RTÉ Short Story Competition

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

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…

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

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

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.

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."

“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

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

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