The Introduction to Fiction and Personal Essay class starting Wednesday, Feb 1, has filled. If you have interest in a new course, please contact Some Blind Alleys.
Monthly Archive for January, 2012
Some Blind Alleys is offering a financial grant of €2,500 to one author for the purpose of continuing work in the field of autobiography. The grant recipient will be announced in April.
Eligibility
There were eight eligible applicants for the grant award. To be eligible, an author must have published an original essay on Some Blind Alleys during 2011 and not have already published a book. To confirm that eligibility, each author had to apply in writing for the grant. The application comprises the essay published on Some Blind Alleys and an author’s statement with proposal for future work. Readers of Some Blind Alleys will have a vote, which they can access on the SBA Facebook page.
Finalists
The finalists for the Essay Grant are:
Adrian Duncan
Chicken Lane: a walk through Stoneybatter (PDF)
Tom Mathew
That time I scattered ashes in India, under the impression that life had meaning (PDF)
Ryan Van Runkle
A sojourn in central Europe (PDF)
Karl Whitney
Open space: walking the boundaries of Tallaght (PDF)
Judges
Seven judges have donated their time to participate. They are:
Kevin Barry, author of City of Bohane
Belinda McKeon, author of Solace
Claire Kilroy, author of All Names Have Been Changed
Carlo Gébler, author of The Dead Eight
Philip O Ceallaigh, author of The Pleasant Light of Day
Molly McCloskey, author of Circles Around the Sun
Keith Ridgway, author of The Long Falling
There will also be a public vote
Each judge will rank the four pieces from one to four, and the total amount will be tallied to determine the winner. The public vote will be weighted the same as one judge’s vote. In the event of a tie, Brendan Barrington, editor of the Dublin Review, will choose the winner.
The public vote will open soon. If you would like to vote, please read all the essays.
The announcement will take place in April, with festivities and drinks.
Dear Friends,
Some Blind Alleys has been publishing, on and off, fine new writing from Ireland and elsewhere since late 2008. We’ve been running unique and demanding creative writing courses – literature courses for aspiring writers – since early 2009. And all the while we’ve held lectures, readings, competitions, and so on – involving some of Ireland’s most crucial new voices – and even some of its sages. As of today, Some Blind Alleys has ceased publication of its online literary journal. Events will still be organized, and creative writing courses will still be offered, so please don’t remove us from your bookmarks.
It has been an enjoyable and successful year. Thanks to the invaluable assistance of the Irish Arts Council, Some Blind Alleys has paid out roughly €5,000 among twenty writers – from established writers, newcomers, and quite a few writers in between. These works, and many more, remain in the Archive, and you can download the PDFs for posterity.
Some Blind Alleys, when first conceived in late 2008, had a few goals: to pay writers; to draw attention to new and exciting work being done in the field of autobiography; and to introduce many of the young writers in Ireland doing this exciting work to a broader reading public. Generally all these goals fell under the broader mission of helping to shake up – and perhaps, if all went well, briefly electrify – the ongoing discussion about the nature and aim of contemporary literature in Ireland.
In its latest incarnation, as an Arts Council-funded publication, Some Blind Alleys’s broader mission – for me as editor, anyway – had transformed from one of confrontation to one of facilitation: simply to publish quality writing by talented and committed writers. As before, the focus was the essay.
As I stated from the very beginning, Some Blind Alleys was never pursuing institutional status, and wouldn’t be around very long. It was an unlikely, short-term experiment that, by virtue of its fine content, became something worth maintaining. Four years, however, feels like enough. Therefore Some Blind Alleys has not applied for new funding from the Arts Council.
It has been a pleasure not only to work closely with all contributors but to pay them for their work, and for this ability I cannot overstate my gratitude toward the Arts Council, in particular Sarah Bannan, Head of Literature. I also want to thank everyone who has, over the years, taken the time to stop by and read us. Since 2008, Some Blind Alleys has received a lot of voluntary help, as well as the vital public support of Irish authors and publishers who have participated in launches, readings, competitions, and lectures. Their participation is profoundly appreciated. Special thanks also goes to the Some Blind Alleys advisory board: Dublin Review editor Brendan Barrington, Rough Magic Executive Producer Diego Fasciati, author Carlo Gébler, and independent arts advisor Enid Reid Whyte.
But before we go… In a few days, there will be an announcement regarding a sizeable financial grant for one new essayist. We’ve got a formidable panel of judges and four terribly good finalists (eligibility for the grant requires that the author have published an essay on Some Blind Alleys in 2011, and not have a book published). And SBA readers will get a vote. I expect some sort of party will be thrown in April to announce the winners, and to say farewell to the journal. More on all this very soon.
Greg Baxter
Editor, Founder, Some Blind Alleys
