Cúirt New Writing Prize Winners 2026

Stephen Lynch was born in Dublin. His fiction has appeared in Winter Papers and he was shortlisted for the Desperate Literature Prize 2022.

Of Stephen’s piece ‘Mise-en-Scene’ Eimear McBride commented:

This was the real standout story for me. A richly evocative tale of a small town’s moral confusion in the light of inconvenient truths. Its prose is both admirably restrained and cunningly seductive. A true gem.

Otto Goodwin is a Cork-based poet whose work explores ideas of kinship, and the ways in which queerness exists within the living world. Their poetry has been published in Cyphers magazine, Good Day Cork, and the Irish Independent. In 2023 they were awarded the Eavan Boland Emerging Poet award. They are an active member of Cork Queer Nature Collective, and can often be found waxing lyrical about hagfish or staring longingly into the Lee, as if hoping to transform into an eel.

Of Otto’s piece ‘Hello. Its me: The Worlds Worst Horse’ Susannah Dickey commented:

This poem never stopped surprising me, but not only that, the forms that my surprise took were myriad – there were constant surprises within the surprises. The comedy of the title, only enhanced by its deployment as a refrain belies the moments of genuine pathos within this poem, not to mention lines that felt comparable to some of my favourites in the form, for how they twin unlikely ideas in seamless, dynamic ways: ‘I cannot tell you how to love me, but I can picture my own death in detail.’ That the latter capacity might displace the former, that an irresistible death drive usurps the part of the mind that might otherwise beg for love, is so rich and haunting an idea that I simply had no choice but to make this poem the winner. It is sublime and insane, bathetic and devastating.

Rónán Mac Con Iomaire is a writer and broadcaster from An Cheathrú Rua, Conamara. His books include An Ghluaiseacht: Scéal Chearta Sibhialta na Gaeltachta (Cló Iar-Chonnacht), which documented the untold story of the Gaeltacht civil rights movement, and The Man Who Was Never Knocked Down (Rowman & Littlefield). His book Rocky Ros Muc (Cló Iar-Chonnacht), which told the story of Sean Mannion’s extraordinary journey from a small Conamara village to a world title fight at Madison Square Garden, was adapted into an Oscar-longlisted documentary of the same name. A former award-winning journalist with RTÉ, TG4 and Independent Newspapers, he works as Director of Regional & Community Development and Language Planning at Údarás na Gaeltachta.

Of Rónán’s piece ‘Na Rúisigh’ Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh commented:

Thug an scéal seo an chraobh leis i ngeall ar shiúráil an phróis agus feabhas na hinsinte. Éiríonn go han-mhaith leis an údar pearsana éagsúla a chur i láthair agus fírinne an scéil a chur ina luí ar an léitheoir.

I was struck by the diversity of the work submitted to the competition this year, a diversity that was evident in both genre and style. The excellence of the entries is a hopeful sign for Irish language literature.

Nicole Morris is a working-class poet and essayist. A recipient of the 2025 Irish Arts Council Literary Bursary and a Tin House Workshop alum, her writing has been featured in The Stinging Fly, The Pig’s Back, Banshee, and elsewhere. Originally from Los Angeles, she lives in the west of Ireland, where she is developing a debut lyrical essay collection and a memoir in verse.

Of Nicole’s piece ‘Lord, Have Mercy’ Molly Hennigan commented:

Charting the last year of a father’s life, this moving essay, in equal parts tender and raw, doesn’t shy away from the difficulty of parent-child relationships while still offering us a heartfelt example of what real care can look like.