios
Neil Hegarty
Neil Hegarty grew up in Derry. His novels include The Jewel; and Inch Levels, which was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Novel of the Year award. Neil’s non-fiction titles include the biography Frost: That Was the Life That Was, and The Story of Ireland, which accompanies the RTÉ-BBC television history of Ireland. His short fiction and essays have appeared in the Dublin Review, Stinging Fly, Cyphers, Tangerine, Banshee, and elsewhere; and he is co-editor of the essay collection Impermanence, which has been adapted for radio by RTÉ. He is a regular literary reviewer on the Irish Times.
Emma Warnock
Emma Warnock is the editor at No Alibis Press, a small independent publisher of fiction and non-fiction based in Belfast. Emma studied English Literature at Queen’s University, where she gained a PhD in contemporary fiction in 2006.
