Run in conjunction with the Creative Ireland Programme, and supported by Canon and PayPal, Write Here, Write Now 2018 has as its theme Social Media: A Writer’s Tale. Entrants were invited to explore the many ways in which social media can make us laugh, cry, shudder or throw our hands in the air – whether that be via an unexpected “like” on Facebook, a tweet that cuts deep, an Instagram that reduces us to tears or a WhatsApp message gone wrong.

The panel of judges in 2018 includes some of the most eminent writers living in Ireland, incuding the Booker Prize winner DBC Pierre, award-winning poet Rita Anne Higgins, crime writer extraordinaire Tana French and recent winner of the Goldsmiths Prize, Mike McCormack, as well as Hot Press’ own senior editorial figures, Niall Stokes, Stuart Clark and Máirín Sheehy.

Read the all 41 finalist entries here: hotpress.com/writeherewritenow