Author Archives for IWC_admin

The Irish Writers Centre appoints Mags McLoughlin as CEO

August 15, 2024 12:22 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

The Irish Writers Centre today announced the appointment of Mags McLoughlin as CEO. Mags joins the Irish Writers Centre with significant experience in communications, marketing, sponsorship and business development in Ireland and overseas.   Mags McLoughlin (August 2024) Mags joins the Irish Writers Centre with significant experience in communications, marketing, sponsorship and business development in Ireland and overseas. Her scope of work has also included significant change management, resource building, strategy development and funding enhancements. In recent times, her consultancy practice has focused on the non-for-profit sector including time as Interim CEO at Charities Institute Ireland and project management roles for Darkness Into Light for Pieta House, Unicef, Young Social Innovators and social enterprise LIFT Ireland. Prior to this Mags worked as a marketing director in Sydney for a leading financial services group as well as contracting in account director... Read Moreread more.


Photographs of the 7 Cill Rialaig awardees 2024

Announcing our Cill Rialaig Residencies Awardees 2024

August 14, 2024 11:12 am Published by Leave your thoughts

We are delighted to announce the seven Irish Writers Centre members who have been selected for the Cill Rialaig residencies, in partnership with Cill Rialaig Arts Centre. The chosen writers are Soula Emmanuel, Seosamh Jones, Caitríona Lane, Jessamine O’Connor, Eoghan Smith, Séana Talbot and Stephen Walker. This Autumn marks the tenth consecutive year of Irish Writers Centre residencies with Cill Rialaig. This October, the awarded writers will spend ten days in Cill Rialaig, locally known as ‘the edge of the world’. Roe McDermott, 2023 Cill Rialaig Residency awardee said this about her experience: “…Getting to slow down, inhale the beauty of the landscape, and spend the dark moonlit evenings reading and thinking felt like a generous gift.” WRITER STUDIOS IN THE VILLAGE OF CILL RIALAIG, CO. KERRY   Cill Rialaig Residencies Awardees: Soula Emmanuel was born in Dublin to an... Read Moreread more.


Front window with blue frame of Books Upstairs Bookstore in Dublin with their upstairs cafe and famous bay window

Opportunities and Competitions August 2024

August 8, 2024 2:08 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Photo description: In 2024 we are spotlighting all the amazing independent bookshops and booksellers on the island of Ireland simply because we love them and we think you should too! Books Upstairs is an independent bookstore located on Dublin, on D’Olier Street, close to Trinity College offering new books, second hand books and their famous Books Upstairs Cáfe is a well known venue for book launches. Scroll down to find out more about this iconic Dublin landmark.      Each month we update our Competitions, Submissions & Opportunities webpage, along with our Bursaries & Funding, to ensure we are connecting our writers with the best upcoming opportunities. Here are some of the highlights coming this month Opportunities:   IMRAM, Irish Language Literature Festival Issues Open Call to Artists Deadline: 9 August, 2024 Tá gairm oscailte d’ealaíontóirí agus do léiritheoirí eisithe ag IMRAM, féile litríochta... Read Moreread more.


Go raibh maith agaibh go léir! Last week’s Bilingual Takin’ the Mic at Pearse Street Library

July 23, 2024 9:43 am Published by Leave your thoughts

Go raibh maith agat as a bheith páirteach inár Takin’ the Mic dátheangach! On Wednesday 17th July, at Pearse Street Library, hosted by Ciara Ní É, the Irish Writers Centre held its Bilingual Takin’ the Mic with featured guest poet Charlotte Buckley.    Ciara Ní É, Pearse Street Library (July 2024) Buíochas lenár láithreoir iontach don oíche MC Ciara. Thank you to our incredible MC Ciara for hosting the night. Scríbhneoir agus craoltóir í Ciara Ní É a bhfuil a cuid filíochta léite aici i bPáras, i Nua-Eabhrac, i Londain, sa Bhruiséil, sa tSualainn, agus sa bhaile in Éirinn. Bhí sí ar an liosta ‘100 Women Changing Ireland in 2022’ de chuid an Irish Examiner. Bhí sí mar Ealaíontóir Cónaithe le Scoil na Gaeilge, an Léinn Cheiltigh & an Bhéaloidis UCD 2023, leis an Dublin Fringe Festival in 2022, agus... Read Moreread more.


My Fair Novel: Meet Our Novel Fair Debutantes of 2024

July 24, 2024 4:22 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Many of you will already be aware of our annual Novel Fair competition, providing twelve writers with the opportunity to pitch their debut novels to leading agents and publishers over the course of two days, both in-person at the Irish Writers Centre and online. Running since 2011, this annual ‘speed-dating’ style event lets authors bypass the slush pile and pitch their work, face-to-face, to industry professionals. Since its inauguration, there’ve been 152 Novel Fair winners and you can read all about the past success stories thanks to writer (and former Irish Writers Centre team member) Tom Jordan in this post from last year. In order to whet the appetites of future novelists, ahead of Novel Fair 2025 submissions call (opening this September!), read our first Novel Fair 2025 blog that takes a look at Novel Fair winners whose debut novels... Read Moreread more.


Opportunities and Competitions July 2024

July 3, 2024 4:08 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Photo description: In 2024 we are spotlighting all the amazing independent bookshops and booksellers on the island of Ireland simply because we love them and we think you should too! No Alibis is an independent bookstore located on Botanic Avenue, a brief walk away from Queens University in Belfast. More than simply a bookstore, it is a community hub offering concerts, book launches, poetry readings and lectures.  Scroll down to find out more about this Belfast institution.  Each month we update our Competitions, Submissions & Opportunities webpage, along with our Bursaries & Funding, to ensure we are connecting our writers with the best upcoming opportunities. Here are some of the highlights coming this month with some notable opportunities including the Literature Project Award from the Arts Council, The Patrick Kavanagh Prize, our own Evolution programme and the Kilkenny County Council Arts Programme. Opportunities: Poetry... Read Moreread more.


“There is no art without stillness, and without reprieve from the constant demands of daily life.” Roe McDermott’s Writers Residency in Cill Rialaig

June 24, 2024 2:55 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

The Irish Writers Centre is delighted to announce its tenth consecutive year of residencies with Cill Rialaig. This residency is an opportunity to escape your day-to-day life and spend 10 days writing in Cill Rialaig, locally known as “the edge of the world.”  Read below a testimonial from Roe McDermott, last year’s Cill Rialaig residency awardee.  This year [2023] I was awarded the immense privilege of getting to stay in Cill Rialaig; itself a creation of imagination, resistance and commitment to art by the inimitable Dr. Noelle Campbell-Sharp whose lifelong commitment to supporting the arts is an inspiration. Saving the remains of a former famine village and rebuilding it as a protected artists retreat is an extraordinary example of community building and creation that we should all aspire to. I went down to Cill Rialaig with the intention of returning... Read Moreread more.


Support Scheme Awardees 2024

June 19, 2024 5:22 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

The Irish Writers Centre is pleased to announce the awardees of the support schemes for writers living on the island of Ireland, made possible with support from the Arts Council of Ireland, Dublin City Council and Foras na Gaeilge. This year we offered: Associate Membership Support Scheme for writers living in the Dublin City Council area, from backgrounds that are typically underrepresented in the arts in Ireland 15 Course Bursaries for writers living on the island of Ireland, made possible with support from the Arts Council of Ireland. Awardees receive a course credit worth €165 towards a course at the IWC. Course Bursaries for LGBTQIA+ writers living on the island of Ireland, as part of the Pride Month celebrations. These were made possible with support from the Arts Council of Ireland. Awardees receive a course credit worth €165 towards a... Read Moreread more.


Our Young Writer Delegates look back on Belfast Book Festival 2024

June 18, 2024 3:54 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Last month, writers and book-lovers from far and wide travelled to Belfast for Belfast Book Festival 2024. From 6-10 June, attendees were treated to a week full of readings, conversations, poetry slams, which showcased new voices, diverse writing, Irish and international writing talent. Among the attendees were our IWC/Belfast Book Festival Young Writer Delegates, Jasmin Awoodun, Mary Dunne, Finn Dunne Leavy and Cara Leahy. 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, developed with their local writer-mentor Deirdre Cartmill, to a packed audience in The Crescent Arts Centre. Each year, the delegates attend events of their choice and write a review of their experience; here are the reviews our delegates wrote up for #BBF2024!   Late Night Art: Our Queer Lives... Read Moreread more.


Announcing the 2024 Irish Writers Centre Foundation Programme Participants

June 19, 2024 1:55 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

We are delighted to announce the six writers selected to participate in the 2024 Irish Writers Centre Foundation Programme, in association with the Dublin Book Festival. The programme, now in its third year, aims to support Dublin-based emerging writers who are from backgrounds typically underrepresented in literature in Ireland. The six writers awardees are Aoife Horan, Declan Jones, Clíona Malin, Catriona Murphy, Ifunanya Ogochukwu and Khaled Sultan.  As part of the Foundation Programme, the six awardees will receive a series of training and development supports, including one-on-one mentoring with award winning writer and poet Colm Keegan, writing workshops, an IWC creative writing course and more. Alongside these supports, the writers will also perform their new writing at Dublin Book festival. Read about the six awardees below: Aoife Horan Declan Jones Clíona Malin Catriona Murphy Ifunanya Ogochukwu Khaled Sultan Aoife Horan... Read Moreread more.


Announcing the Awardees for the Lamplight International Residency Programme 2024

June 17, 2024 3:38 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

We are delighted to announce the eight Lamplight International Residency Programme awardees, co-presented by the Irish Writers Centre and Varuna, The National Writers’ House, Australia. The four writers living in Ireland  are Mia Döring, June O’Sullivan, Seán Mackel and Helen Blackhurst and the four writers living in Australia are Jacinta Halloran,  Brooke Dunnell, Bernadette Jiwa and Dr Amanda Curtin. The Lamplight International Residency Programme is a two-week online residency opportunity for fiction writers to enjoy the combined warmth and support of Varuna and the Irish Writers Centre. The aim of this residency opportunity is for participating writers to build international connections, meet and receive feedback from other writers, as well as allocate time to focus and develop their craft. Each of our chosen writers will partake in one-to-one writer consultations with Mary Anne Butler and Conor Kostick to talk about... Read Moreread more.


39 writers have been selected for the Irish Writers Centre National Mentoring Programme 2024

June 12, 2024 11:39 am Published by Leave your thoughts

Following a national call out, writers from across the island of Ireland have been awarded places on the Irish Writers Centre National Mentoring Programme 2024.  39 writers, from a total of 416 applicants, will receive literary mentoring over the next eight months from an acclaimed Irish writer of their choice. The Irish Writers Centre supports a vibrant and diverse community of writers to develop their craft and confidence to thrive as a writer in the world. Each mentor reads up to 10,000 words / 180 lines of poetry of the awarded mentee’s writing in advance of all four meetings, sharing their kind and critical feedback with the mentee at each meeting. Mentors also provide broad professional advice, sharing the benefit of their years of experience. “A mentoring relationship is a special one.” – Orla Mackey, 2023 mentee Orla Mackey is... Read Moreread more.


Opportunities and Competitions May / June 2024

May 29, 2024 7:14 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Photo description: In 2024 we are spotlighting all the amazing independent bookshops and booksellers in Ireland simply because we love them and we think you should too! Just around the corner from the Irish Writers Centre on Parnell Square is the renowned Chapters Bookstore located on Parnell Street. Scroll down to find out more about this iconic Dublin bookstore and on your next sunny Sunday morning in Dublin why not pay them a visit! Each month we update our Competitions, Submissions & Opportunities webpage, along with our Bursaries & Funding, to ensure that we are connecting our writers with the best upcoming opportunities. There are some wonderful opportunities coming up over the next few days so we have an extra blog to bring us into June: Submissions:   Sonder Deadline: 31 May, 2024 Sonder is all about bringing different perspectives together. Everyone is wildly... Read Moreread more.


Announcing our 2024 IWC/Belfast Book Festival Young Writer Delegates

May 15, 2024 12:05 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

We’re delighted to announce the 2024 Young Writer Delegates who will attend and contribute to Belfast Book Festival from 6-10 June. The delegates will be mentored by local writer Deirdre Cartmill and perform readings at a public showcase at the festival. The four awardees are Jasmin Awoodun, Mary Dunne, Finn Dunne Leavy and Cara Leahy. Meet the delegates at their festival showcase in the Crescent Arts Centre on Saturday, 8 June 2024 at 4.00pm (pay what you decide). Now in its seventh year, the IWC Young Writer Delegates Programme gives young writers an opportunity to immerse themselves in a literature 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 Book Festival social media channels. The full Belfast Book Festival... Read Moreread more.