Splonk is an online flash fiction journal set up in January 2019 by a group of flash writers and editors in Ireland. The word ‘splonk’ is the anglicised form of the Irish word ‘splanc’:
splanc, noun fem. flash, spark. A splaincĂn (derived from splanc) is a spirited, fiery female.
Issue 1 of Splonk was published the 1st of May 2019.
Editorial team:
Nuala O’Connor – Editor
Nuala O’Connor is a Galway based writer. Her novel NORA (Harper Perennial/New Island, 2021), about Nora Barnacle, wife and muse to James Joyce, was recently published to critical acclaim in the USA, Ireland, the UK, and Germany. NORA was named as a Top 10 2021 historical novel by the New York Times. Nuala has won many awards for her flash fiction including the Dublin Review of Books Flash Prize. Her chapbook of flash Of Dublin and Other Fictions was published in the USA in 2013; Birdie (Arlen House) a chapbook of historical flash came out in 2020. www.nualaoconnor.com
Robert Barrett – Co-editor
Robert Barrett writes flash fiction, short stories, and plays in the wilds of west Wicklow. He has a particular grá for short fiction with powerful narratives and clear, beautiful writing. Flash wise, he enjoys reading the work of writers like Christopher Allen, Dave Eggers and Kathy Fish. He was a runner-up in the Fish Flash Fiction competitions of 2015 and 2016 and also in the Doolin writers’ weekend competition of 2017. His flash fiction has been published in The Incubator, Flash Fiction Festival Anthology One, The Irish Times, and on RTE Radio 1.
Marie Gethins – Co-editor/Interviews Manager
Marie GethÂins has won/placed in the Blackwater Press, Dorset Fiction Award, Allingham, The Short Story, Words by Water, Flash500, DromÂiÂneer, The New Writer, and Prick of the Spindle. Listed or appeared in NFFD Anthologies, Flash Flood, The London Magazine, Australian Book Review, Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine, Bridport, Bath, Bristol, Fish, Molotav Cocktail, Reflex Fiction, Retreat West, WOW! Award and others. Selected for Best Microfictions 2021, BIFFY50 2020, Marie is a Pushcart, Best Small Fictions, British Screenwriters Award nominee and has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Limerick. She can be found @MarieGethins.
Adam Trodd – Co-editor
Adam Trodd’s fiction and poetry have appeared in publications such as The Irish Times, The Incubator Journal, Crannóg, Banshee, The Molotov Cocktail, Ellipsis, The Launchpad and The Caterpillar as well as the Bath Flash Fiction, National Flash Fiction Day and KYSO Flash anthologies. He won the inaugural Benedict Kiely Short Story Competition and the Book of Kells Creative Writing Competition as well as being one of the selected poets for Ireland’s first Poetry Jukebox installation in Belfast. He was a Best Small Fictions 2018 nominee. He likes flash fiction full of inventive language that pushes the boundaries. blankpageworrier.blogspot.ie Twitter: @A_Trodd
Janice Leagra – Visual Editor
Janice Leagra is an American writer and mixed media artist. Her flash fiction has featured in Spelk, Ellipsis Zine, Dodging the Rain, Paper and Ink Lit Zine, and Ghost Parachute. Her writing and art have also featured in Riggwelter Press. She was shortlisted for the 2017 Bridport Prize for Flash Fiction and is a Best of the Net nominee. Janice is inspired by a range of artists, mediums, and concepts. She believes art and writing are a byproduct of everything that happens to us, so she is especially drawn to works that intertwine story and art and that take risks. Twitter: @JaniceLeagra
Sadhbh Devlin – Irish Language Editor/EagarthĂłir Gaeilge
Sadhbh Devlin writes short-form fiction for both children and adults. Her picturebook, Beag BĂdeach, (Futa Fata, 2018) was shortlisted for four awards; Children’s Books Ireland: Book of the Year 2019, Gradam RĂ©ics CarlĂł, LAI: Book of the Year and the iBbY Ireland: Hans Christian Andersen Honour List 2020. Her most recent picturebook, GeansaĂ OttĂł (Futa Fata, 2020), won the LAI: Book of the Year Award in 2021. Sadhbh also writes flash fiction in Irish and has had several pieces published by Splonk. She is the DCU Irish Language Writer in Residence for 2022. www.sadhbhdevlin.ie
ScrĂobhann Sadhbh Devlin gearr-fhicsin do pháistĂ agus do dhaoine fásta. BhĂ a pictiĂşirleabhar, Beag BĂdeach (Futa Fata, 2018) ainmnithe ar ghearr-liosta cheithre ghradaim; Children’s Books Ireland: Book of the Year 2019, Gradam RĂ©ics CarlĂł, LAI: Book of the Year and the iBbY Ireland: Hans Christian Andersen Honour List 2020. Bhain a pictiĂşirleabhar is dĂ©anaĂ, GeansaĂ OttĂł (Futa Fata, 2020) an ghradam LAI: Book of the Year i 2021. ScrĂobhann Sadhbh splanc-fhicsean as Gaeilge agus tá roinnt pĂosaĂ dá cuid foilsithe ag Splonk. Is Ă an ScrĂbhneoir CĂłnaithe Gaeilge in DCU le haghaidh 2022. www.sadhbhdevlin.ie
Finbar McLoughlin – Website Manager
Finbar is a software developer based in Galway. Twitter: @insinbad