Winner of the 2024 Plaza Short Story Prize
News
Capital Vices. the title story of Conor's collection, was published in The Lonely Voice in February 2024. Conor is thrilled to be in such a quality publication alongside so many of his favourite writers
All Roads Lead to Ballinasloe has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Thanks to Lauren and Róisín at HOWL: New Irish Writing for their belief in the story and continued support.
LAUNCHED SEPTEMBER 2023
"Conor Montague is a fearless writer with an uncanny ability to take the reader further, faster. Fierce, poetic, innovative and often very funny. This collection has it all; the depths and the darkness, as well as images that ring clear as a bell and linger.
A brilliant body of work."
- Jess Kidd, author of The Night Ship (Canongate)
Writer, performer & workshop facilitator
About Conor
Conor Montague is an Irish writer working in London. He grew up by the wild Atlantic and is a graduate of the MA in Writing at the National University of Ireland, Galway
Prior to settling on a pen as his weapon of choice, Conor winged it as a nightclub manager, bin man, music promoter, builder, adventure travel guide, academic, bare-knuckle boxer, dive master, estate agent, marijuana grower, tutor coordinator, magazine editor, sports coach, security consultant, researcher, stand-up comic and DJ, spending time in East Africa, North Africa, Southeast Asia, India, Nepal, South America, the Caribbean, Australia, the US and mainland Europe.
Conor is co-director of London Writers Eclective and resident playwright at the Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith.
Stage
Stage credits include: Who Needs Enemies (Town Hall Theatre, Galway 2010-2013);The Butcher Molloy, Galway Theatre Festival 2012/ICC Theatre, Hammersmith 2017); Cursed by Good Intentions (Vodafone Comedy Carnival, Galway 2017); Straight Outta Connemara, (ICC Theatre, Hammersmith 2018); Killing Donald (Highly Commended Lost Theatre One-Act Festival, Stockwell Playhouse, June 2019); Chasing Reindeer (shortlisted for the Druid Theatre New Writing Prize 2020 and Platform Presents Playwrights Prize 2021); The Chain (Inishbofin Arts Festival 2023)
"Conor Montague’s tightly crafted drama sets a benchmark in creating stimulating, almost filmic drama for the stage."
Paul Vale (The Stage)
Fiction
An award-winning author, Conor's fiction has been published in Shooter Literary Magazine, The Lonely Crowd, HOWL: New Irish Writing, Galway Stories (Doire Press), Noir by Noir West: Dark Tales from the West of Ireland (Arlen House), The Real Jazz Baby (Reflex) Beguiled by a Wild Thing (Reflex) A Girl's Guide to Fly Fishing (Reflex), Snow Crow (Ad Hoc Fiction), Sticks and Stones (Oxford Flash Fiction Prize) Survival: Award Winning Stories (Hammond House) and placed/shortlisted in numerous competitions, most recently with: Flash 500, Reflex Fiction, TSS 400 Flash Fiction Competition, Ad Hoc Fiction, London Independent Story Prize, The Writer’s Bureau Short Story Competition, Limnisa Short Story Competition, Bray Literary Festival Flash Fiction Competition, the Bridport Prize, The Fish Prize, Strands International Prize for Flash Fiction, The V.S. Pritchett Short Story Award, Hammond House International Literary Prize, The Stockholm Writers' Festival First Five Pages.
Conor's debut collection of short stories, Capital Vices, was published by Reflex Press in September 2023.
Screen
Screen writing credits include: Who Needs Enemies (Vagabond Productions 2013); Coronamona (Vagabond Productions 2020); Frog Symphony (Vagabond Productions 2021); Nothing to be Done (Galway Film Fleadh 2023).
Writing workshop facilitation, mentoring & editing
Facilitates weekly workshops in fiction, creative non-fiction and playwriting. Supports writers through 1:1 mentoring and story editing.