Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair 2024
The Novel Fair is an annual competition initiated by the Irish Writers Centre (IWC). Described by The Irish Times as “A Dragons’ Cave for writers”, each year the Fair aims to introduce up-and-coming writers to top publishers and literary agents.
The Prize
The twelve winners will have the opportunity to present the summary of their novel directly to industry professionals. Leading publishers and agents will be invited by the IWC to meet these writers in person or through a series of online meetings. To get fully prepared for the meeting with publishers and agents, the winners will receive a place in a workshop on “How to Promote Your Novel”, two weeks in advance. Also, applicants who are longlisted (初选) but do not make it to the shortlist of twelve will have their works evaluated and criticized by the judging panel.
How to Enter
Entry fee for application is £55 (Members of IWC can enter for a discounted fee of £45). This competition only accepts manuscripts (原稿) for novels. Applicants are required to send a summary within 300 words and up to five chapters of their novel, which should be 10,000 words (+/-10%). Manuscripts should be submitted online. There is a limit of one entry per applicant.
Entries are welcome from anywhere in the world. Before entering the competition, please ensure that you have read the Novel Fair Terms & Conditions 2024 very carefully as the Fair is open to only novelists who have never published work previously. If you have any questions about the application process, please email novelfair@irishwriterscentre.ie.
1. What’s the purpose of the Fair?A.To advertise local stories. |
B.To encourage literary reading. |
C.To serve as a platform for writers. |
D.To arouse enthusiasm for writing. |
A.Deal with the judging panel. |
B.Improve their writing skills. |
C.Learn about publishing process. |
D.Present their novels attractively. |
A.A summary of 200 words. |
B.A novel published in 2023. |
C.A paper manuscript by post. |
D.A submission of seven chapters. |
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【推荐1】What Is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a large language model chatbot developed by OpenAI based on GPT=3. 5 (Click to learn more). It has a remarkable ability to interact in a conversational dialogue form and provide responses that can appear surprisingly human. Large language models perform the task of predicting the next word in a series of words.
Is ChatGPT Free To Use?
The use of ChatGPT is currently free during the “research preview” time. The chatbot is currently open for users to try out and provide feedback on the responses so that the AI can become better at answering questions and to learn from its mistakes. However, ChatGPT is envisioned as a tool that the public will eventually have to pay to use.
How Can ChatGPT Be Used?
ChatGPT can write code, poems, songs, and even short stories in the style of a specific author. The expertise in following directions elevates ChatGPT from an information source to a tool that can be asked to accomplish a task. This makes it useful for writing an essay on virtually any topic. ChatGPT can function as a tool for generating outlines for articles or even entire novels. It will provide a response for virtually any task that can be answered with written text.
Limitations
●ChatGPT sometimes writes plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers. Fixing this issue is challenging, as: (1) during RL training, there’s currently no source of truth; (2) training the model to be more cautious causes it to decline questions that it can answer correctly; and (3) supervised training misleads the model because the ideal answer depends on what the model knows, rather than what the human demonstrator knows.
●ChatGPT is sensitive to tweaks (微调) to the input phrasing or attempting the same prompt multiple times. For example, given one phrasing of a question, the model can claim to not know the answer, but given a slight rephrase (重新措辞), it can answer correctly.
●While we’ve made efforts to make the model refuse inappropriate requests, it will sometimes respond to harmful instructions or exhibit biased behavior. We’re using the Moderation API to warn or block certain types of unsafe content, but we expect it to have some false negatives and positives for now. We’re eager to collect user feedback to aid our ongoing work to improve this system.
1. Which of the following tasks can NOT be performed by ChatGPT?A.Writing a poem. | B.Drawing a painting. |
C.Writing a song. | D.Creating a short story in O. Henry’s style. |
A.It only gives true answers. |
B.It is free of charge at the moment. |
C.Its limitations are easy to overcome. |
D.It can respond to harmful questions sometimes. |
A.A website. | B.A brochure. | C.A leaflet. | D.A novel. |
【推荐2】No visit to London is complete without checking out its fantastic selection of museums and galleries. Here are some of the best (in no particular order). Take your pick, then use the London attractions map to work out how to get there and which one to visit next.
1. British MuseumBritish Museum has been displaying global historic artifacts discovered by British explorers. Opened in 1759, it was the first national museum to be open to the public in the world. Highlights include the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon Sculptures and Egyptian mummies.
Address: Great Russell St, WC1B 3DG
Price: Free (permanent collections); admission charge applies for temporary exhibitions.
2. Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)As you walk through the museum's mix of Victorian and contemporary architecture, you’re as likely to see an exhibition with vast collections including everything from potteries and fashion to wallpapers and jewellery, spanning 5 ,000 years.
Address: Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL
Price: Some exhibitions and events carry a separate charge. Admission is free.
3. Natural History MuseumExplore our planet’s living wonders at the Natural History Museum. Inside the striking building, favorites include the Dinosaurs gallery, the blue whale model and the state-of-the-art Darwin Centre, where you can see hundreds of bones of animals as well as scientists at work. Address: Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD
Price: £ 14 for adults; £ 11 for people( 13-17 or ages 62 + ) or students with ID; £ 6 for children (3-12).
4. Imperial War Museum LondonA powerful museum shining a light on the history of conflict from the First World War to today. IWM is made up of permanent galleries, such as the ace Curiosities of War exhibit, and temporary displays, exploring recent conflicts and terrorist attacks.
Address: Lambeth Road, SEI 6HZ
Price: Free
1. Which museum requires an entrance fee?A.British Museum. | B.Victoria and Albert Museum. |
C.Natural History Museum. | D.Imperial War Museum London. |
A.It has many historic collections. |
B.It's the world's first national museum opened. |
C.It requires admission for temporary exhibitions. |
D.It is the most famous museum in London. |
A.Living dinosaurs. | B.Fantastic buildings. |
C.The scientist Darwin. | D.A model of a blue whale. |
【推荐3】A weekend trip to Prague is just enough time to enjoy the historical places in the city and you can still take out some time to attend fun activities and enjoy the local cuisine. The list here will help you decide where to stay, where to eat, and where to go on your weekend in the magical city of Prague.
Prague Old Town
The most central location in Prague, Old Town is where most of the sightseeing (游览) attractions are. There are various hotels around this area and depending on what you’re hoping to spend, there is something for everyone. You can easily walk to Wenceslas Square, Charles Bridge, the Astronomical Clock, and the Old Town Hall Tower,
Activities
If you’re looking for a family-friendly activity, you can go Paintballing at the Prague Playground which has themed (特定主题的) fields and lets you run around them as much as you want. If you want to explore, you can also be a part of the bike tour that goes to the Karlstejn Castle.
Food and Drink
Prague is known for its love of meat and beer, but that’s not the only type of food and drinks you can enjoy there. Traditional Czzech cuisine is special and something you should try on your weekend in Prague.
Now that you know where to stay and what to do, go forth and enjoy your weekend in Prague!
1. Where is the text probably taken from?A.A textbook. | B.A course plan. |
C.A story. | D.A travel guide. |
A.Wenceslas Square. | B.Charles Bridge. |
C.Old Town. | D.The Astronomical Clock. |
A.By bike. | B.By car. |
C.By taxi. | D.By subway. |
-- USA Today
"Amusing...Realistic...Rarely has China seemed less exotic and more accessible...The stories have the air of fable(寓言)."
--Los Angeles Times
"A vivid picture...of Chinese society in the era just after the Cultural Revolution."
-- Chicago Tribune
"Brilliant...delightful...Ha Jin's customs, ideas and landscapes might be of an Eastern persuasion, but his writing communicates universally. Without being didactic or condescending, these stories often resemble modern fables…”
--Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
"Beautifully understated short stories of life in modern China. Some of them are likely to break your heart."
--People
"A short story collection that offers readers...a dozen ways to enter the changing landscape of modern China...No one has ever captured the collision between the Communist society and the western culture quite like Ha Jin."
--Baton Rouge Magazine
1. "Ha Jin", is probably a _____.
A.name of a place in China |
B.name of a writer of ancient China |
C.name of a writer of modern times |
D.name of a book |
A.newspapers and magazines |
B.different places in America |
C.different organizations that sell books. |
D.book critics. |
A.The "People" doesn't like the stories because they will break people's heart. |
B.The "USA Today" suggests that Ha Jin should work as a school teacher. |
C.Ha Jin's book has many beautiful paintings. |
D.Ha Jin's book has successfully described a modern China to western readers. |
A.attract more tourists to China |
B.attract more students to a university |
C.sell more books of Ha Jin |
D.sell more copies of Los Angeles Times |
【推荐2】Charlotte Grainger explains that it was her primary school teacher who first speculated that she might write a novel. “I thought the height of achievement would be to write a book because it seemed such a challenge and anyway I didn’t know what other teenagers were doing, like being in the Olympics, for example. When I turned 13, I thought I may be as well attempt this now. Recently I told my ex-teacher about it and she was astonished. She told me she’d meant I’d do it when I was 30 or 40. That had never occurred to me — I couldn’t understand why I’d be expected to put something on hold that I had a chance of being good at.”
It’s a winter afternoon, in the offices of Charlette’s publishers. The public relations representative for the book is keeping us company in case Charlotte might need defending. But she needs neither parental nor professional support. She’s her own person: spirited, with an alert face and great intelligence, but also a steadiness that prevents any overconfidence she could be forgiven for feeling.
She has a theory about teenagers and the way they are “betrayed” by the fiction that is specifically aimed at them. There are, she maintains, three types of teenagers depicted in novels. “There’s the outsider who becomes acceptable to society, the naive teenager who knows nothing about the big wide world, and the awkward teenage character who is socially skilled. The overall impression teenagers can get from some writers is teenagers can’t possibly know who they are because they are not experienced enough to know the truth. And when that is being pushed onto them by writers, it can undermine their self-belief. ”
Charlotte has always been a keen reader of famous fantasy writers, some of whom you might suppose she’d be grateful to, but in fact they almost put her off writing entirely. “Books by my favorite fantasy writers explore deep things about psychology and about life. I was asking myself: is this seriously what I have to be doing to write a good book and am I really up to it?” She does, however, praise the influence of a book called “How Not to Write a Novel. “It tells you that if the reader starts to guess what’s going to happen, the suspense has probably gone. ”
1. Why did Charlotte write her first novel at 13?A.She considered it something she might be good at. |
B.She wanted to live up to her teacher’s expectations. |
C.She wished to prove age was no barrier to success. |
D.She felt it impossible to delay doing anything. |
A.She needs to be more confident. | B.She is more modest than expected. |
C.She should take more advice from others. | D.She should be allowed more independence. |
A.Mentioned. | B.Identified. | C.Betrayed. | D.Described. |
A.They were too boring to read. | B.They offered inspirations for her novel. |
C.They nearly made her frightened of writing. | D.They taught her the skill of creating suspense. |
【推荐3】Books That Changed My Life
Shakespeare’s Kitchen by Lore SegalShakespeare’s Kitchen not only reveals, sometimes surprisingly, what people were eating in Shakespeare’s time but also provides recipes that today’s cooks can easily re-create with readily available ingredients.
Persuasion by Jane AustenIn this novel, Anne Eliot is the daughter of a foolish noble. Their home must be rented out and Anne goes to stay with her younger sister Mary. Here she is thrown into the company of Captain Wentworth who offered to marry Anne eight years earlier. But Anne was persuaded to turn him down. He hasn’t forgiven her. Anne is forced to watch the man she still loves attach himself to this and that pretty woman.
The Puttermesser Papers by Cynthia OzickPuttermesser, a woman of magic, takes some dirt from a flower pot and makes a half man and half god creature which will make her mayor of New York. During her administration, the city is free of all hate and crime, for a while. The reader who has a strong heart and stomach can stick with Puttermesser to her sad and brutal end.
David Copperfield by Charles DickensDickens showed me what to do with my life. I was twelve when my mother read me David Copperfield about how David’s young mother dies and leaves him in the brutal step-father’s care. My favorite character is the young lawyer who responds to misfortune with cheerful goodness. That’s what I wanted to do.
1. Which book do you choose if you prefer a fantasy novel?A.Shakespeare s Kitchen. | B.Persuasion. |
C.The Puttermesser Papers. | D.David Copperfield. |
A.People cooked and ate unhealthily in Shakespeare’s time. |
B.Anne and Wentworth’s love story may turn out complicated. |
C.Puttermesser is likely to end up living happily with her creature. |
D.The young lawyer holds a negative attitude towards misfortune. |
A.Tourism. | B.Literature. | C.Sports. | D.Entertainment. |