There was an outstanding response to the Write Here, Write Now competition, as thousands of students all over Ireland were inspired to get creative by Roddy Doyle’s Barrytown Trilogy. In the process, these aspiring young writers confirmed that there is a wealth of latent talent out there waiting to be nurtured and developed. We can now present the cream of the crop, with 22 entries at second level and 22 at third level still in the running for the big prizes.
Check out the shortlist and read all of the entries by clicking right HERE.
Not only that, if let us know which entries you most enjoyed by clicking on the 'Tell Us You Like This' button, you can enter a competition to win two tickets to Forbidden Fruit.
From this shortlist, four overall winners will be selected:

Category 1: Second Level
Open to Leaving Certificate students (5th & 6th Year) or equivalent.
- One male winner and one female winner
- Both winners will be invited for a two-week internship in HP central.
Category 2: Third Level
Open to students in 3rd Level education, or who have completed it in the last 12 months.
- One male winner and one female winner
- Both winners will be invited for a four-week internship in HP central.
There Will Be Even More Winners...
Even if you don’t make the top four, there’s a still a chance to come away with some marvellous booty – and to set yourself on the road to writing full-time! Four runners-up, one from each province, will be selected in both Second Level and Third Level categories, to receive special prizes. And there will be prizes for additional runners-up - amounting to 22 lucky winners in all. Each of the 22 winners will receive a one-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365.
THE JUDGING PANEL:
Man Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle, MPAC Award winner Kevin Barry, Rooney Prize winner Claire Kilroy, Hot Press editor Niall Stokes and composer / songwriter Julie Feeney.
The winners will be announced at a special ceremony in The Mansion House, Dublin in April.
*THIS RELATES TO 2015's Write Here Write Now - for more info on 2016's competition go here http://www.hotpress.com/writeherewritenow/
'Write Here, Write Now' is run by Hot Press in association with Dublin City Libraries and the One City One Book Festival. The competition is also supported by Microsoft, Eason and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, under the Arts in Education heading.