All Ireland Scholars
Creative Writing Competition 2026
We are delighted to launch the 2026 Roger Downer All Ireland Scholars Creative Writing Competition. Honouring the importance of the written word, and named after AIS Trustee and Competition Founder, Professor Roger Downer, we are thrilled to invite All Ireland Scholars to send us your entries.
This year again the focus will be on the shortest forms of writing with 2 competition categories: flash prose or short poetry. The maximum limit for flash prose pieces will be 600 words and the maximum for short poetry will be 20 lines.
All information on this year’s competition is available below!
Flash Prose and Short Poetry
Can you craft a wonderful story into its shortest, leanest form? Can you capture a memory? Can you make an important declaration about the world? Flash pieces mean getting to the heart of the story or message as quickly and effectively as you can, making every sentence count, painting a glimpse in words that will linger in your readers’ minds long after they’ve finished reading.
The maximum limit for flash prose pieces will be 600 words and the maximum for short poetry will be 20 lines.
The secret is in finding ways of making your writing brief, concise and distilled without imposing any restrictions on your imaginations or your creativity!
Flash Prose
There are three options in the prose category:
- Flash fiction: Apart from being short and concise, flash fiction must still observe the principles of storytelling: it should be well structured, and have some discernible plot with a strong hook, a developing sense of story and an impactful ending. Flash stories can be as short as a single line (keep in mind that one of the most famous and heartbreaking flash fiction stories is only six words long).
- Flash creative non-fiction: This should also be structured well with a satisfying finish – and can be anything that draws from life: a piece of memoir or autobiography, a story about someone real, or a moment in time captured in compressed and authentic language.
- Flash op-ed: This should be an opinion piece about a matter of importance to you. It should aim to raise awareness, be persuasive, convincing, heartfelt, even dazzling. Although, also remember to keep it brief and pared down to its most essential elements.
Short Poetry
Poetry is a form that invites the use of concision and economy of language, while also harnessing the power of rhythm in structure and symbolism of meaning. It can be more oblique, more lyrical, more cadenced, more nuanced in tone and structure than prose.
We received so much wonderful poetry last year and are delighted to invite poetry submissions again in 2026.
As Robert Frost once stated, “Poetry is a fresh look and a fresh listen” and that’s exactly what we’re looking for in this category, voices that have something to express or arresting images to evoke and who bring skill and vision to the shaping of language. Read some of your own favourite poetry for inspiration and attend the online workshop in January where we’ll take you through some more detailed advice.
Other submission requirements:
Entrants should specify clearly which category/subcategory they are submitting to. Entrants can submit a maximum of three pieces, (but note that successful entrants can only be awarded one prize.) Part of the application process will require entrants to upload profile pictures and to indicate their consent to allow images to be used on All Ireland Scholar platforms.
Judging Panel
Prof Sarah Moore Fitzgerald
Chair
Sarah is a professor, researcher and teacher at UL with a background in psychology and pedagogy. She was awarded her professorship in 2016 and has been recognised for her sector-wide impact on enhancing teaching and learning throughout Ireland’s higher education sector. She’s a lifelong writer and has published seven novels for children and young adults. Her work has been shortlisted for many awards, and translated into over twenty languages. Her shorter work has appeared in The London Magazine, Splonk The Guardian and The Irish Times.
Paul Lynch
Paul Lynch is the Booker Prize–winning author of five internationally acclaimed novels: Prophet Song, Beyond the Sea, Grace, The Black Snow, and Red Sky in Morning. He won the 2023 Booker Prize for Prophet Song and has received, or been shortlisted for, numerous other international awards. In 2024, he was appointed Distinguished Writing Fellow at Maynooth University and elected to Aosdána, the Irish academy of artists. In 2025, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Limerick for his “remarkable contributions to literature” and was named a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. His fiction has been translated into over 40 languages.
Prof Donal Ryan
Donal is an internationally renowned, much-loved and award-winning Irish writer. His debut novel ‘The Spinning Heart’ was sensationally received, longlisted for the Booker, and marked the beginning of his stellar literary career. Donal’s writing is praised for its lyrical prose, its compassionate portrayal of characters, and its exploration of contemporary Irish life. He is one of Ireland’s most talented contemporary authors. His novel Heart, Be At Peace won the 2024 An Post Book of the Year, and the 2025 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. He is a core member of the creative writing teaching team at the University of Limerick.
Dr Emily Cullen
Emily is the inaugural Meskell UL-Fifty Poet in Residence at the University of Limerick, where she teaches and lectures on the UL’s MA in Creative Writing. Her third collection, Conditional Perfect (Doire Press, 2019), was included in The Irish Times round-up of “the best new programme. She has published three collections of poetry of 2019.” Emily and in 2008 was awarded an IRC fellowship for her doctoral research on the Irish harp. She gained a PhD in English from NUI Galway in 2008. Emily frequently publishes essays on Irish music and cultural history, as well as on modernist and contemporary poetry. She has served as Arts Officer of the University of Galway (1999-2002), Director of the Patrick Kavanagh Centenary (2004) and Director of Cúirt International Festival of Literature (2017-2019). Twice nominated for the Pushcart prize, her poetry explores themes of history, social justice, ecology, music and the female experience.
Dr EmerRose Kealy
EmerRose received her All Ireland Scholarship in 2017 and went on to study Medicine in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RSCI). She graduated from RCSI in May 2022 and continued her training as a GP with the Irish College of General Practitioners.Also, a wonderful writer, EmerRose was selected as last year’s overall winner of the 2025 All Ireland Scholarships Creative Writing Competition for her short story The Crown. Emer’s experience as a recent winner of the competition will add an invaluable element to the judging dynamics this year. We’re delighted she is joining us.