Polly Samson loves to write, but hates sitting at her desk. She tells Colette Sheridan why she finds the short story to be the ideal form.

For the 50th anniversary of short-writer, Frank O’Connor’s death, his son is donating private correspondence to UCC, writes Colette Sheridan

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

Canadian writer Heather O’Neil is one of the overseas guests at this week’s Cork International Short Story Festival, writes Richard Fitzpatrick.

From the concept of dinosaurs on other planets to a skull found in a forest, no idea is wasted by Cork author Danielle McLaughlin, says Collette Sheridan

TRY THIS

Cork International Short Story festival kicked off at Triskel Christchurch last night with a reading from famed US writer Richard Ford.

Frank O’Connor, who lends his name to the world’s richest prize for a short story collection at this week’s Cork International Short Story Festival, was an eloquent critic of the censorship that blighted independent Ireland’s cultural landscape.

MUSIC NEWS: U2 caught us all by surprise earlier this week with the release of their new album, Songs Of Innocence, as part of a tie-in with Apple.

Cork’s programme for Culture Night is bigger and better than ever, writes Colette Sheridan

You are a man out of the north,

A week ago, on a slightly rainy Sunday evening, the sad news broke that the great Canadian writer, Alistair MacLeod, had died.

Best European Fiction 2014

IN the year that the Cork writer Patrick Galvin died, my own Patrick Galvin was also in his final days. My father wasn’t distinguished or a man of letters: he had worked in the factories of Coventry from his early 30s, as a machinist, been widowed young and raised two daughters.

IRISH writer Julian Gough, who satirises our banking crisis in his witty novella, Crash! How I Lost A Hundred Billion and Found True Love, says living in Berlin gives him perspective on home.

HIGHLIGHT of the Cork International Short Story Festival (Sept 18-22) will be a reading by, and public interview with David Constantine, winner of the 2013 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award at Triskel Christchurch on Sept 22.

University College Cork has thrown a lifeline to the world’s most lucrative award for a collection of short stories.

Black Vodka & Other Stories

Nathan Englander talks to Colette Sheridan about ‘cultural Judaism’ and his dedication to the short story

FROM relatively humble origins six years ago, Culture Night has become a hugely popular nationwide event.

MUSIC NEWS: Thom Yorke of Radiohead has unveiled some tracks from his Atoms For Peace project during a DJ set in the US.

John Minihan marks Culture Night and Cork International Short Story festival with illuminating photos, Tina O’Sullivan reports

Cork-based Joyce Russell dug deep into her interest in nature and family relationships for her first collection, Bloodlines, writes Billy O’Callaghan

THE veteran Irish writer Edna O’Brien was last night named the winner of the 2011 Frank O’Connor Short Story Award for her collection, Saints and Sinners. O’Brien received the prize in person, at the Metropole Hotel in Cork. She is the first Irish writer to win.

The veteran Irish writer Edna O’Brien has been named the winner of the 2011 Frank O’Connor Short Story Award for her collection, 'Saints and Sinners'.