Due to status red weather warnings the IWC will be closed on Monday 16 October. You can communicate with us via email at info@writerscentre.ie and Twitter as usual.read more.
Writing has always been part of my life. Introverted, I was mostly bored at school, sitting at the back of the class in Salvador city, Brazil, making up my own stories. My best friends were the journals I kept. When the time came to choose a profession, I wanted to be a pen for hire. So I became a journalist, a job that I embraced for a couple of decades, along with my work in Public Relations. I travelled to Ireland in 2010, and what was intended as a one-year sabbatical became a seven year stay, and counting. I was determined, but paid a price. I couldn’t get a writing-related job as my English wasn’t fluent enough. Alarmingly, the more my English improved, the more my Portuguese went downhill. So there I was, scared that I would end up with... Read Moreread more.
We were very saddened to hear of the sudden passing of one of our beloved IWC members Elizabeth O’Carroll, a founder member of the Bealtaine writers’ group. The group originated in a series of workshops offered by the Irish Writers Centre and Age and Opportunity as part of the Bealtaine Festival celebrating creativity in older people in May 1999. She taught creative writing and was also published in various publications, including two Bealtaine Writers Poetry Anthologies. A former teacher, born in County Armagh, she is the mother of six and grandmother of eleven, and was an avid and engaged gardener, painter and poet. Kindness was one of her strong attributes and she was always so generous with her time and energy; she was interested in others and loved being with them. The entire IWC team will miss her coming in... Read Moreread more.
I’m not a great one for entering competitions or indeed for any kind of prizes that involve having to add extra work to my day in the hope of … maybe…perhaps… or with a little luck, who knows? However, in 2013 something caught my eye in the multitude of emails and writerly information that passes in front of most aspiring writers eyes on a weekly basis. It was a post, on some thread, off out in the ether, talking about the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair. I’m still not sure what made me follow that post up. But, I must have clicked through and read more and eventually come to the IWC page. I do remember looking at the novel I’d just finished and thinking, well, why not? You see, I’d been writing, scribbling away, quietly for years. Eventually, I worked... Read Moreread more.
We’re thrilled to announce the lucky and hard-working recipients of both our Florence and Cill Rialaig Residencies. Congratulations to Annette Skade who will spend one week in St Mark’s Church, Florence. During her stay Annette will have the opportunity to meet the local writing community and will take part in a public reading. Congratulations also the following writers who will spend ten days in Cill Rialaig, County Kerry; Sue Leonard, Fiona O’Rourke, Breda Wall Ryan, Anna Heussaff, Moyra Donaldson, Aiden O’Reilly, Kelly Creighton. The decision process wasn’t easy and we’re honoured to offer these talented writers the time and space to write in beautiful and inspiring surroundings. read more.
We have launched our summer survey to help us learn more about the IWC community and how to improve our services around the country. The survey takes less than five minutes and puts you in the running to win a free course of your choice! Fill out the survey here >>>read more.
The Irish Writers Centre welcomes the launch of a new pilot initiative which will acknowledge the professional status of writers and artists applying for Jobseeker’s Allowance. The pilot was launched today Monday 12 June by Minister for the Arts, Heritage Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humpreys and Minister for Social Protection, Leo Varadkar in Poetry Ireland on Parnell Square. The pilot is being developed in partnership between the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Arts, Heritage Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, as part of a key commitment to artists under the Creative Ireland programme. The Irish Writers Centre and Visual Artists Ireland have been invited to facilitate the one-year pilot scheme and are approved to certify the professional status of writers and artists through their respective professional membership schemes. Valerie Bistany, Director of the Irish Writers Centre has said of the pilot scheme; ‘The... Read Moreread more.
Irish Writers Centre Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Board of Directors Membership Closing Date: extended – Friday 14 July, 2017 Location: Board meetings will be held at the Irish Writers Centre, 19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1. Remuneration: Non-remunerated – this is a voluntary position. Travel expenses are reimbursable. Time Commitment: Approximately 8 X 2hr Board meetings per annum with time required for preparatory reading, and possible additional time commitments depending on membership of sub-committees. Board members may be asked to represent the Board on certain occasions, depending on their availability and interests. Background The Irish Writers Centre is a flagship resource organisation for writers. It offers professional supports to meet the needs of writers at all stages of their development through training, information, networking opportunities and programmed events. A key part of our role is to offer a comprehensive and innovative toolkit/service to support the professional... Read Moreread more.
Minister for Arts Heather Humphreys joined Valerie Bistany, Director of the Irish Writers Centre, Cllr. Fergal Curtin, Cathaoirleach, Cavan County Council, Rhonda Tidy, Public Art Manager, Cavan Arts, Eoin Doyle, Director of Service, Cavan County Council and Sinéad O’Reilly and Liz Meaney from the Arts Council on Tuesday 9 May to announce the launch of the Irish Writers Center Cavan Literary programme. The group was also joined by writers Mia Gallagher and Louise Phillips and blogger Ketty Elizabeth who will be facilitating workshops and courses as part of the Cavan programme. The programme will be launched on Wednesday 17 May with an information session hosted by Valerie Bistany of the Irish Writers Centre and Catríona O’Reilly of Cavan County Council Arts Office who will also discuss the upcoming courses that the Centre is providing in the Townhall Arts Space, Cavan for the coming year. The information session will be followed by... Read Moreread more.
The Irish Writers Centre has announced the 18 participants for its newest programme, XBorders, an innovative new cross-border project bringing emerging writers together to explore and write about borders through fiction or non-fiction. With art critic, lecturer and former Turner Prize judge Dr Declan Long, the writers will explore contemporary art practice of the ‘Post-Troubles’ period in Northern Ireland and the ways in which this work has engaged with social change in Northern Ireland. International borders will be explored with anthropologist and border security expert Dr Mark Maguire whose research focuses on international migration, biometric security, counter-terrorism and border control. The writers will be also meet with Eileen Murphy a researcher with the Centre for Innovation Human Systems, School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin who will explore the future of biometric border technologies and policies. As fact increasingly moves... Read Moreread more.
XBorders is an exciting new cross-border project bringing emerging writers together to explore and write about borders through fiction or non-fiction. As part of the Irish Writers Centre’s Northern Irish programme, one of the goals of this project is to bring together writers from North and South Ireland to workshop on the theme of borders in both a national and international context. This process will be facilitated through seminars and workshops with artists, academics and professionals in the field. Ways of seeing and thinking of borders and their potential for art, and in this instance writing, will be explored. On completion of this research period the writers will attend a workshop on the editing process with a view to preparing their work for online publication on the IWC website. The participants of XBorders have been selected. Fiona O’RourkeFreya... Read Moreread more.
The Green Road, by Irish Writers Centre ambassador Anne Enright has been shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. The award is the the world’s most valuable prize for a single work of fiction published in English. The winner will be selected by the five member international judging panel, chaired by Hon. Eugene R. Sullivan, and announced by Lord Mayor, Brendan Carr, Patron of the Award, on Wednesday 21 June. The IWC is delighted to congratulate Anne on this achievement and proud to have her as an ambassador for the centre! See the full shortlist below and read more about the awards here. International Dublin Literary Award shortlist 1. A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa (Angolan) Translated from the Portuguese by Daniel Hahn. 2. Confession of the Lioness by Mia Couto (Mozambican) Translated from the Portuguese by David Brookshaw.... Read Moreread more.
On Saturday 11 March, the Irish Writers Centre marked the occasion of International Women’s Day with WomenXBorders, an all-island cross-border event that brought women from all corners of the country together to take part in a readathon and panel events at 19 Parnell Square. Of this group, over half travelled from Northern Ireland with Women Aloud NI, honouring their name by reading aloud from their works on the train between Belfast and Dublin. They arrived laden with gifts for the centre: writers who had published books in print arranged a selection in the reception area. 19 Parnell Square came to life with the energy and enthusiasm of women keen to connect and network, to hear and learn about each other’s writing lives. The main event kicked off in the Kiely room with welcoming words from IWC director Valerie Bistany, IWC chairperson Liz Mc... Read Moreread more.
Looking at ‘Five Northern Ireland books to be proud of’ – last week the Mid-Ulster Mail drew up a list of five books by male writers for World Book Day – we thought we could balance the books on the day that’s in it. 5 NORTHERN IRELAND BOOKS BY WOMEN TO BE PROUD OF 1. HETTY GRAY – NOBODY’S BAIRN by Rosa Mulholland, a popular children’s classic, published in 1884. Belfast-born Rosa Mulholland (also known as Lady Gilbert, 1841 – 1921) was an Irish poet, playwright and author of novels for adults and children. Charles Dickens is credited with helping to launch her literary career by publishing one of her novels in the periodical All the Year Round. The book focuses on the childhood and progression into adulthood of ‘Hetty Gray’, a child who has been found after a shipwreck, and who is... Read Moreread more.
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