RTÉ Short Story Competition: Recent Episodes
RTÉ
Irish short fiction for radio, selected from the long-running annual contest in honour of Francis MacManus run by RTÉ, Irish public radio. A shortlist is broadcast every year, voiced by some of Ireland's most talented actors of the stage and screen. For more visit rte.ie/culture and rte.ie/writing.
From the 2023 shortlist, read by Elaine O'Dwyer, in the words of the judges "a well-crafted, affecting tale...a lovely, gentle portrait of teenagerdom as the summer holidays start"
From the 2023 shortlist, read by Emmet Farrell, in the words of the judges “a beautiful, exhilarating, and deeply touching story about an easily-led, bird-loving young fellow’s trip to the dark side”
From the 2023 shortlist, read by David Pearse, in the words of the judges a “darkly funny, relentless and surprising tale around a father and son’s increasingly manic search for a lost greyhound”
From the 2023 shortlist, read by Camille Lucy Ross, in the words of the judges “a really funny, really timely, comic symphony around cyber love”
From the 2023 shortlist, read by Kathy Rose O'Brien, in the words of the judges “a smart, considered, lively vision of manipulation, revenge and gloriously twisted love”
From the 2023 shortlist, read by Aaron Monaghan, in the words of the judges an “extraordinary feat of imagination,” and “an original and funny fantasy with a lake as the protagonist”
From the 2023 shortlist, read by Marty Rea, in the words of the judges “a breath-taking, captivating and authentic immersion into a teenage boy’s involvement in a street protest”
From the 2023 shortlist, read by Rory Nolan, in the words of the judges “funny and sad and thoroughly engrossing; a triumph of atmosphere”
From the 2023 shortlist, read by Janet Moran, in the words of the judges “a captivating, poignant tale of a young woman dealing with the loss of her eccentric mother”
From the 2023 shortlist, read by Andrew Bennett, in the words of the judges "a beguiling and subtly-observed portrait of hope, resignation and resilience"
A story encompassing the intimacy and vulnerability of motherhood, and a mother's love for her son
A teenage girl, driving to the south of France with squabbling parents and the family dog
A father and son holidaying in Madrid overhear a couple in a museum discussing the merits of a particular masterpiece
Inspired by an ancient landscape, this is a story of coming to terms with grief and a changing relationship between father and son
A coming-of-age tale of a mother/daughter relationship, this is a story that grew out of the writer's experiences working with young people during the pandemic. She says "in a world of constantly evolving risks it really highlighted for me the need for us all to keep talking"
In this story, a young man thinks he is Christ, a character ready to disrupt a familiar time and place
In a story about memory and loss, the narrator clears out her dead parents' house and when the job is done she comes across a fixture in the house that hides a family secret she cannot cast off. (photo by: Bríd O'Donovan)
The Night Call - a doctor and her driver run over and badly injure a dog late on New Year’s Eve and seek help in finding a way to dispatch him mercifully - was written by Helen O'Neill and is read by Jane Brennan
The Johns - Jenny, a young woman on the brink of romance with her colleague Emma, sees graffiti about ‘John and Cleo’ which leads her to meditate on grand displays of love and commitment - was written by Rachel Walshe? and is read by Kathy Rose O'Brien
We Must All Be Kind - an isolated man, still grieving the loss of his parents, ruffles feathers on his work Zoom calls by dressing outlandishly - was written by Hugo Kelly and is read by Ronan Leahy
The Pines - a suburban couple wage covert war on their neighbor who persists in occupying his (false) balcony looking down on their garden - was written by Paul Lenehan and is read by Norma Sheahan?.
A Hurt Like That - the story of a woman who has fallen off a ladder as she contemplates life, death and marriage and the delicious feeling of being on the brink between existence and non-existence - was written by Paul Boyle and is read by Derbhle Crotty.
Muddlers - the story of two young Belfast women’s friendship forged by, among other things, a mutual obsession with Henry Joy McCracken, Wolfe Tone, and more figures from Irish history - was written by Gráinne O'Hare and is read by Ali White.
People Over There - the story of Sura, a young Iraqi woman who grew up in Ireland, experiences culture clash as she visits her cousins in Baghdad for the first time - was written by Doaa Baker and is read by Rachel O’Byrne.
The joint 2nd prizewinner to the RTÉ Short Story Competition 2021: Windsea - the monologue of a misjudged teenager as he holds his landlord, who has shot his dog, at gunpoint - was written by Donal Minihane and is read by Aaron Monaghan.
The joint 2nd prizewinner to the RTÉ Short Story Competition 2021: Mamó - the interior monologue of an incapacitated woman enduring a visit from her daughter and grandchildren. Written by Sara Keating and is read by Ingrid Craigie.
The winning entry to the RTÉ Short Story Competition 2021: The Third Day - a young GAA player whose team have just won the senior final seeks to prolong the celebrations, long after his teammates have called it a day - was written by Kevin Donnellan and is read by Éanna Hardwicke.
Guinness & Coke by Lochlainn McKenna one of the 10 Shortlisted Stories in this year's competition, tells of father-and-son weekend adventures by car throughout the length and breadth of the country. Wonderfully written with matter-of-fact child’s eye storytelling but with an undertow of sadness
Tonight’s story from the shortlist of this year's RTÉ Short Story Competition, Tactics, by Andrew Maguire, is “impressive, commanding and intense” in the words of the judges. Unusually – but to great effect – it’s told in the future tense. It features a boy, Wojciech, who plays snooker with older Irish men in a shebeen – playing to win
In Beneath the Trees, Where Nobody Sees, by Julie Cruickshank, a woman takes her daughters and nephew on a playdate to a park where there’s a tree the children love. But underneath the surface, something darker is going on…
One of the 10 Shortlisted Stories from this year's competition, the story moves fluently between past and present as a man and his granddaughter in Inishowen try to rescue an injured bird. Everything will be Recorded is read by Lalor Roddy
The Brow of the Hill, one of this year's shortlisted of ten, "takes us to a snowy Sunday morning in December 1886 on the feast of St Sabas, a day when death and life intermingle. The setting is magnificently rendered, the images are striking, it’s like stepping inside a painting. " The Brow of the Hill by Edel Moloney is read by Derbhle Crotty
Neadú, by Ceri Garfield, is one of the first Irish language entries to make it to the shortlist of the RTÉ Short Story Competition in a few years. Described by the judges as “beautiful and tender”, Neadú is the story of a little boy who’s confined to home; he finds a bird and with it a tantalizing glimmer of the world beyond his boundaries.
One of 10 shortlisted stories from this year's RTÉ Short Story Competition Hands; A Downpour by Aengus Murray, is read by Liam Carney. Taking the form of a single continuous sentence, it was inspired, the writer says, by “a dejected figure” he saw, “standing in the middle of the footpath as rain teemed down upon and around him."
“A clever, delightful story with a rare mix of playful humour and deadly seriousness,” is how this year’s competition judges described The Shape on the Strand by Katherine Duffy, a ghost story concerning a literary translator, a transgression, and a feathered hat which was awarded third prize in the RTÉ Short Story Competition 2020
Kissing Booth by Alan Walsh was awarded 2nd prize in this year's competition. Read on air by Bláithín MacGabhann, Kissing Booth is described by the judges as a dark, clever, funny dystopian tale of our times in which catching a virus is a ticket to a better life
The winning entry to the RTÉ Short Story Competition 2020: Flower Wild - the story of the Irish woman, Violet Gibson, who shot Mussolini - was written by Shane Tivenan and is read by Ingrid Craigie