Congratulations to MFA student Colin Barrett who has just been awarded the Guardian First Fiction award for his short story collection, Young Skins. It is the most prestigious award of its kind in the English speaking world. This crowns a remarkable series of achievements as Colin Barrett earlier in the year won the 2014 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award (only the second Irish writer to gain this award) and the 2014 Rooney Prize. Colin graduated from the UCD MA in Creative Writing in 2010 and is currently a student of the UCD MFA in Creative Writing. He is also the first recipient of the Irish Times sponsored Caroline Walsh Memorial Award for a student of the UCD MFA in Creative Writing. Caroline Walsh, former Literary Editor of The Irish Times, was particularly known for her mentorship of up-and-coming writers; Colin's success particularly honours this aspect of Caroline's legacy.