Happy new year, folks!

I don’t know about you, but I find the Christmas season always throws my writing routine out of whack. The days merge into one glorious tinsel-filled blur of food, booze and catching up with friends and relatives as daily word targets disappear down the back of the sofa with the TV remote. Lovely as it is to take some time out, it’s also a relief to get back to some semblance of normality.

In the coming weeks as you continue to write “2015” by accident and then clumsily scrawl the 5 into a 6, why not acquaint yourself with all 2016 has to offer for your writing? I’ve compiled a list of upcoming bursary, residency, publication, and competition opportunities.

7 January: Galway Rape Crisis Centre Writing Competition — Short story, flash fiction and poetry categories. €100 cash prize + publication in SIN Magazine.

11 January: Residency at Center Culturel Irlandais, Paris — Open to practitioners in all art forms.

15 January: Brilliant Flash Fiction: Science Fiction Writing Contest — Up to 750 words. No entry fee.

21 January: Arts Council Literature Bursary Award — Bursaries up to €15,000 available.

31 January: Fish Short Memoir Contest — Up to 4,000 words. 1st place = €1,000 + publication in anthology.

5 February: The Stinging Fly Fear & Fantasy issue — No more than one story and/or four poems.

5 February: Doolin Writer’s Competition Short Story Prize — 1st prize = €1,000.

20 February: Reader’s Digest 100 Word Flash Fiction Competition — 1st place = £2,000 + publication in magazine. Free to enter.

28 February: Fish Flash Fiction Contest — Up to 300 words. 1st place = €1,000 + publication in anthology.

29 February: Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Writers — 1st place = $2,500 + publication in Glimmer Train.

[image from CocoDraws, Etsy]