Maria Hoey

Maria Hoey has published poetry with Irelands foremost poetry publication, Poetry Ireland. Her poems and short stories have also appeared in various magazines. Maria won first prize in the Swords Festival Short Story Competition in 1999. In 2010, her short story, Reading Brother Boniface was runner-up in the Mslexia International Short Story Competition. Novelist, Tracy Chevalier said of Marias winning entry, I loved the evocation of the 1970s in Maria Hoeys chilling Reading Brother Boniface; of all the stories I read for this competition, my favourite description is of platform sandals with heels chunky and high as two half-pounds of butter. I had such sandals myself, and the butter simile is perfect. In November 2010, Maria had a short story shortlisted for the Michael McLaverty Short Story Award. She was short-listed from a total of 600 entries for the 2015 Irish Times Amateur Travel-Writer Competition. Her first novel, THE LAST LOST GIRL, will be published by Poolbeg in July 2016.