''The Stinging Fly'' is a

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

published in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, featuring

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

essays An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

, and

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

. It publishes two issues each year. In 2005, ''The Stinging Fly'' moved into book publishing with the establishment of The Stinging Fly Press.

Magazine

''The Stinging Fly'' magazine was founded in 1998 by Declan Meade and Aoife Kavanagh. Kavanagh departed after two issues, leaving Meade as sole editor. Eabhan Ní Shúileabháin became poetry editor in September 2001. From 2014 to 2016, Thomas Morris was the magazine's editor.

Sally Rooney Sally Rooney (born 20 February 1991) is an Irish author and screenwriter. She has published three novels: ''Conversations with Friends'' (2017), ''Normal People'' (2018), and ''Beautiful World, Where Are You'' (2021). ''Normal People'' was adapt ...

was editor from December 2017 until January 2019, and is now Chair of the Stinging Fly Board. Danny Denton succeeded as editor in 2019. In June 2022, novelist

Lisa McInerney Lisa McInerney is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, editor and screenwriter. She is best known for her novel, '' The Glorious Heresies'', which was the 2016 winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Biography McInerney was born ...

was announced as the new editor, the sixth editor in the magazine's twenty-five-year history. The enterprise was initially inspired by David Marcus and the publication of the Fish Anthology. The stated founding objective was to provide a forum for the very best new Irish and international writing. Most of the contributors are new or emerging writers, and usually have some connection to Ireland. Equal emphasis is given to short stories and poetry, with occasional other material such as novel extracts, song lyrics, and author interviews. After 18 published issues, Meade took a break in 2004 and, as he says on the official website, "toyed with the idea of giving it all up." The magazine reappeared as Issue 1 of Volume 2 in summer 2005, in a new 75x245mm format with graphic design by Fergal Condon. The new volume also introduced a "featured poet" section of four or five pages which allows a relatively new poet to present a more representative sample of his or her work. The first featured poet was Phillip Crymble. Along with ''

The Dublin Review ''The Dublin Review'' is a quarterly magazine that publishes essays, reportage, autobiography, travel writing, criticism and fiction. It was launched in December 2000 by Brendan Barrington, who remains the editor and publisher, assisted by Nora ...

'', ''

The Honest Ulsterman ''The Honest Ulsterman'' is a long-running Northern Ireland literary magazine that was established by James Simmons in 1968. It was then edited for twenty years by Frank Ormsby. It has returned as an online publication from 2014 onwards. Edito ...

'', '' The Dublin Review of Books'', and various other titles, it is one of a number of periodicals to have contributed to a boom in Irish literary journals over the past decade. Notable writers who've made their debuts in the magazine include: Sally Rooney, Nicole Flattery, Sara Baume, Rob Doyle, Colin Barrett, Wendy Erskine, and Oisin Fagan.

Notable contributors

Kevin Barry Kevin Gerard Barry (20 January 1902 – 1 November 1920) was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldier who was executed by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence. He was sentenced to death for his part in an attack upon a Bri ...

Robert Olen Butler Robert Olen Butler (born January 20, 1945) is an American fiction writer. His short-story collection '' A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain'' was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1993. Early life Butler was born in Granite City, Illin ...

Anne Carson Anne Carson (born June 21, 1950) is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator, classicist, and professor. Trained at the University of Toronto, Carson has taught classics, comparative literature, and creative writing at universities across the Unit ...

Patrick Deeley Patrick Deeley (born 1953) is an Irish poet. Patrick Deeley was born in Loughrea, County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_cap ...

* Eamon Grennan *

Desmond Hogan Desmond Hogan (born 10 December 1950) is an Irish writer. Awarded the 1977 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and 1980 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, his oeuvre comprises novels, plays, short stories and travel writing. The ''Cork Examiner'' said: " ...

* M. J. Hyland * A. L. Kennedy *

Nick Laird Nicholas Laird (born 1975) is a Northern Irish novelist and poet. Education Laird was born in Cookstown, County Tyrone, where he attended the local comprehensive school. He then gained entry to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he initia ...

Toby Litt Toby Litt is an English writer and academic in the Department of English and Humanities at Birkbeck, University of London. Life Litt was born in Ampthill in 1968. He was educated at Bedford Modern School, read English at Worcester College, Oxfor ...

Eugene McCabe Eugene McCabe (7 July 1930 – 27 August 2020) was a Scots-born Irish novelist, short story writer, playwright, and television screenwriter. John Banville said McCabe was "in the first rank of contemporary Irish novelists'. Biography Born to ...

Jon McGregor Jon McGregor (born 1976) is a British novelist and short story writer. In 2002, his first novel was longlisted for the Booker Prize, making him then the youngest ever contender. His second and fourth novels were longlisted for the Booker Prize ...

Paula Meehan Paula Meehan (born 1955) is an Irish poet and playwright. Life and work Paula Meehan was born in Dublin in 1955, the eldest of six children. She subsequently moved to London with her parents where she attended St. Elizabeth's Primary School ...

* Paul Murray *

Edna O'Brien Josephine Edna O'Brien (born 15 December 1930) is an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer. Elected to Aosdána by her fellow artists, she was honoured with the title Saoi in 2015 and the "UK and Ireland Nobel" D ...

Sharon Olds Sharon Olds (born November 12, 1942) is an American poet. Olds won the first San Francisco Poetry Center Award in 1980, the 1984 National Book Critics Circle Award, and the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.

Keith Ridgway Keith Ridgway (born 2 October 1965) is an Irish novelist. An author, he has been described as "a worthy inheritor" of "the modernist tradition in Irish fiction." Writings ''Horses'', Ridgway's first published work of fiction, appeared in ''Faber ...

Matthew Sweeney Matthew Gerard Sweeney (6 October 1952 – 5 August 2018) was an Irish poet. His work has been translated into Dutch, Italian, Hebrew, Japanese, Latvian, Mexican Spanish, Romanian, Slovakian and German. According to the poet Gerard Smyth: "I ...

Olga Tokarczuk Olga Nawoja Tokarczuk (; born 29 January 1962) is a Polish writer, activist, and public intellectual. She is one of the most critically acclaimed and successful authors of her generation in Poland; in 2019, she was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize ...

The Stinging Fly Press

The Stinging Fly Press was established in 2005, and the first title, ''Watermark'' by Derry-born author Sean O'Reilly, was published in May that year. In July 2006, the imprint brought out a special fiction issue of the magazine in book form: ''These Are Our Lives'' featuring 22 short stories by Irish and international writers. In March 2007, The Stinging Fly published ''There Are Little Kingdoms'', the debut story collection from

. The book went on to win the 2007 Rooney Prize, and received rave reviews. In May 2012, The Stinging Fly published ''The China Factory'', a short story collection by Mary Costello. The book received positive reviews, notably in The Guardian, and went on to be longlisted for The Guardian First Book Award. In September 2013, The Stinging Fly press published ''Young Skins'' by Colin Barrett, which went on win the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, The Guardian first book award, and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. In 2015, The Stinging Fly Press published ''Pond'' by

Claire-Louise Bennett Claire-Louise Bennett is a British writer, living in Galway in Ireland. She has written ''Pond'' (2015), which was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize; and ''Checkout 19'' (2021), which was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize. Biography Benne ...

and ''Dinosaurs on Other Planets'' by Danielle McLaughlin, both to exceptional acclaim.

Davy Byrnes Short Story Award

Between 2004 and 2014, The Stinging Fly organised the Davy Byrnes Short Story Award, a prestigious prize for a single short story. The prize was held every five years. 2004 winner:

Anne Enright Anne Teresa Enright (born 11 October 1962) is an Irish writer. She has published seven novels, many short stories and a non-fiction work called ''Making Babies: Stumbling into Motherhood'', about the birth of her two children. Her writing explo ...

for her story 'Honey'. The judges were AL Kennedy,

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

literary editor Caroline Walsh, and Tobias Wolf.
2009 winner:

Claire Keegan Claire Keegan (born 1968) is an Irish writer known for her short stories, which have been published in ''The New Yorker'', ''Best American Short Stories'', ''Granta'', and ''The Paris Review''. Biography Born in County Wicklow in 1968, Keegan is ...

for her story ' Foster'. The judge was

Richard Ford Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel '' The Sportswriter'' and its sequels, '' Independence Day'', ''The Lay of the Land'' and ''Let Me Be Frank With You'', and t ...

.
2014 winner:

Sara Baume Sara Baume (born 1984) is an Irish novelist. Life Her father is of English descent while her mother is of Irish descent. As her parents travelled around in a caravan, Sara Baume was born "on the road to Wigan Pier". When she was 4, they moved ...

for her story 'Solesearcher1'. The judges were

and

Yiyun Li Yiyun Li (born November 4, 1972) is a Chinese-born writer and professor in the United States. Her short stories and novels have won several awards, including the PEN/Hemingway Award and Guardian First Book Award for ''A Thousand Years of Good Pra ...

Stinging Fly/FBA Fiction Prize

In May 2022, Emer O'Hanlon was announced 2022 winner of the inaugural Stinging Fly/FBA Fiction Prize. The €2000 prize is annually to an emerging fiction writer published in The Stinging Fly during the previous year.

References

External links

The Stinging Fly website

review of issue 3 vol 2, 2006

review of issues 5, 6 and 7, vol 2 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stinging Fly, The 1998 establishments in Ireland Literary magazines published in Ireland Magazines established in 1998 Poetry literary magazines Triannual magazines Mass media in Dublin (city)