Explore every episode of the podcast RTÉ Short Story Competition

Divination, by Stephen O'Reilly, read by Andrew Bennett

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Artifice, by Sharon Guard, read by Ali White

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From the 2023 shortlist, read by Elaine O'Dwyer, in the words of the judges "a well-crafted, affecting tale...a lovely, gentle portrait of teenagerdom as the summer holidays start"

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From the 2023 shortlist, read by Emmet Farrell, in the words of the judges “a beautiful, exhilarating, and deeply touching story about an easily-led, bird-loving young fellow’s trip to the dark side”

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From the 2023 shortlist, read by David Pearse, in the words of the judges a “darkly funny, relentless and surprising tale around a father and son’s increasingly manic search for a lost greyhound”

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From the 2023 shortlist, read by Camille Lucy Ross, in the words of the judges “a really funny, really timely, comic symphony around cyber love”

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From the 2023 shortlist, read by Kathy Rose O'Brien, in the words of the judges “a smart, considered, lively vision of manipulation, revenge and gloriously twisted love”

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From the 2023 shortlist, read by Aaron Monaghan, in the words of the judges an “extraordinary feat of imagination,” and “an original and funny fantasy with a lake as the protagonist”

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From the 2023 shortlist, read by Marty Rea, in the words of the judges “a breath-taking, captivating and authentic immersion into a teenage boy’s involvement in a street protest”

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From the 2023 shortlist, read by Rory Nolan, in the words of the judges “funny and sad and thoroughly engrossing; a triumph of atmosphere”

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From the 2023 shortlist, read by Janet Moran, in the words of the judges “a captivating, poignant tale of a young woman dealing with the loss of her eccentric mother”

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From the 2023 shortlist, read by Andrew Bennett, in the words of the judges "a beguiling and subtly-observed portrait of hope, resignation and resilience"

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Turncoat, by David Ralph, read by Tadhg Murphy

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A story encompassing the intimacy and vulnerability of motherhood, and a mother's love for her son

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A teenage girl, driving to the south of France with squabbling parents and the family dog

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A father and son holidaying in Madrid overhear a couple in a museum discussing the merits of a particular masterpiece

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A deserted house, an unlikely friendship and a small-town Ireland we can all recognise

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Inspired by an ancient landscape, this is a story of coming to terms with grief and a changing relationship between father and son

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A playful and surreal send-up of the fairy and folk tales we all know so well

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The conflicting emotions that arise from a family member's death from a drug overdose

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A coming-of-age tale of a mother/daughter relationship, this is a story that grew out of the writer's experiences working with young people during the pandemic. She says "in a world of constantly evolving risks it really highlighted for me the need for us all to keep talking"

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In this story, a young man thinks he is Christ, a character ready to disrupt a familiar time and place

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In a story about memory and loss, the narrator clears out her dead parents' house and when the job is done she comes across a fixture in the house that hides a family secret she cannot cast off. (photo by: Bríd O'Donovan)

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Dessie and Hopper, by Susanne Stich, read by Ruth McGill

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The Night Call - a doctor and her driver run over and badly injure a dog late on New Year’s Eve and seek help in finding a way to dispatch him mercifully - was written by Helen O'Neill and is read by Jane Brennan

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The Johns - Jenny, a young woman on the brink of romance with her colleague Emma, sees graffiti about ‘John and Cleo’ which leads her to meditate on grand displays of love and commitment - was written by Rachel Walshe? and is read by Kathy Rose O'Brien

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We Must All Be Kind - an isolated man, still grieving the loss of his parents, ruffles feathers on his work Zoom calls by dressing outlandishly - was written by Hugo Kelly and is read by Ronan Leahy

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The Pines - a suburban couple wage covert war on their neighbor who persists in occupying his (false) balcony looking down on their garden - was written by Paul Lenehan and is read by Norma Sheahan?.

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A Hurt Like That - the story of a woman who has fallen off a ladder as she contemplates life, death and marriage and the delicious feeling of being on the brink between existence and non-existence - was written by Paul Boyle and is read by Derbhle Crotty.

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Muddlers - the story of two young Belfast women’s friendship forged by, among other things, a mutual obsession with Henry Joy McCracken, Wolfe Tone, and more figures from Irish history - was written by Gráinne O'Hare and is read by Ali White.

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People Over There - the story of Sura, a young Iraqi woman who grew up in Ireland, experiences culture clash as she visits her cousins in Baghdad for the first time - was written by Doaa Baker and is read by Rachel O’Byrne.

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The joint 2nd prizewinner to the RTÉ Short Story Competition 2021: Windsea - the monologue of a misjudged teenager as he holds his landlord, who has shot his dog, at gunpoint - was written by Donal Minihane and is read by Aaron Monaghan.

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The joint 2nd prizewinner to the RTÉ Short Story Competition 2021: Mamó - the interior monologue of an incapacitated woman enduring a visit from her daughter and grandchildren. Written by Sara Keating and is read by Ingrid Craigie.

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The winning entry to the RTÉ Short Story Competition 2021: The Third Day - a young GAA player whose team have just won the senior final seeks to prolong the celebrations, long after his teammates have called it a day - was written by Kevin Donnellan and is read by Éanna Hardwicke.

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Chambermaid, by Fiona O'Connor, read by Janet Moran

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Guinness & Coke by Lochlainn McKenna one of the 10 Shortlisted Stories in this year's competition, tells of father-and-son weekend adventures by car throughout the length and breadth of the country. Wonderfully written with matter-of-fact child’s eye storytelling but with an undertow of sadness

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Tonight’s story from the shortlist of this year's RTÉ Short Story Competition, Tactics, by Andrew Maguire, is “impressive, commanding and intense” in the words of the judges. Unusually – but to great effect – it’s told in the future tense. It features a boy, Wojciech, who plays snooker with older Irish men in a shebeen – playing to win

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In Beneath the Trees, Where Nobody Sees, by Julie Cruickshank, a woman takes her daughters and nephew on a playdate to a park where there’s a tree the children love. But underneath the surface, something darker is going on…

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One of the 10 Shortlisted Stories from this year's competition, the story moves fluently between past and present as a man and his granddaughter in Inishowen try to rescue an injured bird. Everything will be Recorded is read by Lalor Roddy

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The Brow of the Hill, one of this year's shortlisted of ten, "takes us to a snowy Sunday morning in December 1886 on the feast of St Sabas, a day when death and life intermingle. The setting is magnificently rendered, the images are striking, it’s like stepping inside a painting. " The Brow of the Hill by Edel Moloney is read by Derbhle Crotty

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Neadú, by Ceri Garfield, is one of the first Irish language entries to make it to the shortlist of the RTÉ Short Story Competition in a few years. Described by the judges as “beautiful and tender”, Neadú is the story of a little boy who’s confined to home; he finds a bird and with it a tantalizing glimmer of the world beyond his boundaries.

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One of 10 shortlisted stories from this year's RTÉ Short Story Competition Hands; A Downpour by Aengus Murray, is read by Liam Carney. Taking the form of a single continuous sentence, it was inspired, the writer says, by “a dejected figure” he saw, “standing in the middle of the footpath as rain teemed down upon and around him."

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“A clever, delightful story with a rare mix of playful humour and deadly seriousness,” is how this year’s competition judges described The Shape on the Strand by Katherine Duffy, a ghost story concerning a literary translator, a transgression, and a feathered hat which was awarded third prize in the RTÉ Short Story Competition 2020

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Kissing Booth by Alan Walsh was awarded 2nd prize in this year's competition. Read on air by Bláithín MacGabhann, Kissing Booth is described by the judges as a dark, clever, funny dystopian tale of our times in which catching a virus is a ticket to a better life

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The winning entry to the RTÉ Short Story Competition 2020: Flower Wild - the story of the Irish woman, Violet Gibson, who shot Mussolini - was written by Shane Tivenan and is read by Ingrid Craigie

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The Other Órla, by Emer O'Toole, read by Elaine O'Dwyer

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Once Upon an Algorithm, by Ryan Delaney, read by Peter Hanly

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The Rehearsal, by Alexis MacIsaac, ready by Tierra Porter

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Dead Bait, by Mattie Brennan, read by Aaron Monaghan

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Planning the Leftovers, by Sheila Barrett, read by Bríd Ní Neachtain

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