Katherine Mansfield Sparkling Prose Award
Together with Vivienne Plumb, I’m judging a short prose competition that closes on 14 August – and it is not a standard-format short story competition. Full details are on the At The Bay website – please check them out there, and if this appeals to you, consider entering!
Katherine Mansfield Sparkling Prose Award is open 3 July – 14 August.
New! Aotearoa and international submissions welcome!
This competition calls for works of fiction up to 1888 words – a reference to the year of Mansfield’s birth. We take our themes from Mansfield’s writing. This year, the theme is ‘wild places’. All submissions must follow the theme, however loosely.
You can write your work in any form – short story or hybrid or another imaginative form, but please note this is not a competition for flash fiction.
Full guidelines: https://atthebay.org/sparkling-prose-katherine-mansfield-story-competition/
Monday 10 August: Open mike at Undercurrent with guest reader Michael O’Leary
From the days when he ran a bookshop in Dunedin, to his involvement with many poetry ventures in the Wellington region including the Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop, Michael O’Leary has been a beneficial presence in my life as a poet – and he is, of course, a wonderful poet himself. So it’s an honour to be asked to MC a poetry open mike at Undercurrent (on the Tory St/Vivian St corner) where Michael will be the guest reader. Details are below and on the Undercurrent site. Whether you like to read your poetry, like to listen to poetry, or both, please come along!
Poetry Open Mic – Mon, 10 Aug – Undercurrent
Time & Location
10 Aug 2026, 7:00 pm
Undercurrent, 118 Tory Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011, New Zealand
The Undercurrent presents the Poetry Open Mic!
About the event
Local poets take over the mic, MCed by Tim Jones! Register at the door and please prepare 2 poems; you may be able to read both. Following this, the Earl of Seacliff will stop at the Undercurrent on his Farewell World Tour.
The Earl (Michael O’Leary to his Paekakariki mates) will read from his collected works, published last year. How he can write poetry dense with surreal and avantgarde word play, while completely rooted in the earthy, messy reality of daily life, is something for an eager phd student to discern sometime in the distant future. The Earl will be drawing from 50 years of poetic endeavour.
Monday August 10
Doors 6:30pm
Start 7pm
Cost: $10
Tickets available online and at the door!
Some of Michael O’Leary’s Poems: https://michaeloleary.wordpress.com/poetry/
Snacks, a range of refreshing drinks, tea & coffee, and of course…books available for purchase!
We’ll see you there ☆
