Mentorship in Fiction with Billy O'Callaghan, 2025
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Billy O’Callaghan was born in Cork in 1974, and is the author of four short story collections: In Exile (2008, Mercier Press), In Too Deep (2009, Mercier Press), The Things We Lose, The Things We Leave Behind (2013, New Island Books, winner of a 2013 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Award and selected as Cork’s One City, One Book for 2017), and The Boatman (2020, Jonathan Cape and Harper (U.S.A.), as well as the novels The Dead House (2017, Brandon/O’Brien Press and 2018, Arcade/Skyhorse (USA) and My Coney Island Baby, (2019, Jonathan Cape and Harper (U.S.A.). His latest novel, Life Sentences, was published by Jonathan Cape in January 2021. Billy is the winner of a Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Award for the short story, and twice a recipient of the Arts Council of Ireland’s Bursary Award for Literature. Among numerous other honours, his story, The Boatman, was a finalist for the 2016 Costa Short Story Award.
1) Eligible mentorship candidates must be currently residing in Munster.
2) Fiction writers must have had at least one short story or two flash fiction publication credits.
3) Candidates may apply to a maximum of two mentors, but no successful candidate can receive more than one mentorship.
4) Successful candidates must prove their Munster residency state and subscribe to the journal Southword before mentorships can begin.
5) Mentees must declare their capacity to access the mentorships by meeting the mentor in Cork at a place and time of mutual convenience.
6) Mentees will be expected to supply a short report at the end of their mentorship.
7) Fiction applicants must supply, through Submittable, a short text explaining why they need the mentorship, a bio note listing previous fiction activity (publications, readings, workshops attended etc.) and a sample text of your work, maximum 1500 words.
8) Mentorships will consist of four face-to-face, two-hour sessions between October – November. Assignments may be given to work on between sessions.
9) This year previous recipients of a mentorship with the Munster Literature Centre may apply again.