The Power of Words Festival and Anthology

The Power of Words Festival in Ireland is an annual celebration of words—written, spoken, acted, and sung—that began in the beautiful heritage town of Abbeyleix, Co. Laois, in 2019.

Because of the Covid-19 restrictions, the 2020 Power of Words Festival was postponed. But, in its place was created a joint venture between The Power of Words Festival—Abbeyleix and Hilliard Press (the publishing division of The Hilliard Institute). The result was a short story writing competition! This competition was meant to keep our Irish writers writing during all the Covid-19 lockdowns—and it served as a bridge between our 2019 and 2021 in-person festivals.  

This short story competition took place beginning the 31st of August, 2020, until the 4th of December, 2020. Irish writers were invited to submit short stories of up to 5000 words, on any theme. Approximately forty stories were submitted and our competition judge, renowned Irish author, Amanda Carter, selected the top ten stories which are published within this anthology. The stories then went through the hands and reviews of four editors in Ireland and four editors in Tennessee.

Hilliard Press was then honored to be the publisher for the first Power of Words Abbeyleix Anthology released the summer of 2021 in Ireland, then in Tennessee. Hilliard Press also has a deep heritage and history with Abbeyleix and the County Laois through their mutual ties to the O’More clan. We were thrilled to be a part of the new venture.