Author Archives for IWC_admin

34 Writers Selected for Irish Writers Centre’s National Mentoring Programme 2025

June 11, 2025 2:54 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

The Irish Writers Centre has today announced the 34 talented writers chosen for its prestigious National Mentoring Programme 2025, following an exceptional response to this year’s nationwide callout, which attracted 354 applicants. Each selected writer will receive one-to-one mentoring from an established writer, offering invaluable creative and professional guidance over the coming months. Now in its eighth year, the National Mentoring Programme (NMP) has become one of the most significant supports for emerging and mid-career writers across Ireland. Run by the Irish Writers Centre – the country’s leading organisation for writer development – the initiative plays a crucial role in shaping Ireland’s literary landscape by nurturing talent at pivotal stages in a writer’s journey. Since its founding in 1991, the Irish Writers Centre’s mission has been to support the life of the writer – those whose ideas and words illuminate... Read Moreread more.


We Are Hiring: Reception Administrator

June 10, 2025 4:14 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: Sunday 6 July 2025 Role: Reception Administrator Contract: Full-time and permanent with a six-month probation period Salary: €30k p.a. Reporting to: Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Deputy CEO) Location: Irish Writers Centre, 19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, D01 E102. Please note that the post-holder will need to be Dublin-based to carry out the duties of this position. Irish Writers Centre Founded in 1991, the Irish Writers Centre is Ireland’s leading resource and development organisation for writers. Our vision is to support the life of the writer as they illuminate our lives with their ideas and words. Our creative writing Academy delivers a year-round programme of 150+ creative writing courses, masterclasses and seminars, both online and in-person. In addition, we run a National Mentoring Programme and administer a significant range of development opportunities and programmes for beginner, emerging... Read Moreread more.


We Are Hiring: Programming Assistant

June 10, 2025 4:05 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: Sunday 6 July 2025 Role: Programming Assistant Contract: Full time, permanent, with a six-month probation period Salary: €32k p.a. Reporting to: Deputy Chief Executive Officer with Head of Programming as line manager Location: Irish Writers Centre, 19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, D01 E102. Please note that the post-holder will need to be Dublin-based to carry out the duties of this position. Irish Writers Centre Founded in 1991, the Irish Writers Centre is Ireland’s leading resource and development organisation for writers. Our vision is to support the life of the writer as they illuminate our lives with their ideas and words. Our creative writing Academy delivers a year-round programme of 150+ creative writing courses, masterclasses and seminars, both online and in-person. In addition, we run a National Mentoring Programme and administer a significant range of development opportunities... Read Moreread more.


We are Hiring: Marketing and Communications Co-Ordinator

June 10, 2025 3:50 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: Sunday 6 July 2025 Role: Marketing and Communications Co-Ordinator Contract: Full-time and permanent with a six-month probation period Salary: €36k p.a.  Reporting to: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with Deputy CEO as line manager Location: Irish Writers Centre, 19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, D01 E102. Please note that the post-holder will need to be Dublin-based to carry out the duties of this position. Irish Writers Centre Founded in 1991, the Irish Writers Centre is Ireland’s leading resource and development organisation for writers. Our vision is to support the life of the writer as they illuminate our lives with their ideas and words. Our creative writing Academy delivers a year-round programme of 150+ creative writing courses, masterclasses and seminars, both online and in-person. In addition, we run a National Mentoring Programme and administer a significant range of development... Read Moreread more.


Opportunities for Writers: June 2025

June 9, 2025 1:00 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Check out the current opportunities available for writers. See a list below of summer deadlines for submissions, competitions, bursaries, residencies and other opportunities. For the full list of opportunities, check out: Competitions, submissions and other opportunities and Bursaries and funding  Irish Writers Centre Evolution Programme 2025 -2026   Who is it for: Writers living on the island of Ireland who have successfully published at least one book. Deadline for applications: Sunday 29 June 2025 The Irish Writers Centre is delighted to announce the return of the Evolution Programme for 2025-2026. This free six-month programme will provide support for up to twelve published writers (1 or 2 books) to advance their writing careers. The selected writers can choose from a suite of supports which includes creative writing courses, one-to-one mentoring, clinics with industry experts, monthly peer forums and Irish Writers Centre membership with access to writing space. It also... Read Moreread more.


Join us at Belfast Book Festival this weekend

June 6, 2025 10:49 am Published by Leave your thoughts

We are delighted to attend the 15th edition of the annual Belfast Book Festival, run by the Crescent Arts Centre this June. On Sunday 8 June 2025, join us for an information session about all things Irish Writers Centre and a reading showcase featuring our 2025 Young Writer Delegates and New Voices: North recipients.  Irish Writers Centre: Information Session Date: Sunday 8 June 2025 Time: 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM Price: Pay What You Decide – Recommended Price £12.50 Book you ticket The Irish Writers Centre is the leading development and resource organisation for writers. Carrying out its work online and in-person on an all-island basis, it supports writers at every stage of their journey. During this panel discussion, three panelists will share their experience as recipients of some of the key programmes at the Irish Writers Centre, including the... Read Moreread more.


Happy Birthday Mrs. Dalloway: A Conference Celebrating 100 Years of Virginia Woolf’s Masterpiece

June 3, 2025 11:57 am Published by Leave your thoughts

Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, which turns 100 this year, depicts a single day in June from the perspective of a number of characters. To mark the centenary, writer Belinda McKeon presents a day of panels and discussions in the Irish Writers Centre (Dublin) on Saturday 7 June 2025 from 11am to 3pm, with novelists, poets and essayists for whom Woolf’s novel remains a deeply important influence.  Tickets cost: €50 (€40 Members/Concession). Book online. Event Details: Join us for conversations about memory, expression, writing the city, and much else besides. The morning will start with tea and coffee and there will be an hour interval for lunch. The panelists will include Claire-Louise Bennett, Mary Cregan, Naoise Dolan, Belinda McKeon, Nuala O’Connor and Emilie Pine. TIMETABLE: Welcome: 11.00 – 11.15am Join us for light refreshments (tea, coffee and biscuits) and an opportunity to... Read Moreread more.


Announcing our 2025 Young Writer Delegates at Belfast Book Festival

June 6, 2025 10:30 am Published by Leave your thoughts

We’re delighted to announce the four Irish Writers Centre Young Writer Delegates who will attend and contribute to Belfast Book Festival from 5-12 June. The delegates will be mentored by local writer Chris Wright and perform readings at a festival showcase in The Crescent on Sunday 8 June 2025 at 3:00pm (pay what you can). The four awardees are Joshua Beatty, Beth Healy, Nicole Lee and Sean Rowan. Now in its seventh year, the Young Writer Delegates Programme gives young writers an opportunity to immerse themselves in a literary festival and to contribute to it as active participants. You can keep up with the Young Writer Delegates on their Instagram page, and through the Irish Writers Centre and Belfast social media channels. The programme is in partnership with Belfast Book Festival and Crescent Arts Centre. The Irish Writers Centre is... Read Moreread more.


A note from our CEO

May 14, 2025 5:15 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

As we close off Spring and welcome a delightfully warm early Summer, I wanted to update you on some of the exciting things that happened during the month of April. At the beginning of the month we welcomed Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Muldoon when he performed with four of the most stirring spoken word artists on the Dublin stage today; Ciara Ni É, our own Irish Writers Centre ambassador, Cormac Mac Gearailt, Anna D and Stephen James Smith. It was a remarkable evening of poetry leaping off from page into performance. Prior to that we hosted the Franco-Irish literature Festival by welcoming Maram al-Masri and Theo Dorgan for a fascinating discussion on poetry and place. In the second week in April we took our newly formed Literary Regional Roadshow to the University of Limerick Creative Writing Festival where we curated... Read Moreread more.


Our Young Writer Delegates look back on Cúirt 2025

May 14, 2025 1:04 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Last month, writers, readers and book-lovers from far and wide travelled to Galway for the Cúirt International Festival of Literature 2025. From 23-28 April, attendees were treated to a week full of readings, conversations, film screenings, walking tours, events and special guests, which showcased new voices, diverse writing, Irish and international writing talent. Among the attendees were our IWC/Cúirt Young Writer Delegates, Nina Devine, Angelia D’Souza, Summer Luyako, Surnaí Molloy and Czacarri Muli. As part of the festival our Young Writer Delegates took part in their very own showcase event where they got the chance to perform some of their work to a packed audience in the Nun’s Island Theatre. Their local writer-mentor Alan McMonagle was in attendance along with some previous Cúirt Young Writer Delegates who turned up to show their support as well! Each year, the delegates attend... Read Moreread more.


Announcing the Irish Writers Centre New Writing Prize in association with The Stinging Fly

April 30, 2025 2:09 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

The New Writing Prize is an annual literary award, a collaboration between the Irish Writers Centre and The Stinging Fly, that aims to discover, promote and encourage the talents of new, undiscovered voices in Irish writing. For this year, 2025, the prize will cater for beginner and emerging writers – specifically, writers working in either fiction or non-fiction who have yet to publish their first short story or essay (in print or online). In 2026, the competition will be open to short story writers who have not previously been published in The Stinging Fly. Submissions for the 2025 competition will be open on Submittable from Saturday 17 May until Wednesday 4 June at 5.00pm. During this time, writers are invited to submit short stories and essays up to 1,500 words in length. The winner of the prize will receive mentoring... Read Moreread more.


Irish Writers Union Open Networking Event for Emerging, Established and Aspiring Writers

April 29, 2025 3:23 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

We are delighted to share the news about this upcoming networking event – due to take place in Rathmines Library from 6.00pm to 7.50pm on Saturday 21 May – from our friends at the Irish Writers Union. Irish Writers Union Open Networking Event for Emerging, Established and Aspiring Writers Wednesday 21st May 2025 6 p.m. – 7.50 p.m. sharp The Exhibition Room, 1st Floor, Rathmines Library Lower Rathmines Road (opposite clock tower) Rathmines, Dublin 6 D06 K2K6 The Irish Writers’ Union (IWU) is delighted to announce this networking event for writers which is part of a series to be held around the country. Writing, no matter how driven we are or how much we enjoy it, can be an isolating activity. Post-pandemic, it feels important to the IWU committee – and this has been echoed by members of the IWU... Read Moreread more.


Opportunities for Writers: May 2025

April 29, 2025 4:41 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Check out the current opportunities available for writers. See a list below of May/June deadlines for submissions, competitions, bursaries, residencies and other opportunities. For the full list of opportunities, check out: Competitions, submissions and other opportunities and Bursaries and funding  Submissions   Deadline: 30th April 2025 The Pig’s Back The Pig’s Back (named for Donegal’s Muckish mountain and for the phrase ar mhuin na muice, to be in luck) is a literary prose journal that aims to bring the rest of Ireland – and in turn, the world – to the northwest. Founded by the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny, it publishes short fiction and essays. Accepted forms: The Pig’s Back seeks submissions of previously unpublished fiction and non-fiction. They accept work from anywhere in the world but currently can only accept English language pieces. They do not accept poetry. Contributor payment: All contributors will receive... Read Moreread more.


New Masterclasses: Book Now

April 29, 2025 2:40 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

In 2025, we launched a new masterclass series delivered by a range of experienced and critically acclaimed writers. Taking place on Saturdays, either in-person in the Irish Writers Centre (Dublin) or online, these masterclasses are ideal for writers looking to acquire the tools and confidence to take their practice to the next level. Past masterclass facilitators include Martina Devlin, Caelainn Hogan, Sheila O’Flanagan and Mia Gallagher. Find details of our May and June masterclasses below.   From Inspiration to Pitch: Masterclass in Creating Factual and Documentary Ideas with Hilary Fennell Saturday 10 May, 2025 | 10.30 am – 4.30 pm Cost: €115 (€103 Members) Location: Irish Writers Centre Book here Where do great factual and documentary programme ideas come from and what are the key steps in developing, writing them and getting them made? This masterclass looks at the creative... Read Moreread more.