Each year as part of the Belfast Book Festival, we run the Mairtin Crawford Awards for Poetry and Short Story.
The Awards are in honor or the writer and poet and who was a significant figure in Northern Ireland's literary community. “Mairtín wrote as he lived, with a combination of intelligence and daring, revolutionary spirit and generosity of heart.” Moyra Donaldson
The Awards are aimed at writers working towards their first full collection of poetry, short stories, or a novel. Both published and unpublished writers are invited to submit between 3-5 poems for the poetry award, and a short story of up to 2,500 words for the short story award, with the only stipulation being that they have not yet published a full collection of poetry, short stories, or a novel.
For the 2021 Awards, the Winner for each Award will receive a Cash Prize of £1,000 and a 5-night stay at the wonderful writing and reading retreat The River Mill. The Runner-Up’s for each Award will be awarded a cash prize at a value of £250.
A big thank you to our partners and sponsors NIPR, the National Collection of Northern Ireland Publications, and The River Mill, for their continued support of the Awards.
For more information about the Awards visit: https://belfastbookfestival.com/mairtin-crawford-award
