Author Archives for IWC_admin

Special Offer on Membership

October 3, 2019 12:00 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

  Good news! We have a special offer on our Membership. Our Membership runs for the calendar year from January to December, with all Membership ending on the 31 December. However, in order to give people who wish to join in 2019 the full benefits of IWC Membership, we are offering a special rate. If you sign up to become a Member before the end of 2019, you will pay a special offer price of €60 which will extend your Membership until December 2020. Being a Member of the Irish Writers Centre gives you full use of our beautiful Georgian building on Parnell Square, along with heaps of other benefits. For more on how you can avail of this offer, visit our Membership page.  read more.

Novel Fair 2016 Finalist, Artist and Writer, Eoin Lane on his Forthcoming Debut Novel: BEYOND THE HORIZON

September 5, 2019 9:37 am Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

“She points the lens of the camera.  He turns his head slightly.  The light catches his brow and his silver, white hair.  She snaps.  He is lit like a Vermeer.” A novel about light and love and loss and one man’s determination to fulfill his life’s ambition. “And when she died,” he says “the bed began to blossom with violets.  And every Spring to this day, scented violets grow all around San Gimignano.”  One man.  The Sea.  One painting. I once heard Maeve Binchy tell how people sometimes came up to her and said “Sure, I could have written that” and her reply in typical, Binchy, trademark fashion was to simply say “well yes but you didn’t.”  I love that story and it illustrates how important it is to take pride in your work, even if you haven’t been published.... Read Moreread more.

Autumn Flash Sale Until Friday 30 September at 5 pm!

August 29, 2019 11:28 am Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

  We are so excited about our Autumn Programme that we are giving 10% off a selection of courses happening in the first week. Use the code AUTUMNFLASH to receive your discount for the following courses: http://bit.ly/2MKit4jhttp://bit.ly/2NCmR53http://bit.ly/346k0Hohttp://bit.ly/2ZmTnPHhttp://bit.ly/2Zo0VSnhttp://bit.ly/2Zxs7t0read more.

How to Make Mistakes and Miraculously Still get Published by Sue Divin

August 22, 2019 4:28 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

  Sue Divin, IWC Novel Fair 2019 Finalist. I made every mistake possible writing my novel – but it worked. If you already have a Masters in Creative Writing and the money to pay for expensive literary consultancy manuscript reviews then please stop reading now. If you’re scared to admit you’re a writer, wonder what possessed you to start writing a novel in the first place and still haven’t a clue what ‘literary fiction’ is, then this is for you. And yes. You should consider entering the IWC Novel Fair 2020. I’m an agented writer and Guard Your Heart, my YA début will be published in Spring 2021. There’s a sentence I never imagined writing. One night in summer 2016, I got an idea for a story, switched off the TV and started to write. I work full-time. Apply none... Read Moreread more.

Neil Sharpson on his Novel Fair Experience

August 18, 2019 8:09 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

This year, I was fortunate enough to finally get signed by a literary agent, the redoubtable Jennie Goloboy of the Donald Maas Literary Agency for my novel The Caspian Sea, (a Cold War spy thriller set two hundred years in the future, think what John Le Carré might write after a night doing absinthe with Philip K. Dick). And earlier this year I had the absolute privilege of being one of 12 novelists chosen for Novel Fair. So it’s been a good year. And given that, I thought it might be a good idea to sit down and write a step by step guide detailing how I finally was able to land an agent for the benefit of other aspiring writers beginning their journey. Right about the point I got to “Step #736, send submission letter to 150 agents, get... Read Moreread more.

NOVEL FAIR NEWS

August 14, 2019 2:00 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

“I love my rejection slips. They show me I try.” – wrote Sylvia Plath. How many aspiring writers have sent off their manuscript with a heart full of hope only to face rejection once again? Indeed our own Maeve Binchy once wrote that before she became successful, she could paper her living room walls with all of the rejection letters she had received. Imagine then if budding novelists had a unique opportunity to bypass the dreaded manuscript slush pile, to pitch their ideas and place their synopsis and sample chapters directly into the hands of venerated publishers and agents? This is precisely what happens at the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair! Described by The Irish Times as a ‘Dragon’s Den for writers’, this year’s Novel Fair is open for submissions until Friday 27 of September.  We’ve had superb feedback from the twelve winners of Novel Fair... Read Moreread more.

Introducing our Marian Keyes Young Writer Award Summer 2019 winners

July 24, 2019 10:28 am Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

Say hello to Mia Colleran and Rose Keating, who have been awarded the Marian Keyes Young Writer Award Summer 2019! The award, kindly sponsored by IWC Ambassador Marian Keyes, encourages and supports young writers in the development of their artistic practice.   Mia has fulfilled her childhood dream to work in a bookshop and can be found pottering around the Poetry section in Dubray. When she’s not working, she is reviewing books for The Irish Times or trying to – kindly – force people to read books that she believes are wonderful. She writes non-fiction and prose poetry. Rose is a undergraduate studying at UCC on a Quercus creative writingscholarship. She has been published in Banshee journal, Southword journaland Hot Press magazine. She works as a columnist for the Waterford News andStar.read more.

Introducing the selected writer for the Irish-Norwegian Writers’ Exchange 2019

July 17, 2019 2:45 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

The IWC team is delighted to introduce Jane Robinson, who will travel to Bergen, Norway in the last fortnight of September 2019. A Norwegian writer will travel to Anam Cara Artists’ and Writers’ Retreat and River Mill Writers’ Retreat in October.   Jane Robinson is a professional member of the Irish Writers Centre who lives in Dublin. She has a PhD in Biology from the California Institute of Technology. Her poems have won several awards, including the Strokestown International Poetry Prize and the Red Line Book Festival Poetry Award. Her recent book ‘Journey to the Sleeping Whale’ (Salmon, 2018) won the Shine-Strong Award for the best début poetry collection of the year. In addition to authoring papers and speaking on topics such as: In Search of Madge Herron and Of Poetry and Science, Jane is currently writing a cross-genre work of literature to include utopian fictions, postcards and reflections on species extinction.... Read Moreread more.

Announcing the Cill Rialaig writers

July 3, 2019 10:36 am Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

We are very happy to announce the seven writers who will go to Cill Rialaig from 4 – 14 October, 2019: Marie Breen-SmythSheila ArmstrongJune CaldwellCharleen HurtubiseKatherine MezzacappaOlivia FitzsimonsEmily S Cooper   Marie Breen-Smyth grew up in rural county Derry and has returned to live in Meenaclady Co Donegal and Clady near Portglenone having worked overseas since 2005. She is working on a memoir which includes encounters with relatives she has never met. Sheila Armstrong is a writer and editor from Sligo. She is working on her first collection of fiction. June Caldwell’s short story collection Room Little Darker was published in 2017 by New Island Books and in 2018 by Head of Zeus. Her novel Little Town Moone is forthcoming from John Murray. In 2019 she wrote the introduction for an anthology of short stories: Still Worlds Turning, published by... Read Moreread more.

Our new IWC Online Writer-in-Residence with HeadStuff

June 26, 2019 10:05 am Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

The team here at the IWC is very happy to introduce Shirley-Anne McMillan as our new Online Writer-in-Residence in partnership with Headstuff! Shirley will be attending literary events and festivals, and report on the literary scene in Ireland. Her work will be published on Headstuff. Shirley-Anne McMillan is an author of contemporary Young Adult fiction. She lives in Co Down with her family where she writes, tutors, and works in the local Integrated school as an Alternative Chaplain. Shirley-Anne’s third novel, Every Sparrow Falling, will be published by Atom in 2019.  read more.

Introducing Hilary Copeland as the IWC Acting Director

June 12, 2019 3:36 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

We are very pleased to welcome Hilary Copeland to our team! Hilary will act as our new Acting Director, in Valerie Bistany‘s stead during her partial sabbatical year. Hilary Copeland has worked in arts management for over ten years, for festivals, arts and theatre companies and nonprofits in Edinburgh and Belfast. She has worked across business management, strategic planning, creative programming and event delivery. Hilary started her career in literature at the Stanza Poetry Festival and The Byre Theatre before joining the Programming Team at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. She has worked for clients including NI Science Festival, Kabosh, Culture Northern Ireland, Whittrick Press, Belfast Book Festival and Young at Art. Hilary led long-standing arts and cultural institution The John Hewitt Society from 2013 – 2019, where she ran the John Hewitt International Summer School and established the Hillsborough Festival... Read Moreread more.

Announcing the Cavan Writer-in-Residence

June 5, 2019 1:32 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

We are thrilled to introduce Anthony J. Quinn: the newly appointed Cavan Writer-in-Residence. Anthony J Quinn lives in County Tyrone with his wife Clare and their four children. He is the author of eight novels, and currently teaches creative writing at Queen’s University Belfast. His debut, Disappeared, was picked by The Times and the Daily Mail as one of the best novels of the year, and was shortlisted for a Strand Literary Award in the US.   The Cavan WIR is a new initiative, delivered in partnership with Cavan County Council Arts Office. read more.