Author Archives for IWC_admin

“I doubt I’d have ever found the confidence to put the book out there without the Novel Fair”: Interview with debut novelist and 2021 Novel Fair Winner Bryan Moriarty

April 28, 2023 11:47 am Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

      Interviewer: Jack Delaney Jack Delaney is a writer and theatre-maker from County Meath. He joined the Irish Writers Centre as an Arts Administration Intern at the beginning of March.       On the 29th of March, we were delighted to launch the 2024 Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair with an online panel discussion featuring Lauren Mackenzie, Gráinne Fox and Alan McMonagle, which is available to watch here. Now, in the first of a series of conversations with past Novel Fair winners, we have an interview with writer and 2021 winner Bryan Moriarty whose debut novel, Sounds like Fun, was published by Hodder & Stoughton on March 30th 2023. Born in Dublin, Bryan studied at Trinity College Dublin before moving to London to pursue a career as an actor. In addition to performing in theatre, film and TV,... Read Moreread more.

“Support for Professional Writers to Advance their Craft and Career with Confidence and Resilience.” Launching Today: Meridian

April 19, 2023 3:40 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

Meridian: For Professional Writers   Welcome to the launch of our new Meridian series of creative and professional development activities for professional writers, and also for those emerging writers who are ready to take the steps towards making a career in writing. We chose Meridian as our title, not just for its earth and energy associations, but especially for its sense of momentum and growth – to moving towards a culmination or highest point – which is our aim for you in your career as a professional writer. In our Strategy 2022-26, we dedicate Goal 1 to “support professional writers to advance their craft and career with confidence and resilience.” To that aim, we have created the Meridian series, which can cover two main strands of provision: Training and Wellbeing. In the past, you may have seen professional development training... Read Moreread more.

Novel Fair Success Stories: 32 Debut Novels and Counting…

April 12, 2023 12:22 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

    Author: Tom Jordan This blog post has been written by our new member of staff, Tom Jordan, Administration Assistant, Irish Writers Centre. Tom is a writer from Dublin. He graduated from TCD with a BA in English Literature and Drama. His writing has been published in the literary journals Sonder, The Waxed Lemon and elsewhere.       Novel Fair Success Stories: 32 Debut Novels and Counting… So, I’m sure you’ve heard about the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair, right? I mean, I might just have started working here but even I’ve known about the annual Novel Fair competition for years. The “Dragon’s Den for writers,”? Shark Tank for scribblers, no? How, over the course of two days our twelve chosen winners come together with a selection of Irish and international publishers and agents with nothing but their... Read Moreread more.

Opportunities & Competitions: April 2023

April 5, 2023 2:59 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

Photo credit: The beautiful Shandon Bells and Tower in Cork City shot by our wonderful Projects Assistant Emily O’Brien in 2021. Each month we update our Competitions & Submissions page, along with our Bursaries & Funding, to ensure that we are connecting our writers with the best upcoming opportunities. Here are a few deadlines we wanted to highlight this April. Journals   The Pigs Back Deadline: 15th April 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.The Pig’s Back seeks submissions of previously unpublished fiction and non-fiction. They accept work from anywhere in the world... Read Moreread more.

“A lot of effort goes into making a piece of writing look effortless”: Past Novel Fair Participants Discuss What Makes a Winning Manuscript

April 3, 2023 4:07 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

Last Wednesday, we were delighted to launch the 2024 Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair with an online panel discussion hosted by our Programming Officer, Betty Stenson. The discussion, which gave aspiring novelists the opportunity to ask questions about the annual Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair competition and hear from past participants featured writer and 2021 winner Lauren Mackenzie, literary agent Gráinne Fox, and novelist and 2023 judge Alan McMonagle. The Novel Fair, now in its twelfth year, is a 2-day event offering debut novelists the opportunity to pitch their work to agents and publishers in the hope of securing a home for their manuscript. Novel Fair 2024 Launch Event Writers showed up in their droves, hoping to gain insight into what makes a manuscript appealing to publishers and how best to prepare their novel for submission. From over 130 participants, the... Read Moreread more.

Announcing our 2023 IWC Mentor/Member Duo Programme Participants

March 29, 2023 4:28 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

We are delighted to announce the six writers selected to participate in the 2023 IWC Mentor/Member Duo Programme, funded by Dublin City Council. The programme, now in its third year, is open to all those living in the administrative area of Dublin City Council and is especially geared towards writers from backgrounds currently underrepresented in Irish literature. The six writers selected to participate in this year’s programme are Suad Aldarra, Larissa Brigatti, Fatoumata Gandega, Mary Guiney, Maya Kulukundis and Kerry Mahony. As part of the IWC Mentor/Member Duo Programme, the selected participants will receive one year of IWC membership, as well as one 90-minute mentoring session through our One-to-One-Mentoring Programme. This will allow participants to develop their writing with the aid of a professional mentor who will provide feedback on a sample of their work.   The 2023 IWC Mentor/Member... Read Moreread more.

Announcing our 2023 IWC/Cúirt Young Writer Delegates

March 22, 2023 2:50 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

We’re delighted to announce our IWC/Cúirt Young Writer Delegate awardees, who will attend Cúirt International Festival of Literature from 18 – 23 April and work with local writer mentor Alan McMonagle. The four awardees are Lucy Bleeker, Deirdre Bolger, Arianne Clarke, Gráinne Condron and Matthew O’Rourke. Now in its sixth 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 Cúirt social media channels. The full programme is now also available to view over on the festival website.   The Young Writer Delegates                   Lucy Bleeker is a Galway based cross-genre writer. Her one act... Read Moreread more.

8 Writers and 10 Scientists Selected for the Writing the Earth Programme 2023

March 15, 2023 4:05 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

The Irish Writers Centre (IWC) in partnership with the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG) is delighted to announce the 8 writers and 10 scientists who will be taking part in Writing the Earth, a pilot programme for writers working with scientists. This is a fully-funded programme for eight writers interested in climate justice and geosciences. Building on the hugely popular IWC Climate Writing Group, this programme aims to take writing about our planet to the next stage. Writing the Earth brings writers and scientists together in person and online to research and write about climate and geoscience in various genres or forms. In a collaborative process of talks and workshops, the scientists will inform and guide the writers through scientific processes in plain English This will enable them to form their creative ideas around an aspect of climate... Read Moreread more.

Opportunities & Competitions: March 2023

March 9, 2023 11:33 am Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

Each month we update our Competitions & Submissions page, along with our Bursaries & Funding, to ensure that we are connecting our writers with the best upcoming opportunities. Here are a few deadlines we wanted to highlight this March!   Grants and Bursaries Fingal County Council, Tyrone Guthrie Centre and Bealtaine Festival Residency Award 2023 Deadline: 27th March 2023 Fingal Arts Office, in association with The Tyrone Guthrie Centre and Bealtaine Festival, is pleased to announce two, month-long, residencies at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre. These residences aim to celebrate and support older artists at all stages of their careers working in literature and visual arts. The Residency will include: · En Suite accommodation and full board in the Big House at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre will be provided for a professional writer on agreed selected dates from June – December and includes quiet... Read Moreread more.

Novel Fair 2023 Round Up

February 22, 2023 2:05 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

Friday 17 February was our first in-person Novel Fair in three years. In the room were our 12 Novel Fair winners, several of whom had travelled from the UK as well as publishers and literary agents from far and wide, including two who tuned in remotely. Our guests for the day included Blake Friedmann Agency, Bonnier Books, Curtis Brown, Epoque, Fletcher & Company, Greene & Heaton, Hachette Books, Hodder, Lilliput Press, Marianne Gunne O’Conor, Mulcahy Sweeney, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Storyline Lit Agency, The Bent Agency, The Book Bureau Literary Agency, The Feldstein Agency and The Lisa Richards Agency. The selected writers Tom O’Connell, Jennifer McMahon, Abby Connolly, Christina Carty, Cassie Smith-Christmas, Colm Maher, Fidelma Mahon, Laura Martz, Jill K Wilson, Sylvia Bluck, Geraldine Creed and Barbara Leahy met with top publishers and agents in a series of one-to-one meetings... Read Moreread more.

Northern Soul Roadshow Awardees 2023

February 15, 2023 3:13 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

We’re delighted to announce the awardees of our new Northern Soul Roadshow (NSR), a programme which spotlights diverse and native writers from the North of Ireland. Delivered across a series of creative writing events and workshops curated and facilitated by Fiona O’Rourke, the programme exclusively features writers born in the North of Ireland and those who have moved there from further afield. Over the course of the 6 weeks, the awardees will benefit from a rich programme of activities, including the opportunity to hone their craft in a supportive writing community of guest readings, lively Q&A discussions, and facilitated writing exercises. In keeping with Goal 2 of our new 2022–2026 Strategy, the roadshow will enhance opportunities for people across all communities to explore and participate in creative writing. NSR is curated by writer-facilitator Fiona O’Rourke, in association with the Irish... Read Moreread more.

Opportunities & Competitions: February 2023

February 7, 2023 3:21 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

Each month we update our Competitions & Submissions page, along with our Bursaries & Funding, to ensure that we are connecting our writers with the best upcoming opportunities. Here are a few deadlines we wanted to highlight this February! Arts Council: Agility Award 2023 Deadline: 9th February 2023 The Agility Award aims to support individual professional freelance artists and arts workers at any stage in their careers. Arts Council: Literature Bursary Award Deadline: 9th February 2023 The objective of the English Language Literature Bursary Award is to enable professional writers and picture book artists (working mainly through the English language) to spend more time on their creative work. The award seeks to provide writers and picture book artists with the time and resources to think, research, reflect, create and write. It enables writers and picture book artists to concentrate on their creative work... Read Moreread more.

NI Support Scheme Awardees 2023

January 10, 2023 2:58 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

We’re delighted to announce the awardees of our Support Schemes for Northern Irish Writers, supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, which offer subsidised membership and mentoring schemes for writers from or based in Northern Ireland. In keeping with Goal 2 of our new 2022–2026 Strategy, these schemes will enhance opportunities for people across all communities to explore and participate in creative writing. The awardees of the Membership Support Scheme are as follows: Professional Members Felicity McCall, Sue Divin, Ellie Rose McKee, Therese Kieran, Byddi Lee, Lynda Tavakoli, Shelly Tracey, Moyra Donaldson, Angela Graham and Juanita Rea. Associate Members Elaine Gormley, Alexandra McDonnell-Hill, Thomas Pole, Catherine Regan, Suzanne Mageee, Rosaline Callaghan, Lynne Edgar, Eilish Mulholland, Maura Martin and Edel Quinn. Our membership scheme connects our community of writers from across the island through a number of member benefits, including access... Read Moreread more.

Opportunities & Competitions: January 2023

January 3, 2023 4:43 pm Published by IWC_admin Leave your thoughts

Each month we update our Competitions & Submissions page, along with our Bursaries & Funding, to ensure that we are connecting our writers with the best upcoming opportunities. Here are a few deadlines we wanted to highlight this January! WriteNow Deadline: 6th January 2023 WriteNow is Penguin’s award-winning programme to seek out, nurture and publish new writers from communities under-represented on the nation’s bookshelves. The programme is designed to give participating writers the tools, information, and access needed to navigate the publishing industry and launch their career as a successful author. CCI Artist Residency Programme Deadline: 12th January 2023 Our annual residency programme offers great opportunities for artists of all disciplines to tap into the resources of Paris and the CCI, as well as being an important means of showcasing Ireland’s dynamic contemporary culture on an international stage. Since 2015, we have partnered... Read Moreread more.