Author Archives for IWC_admin

Book your tickets for Kildare Readers Festival 2023

September 7, 2023 4:18 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

  Kildare Readers Festival 2023 In association with the Irish Writers Centre We are excited to let you know that Kildare Readers Festival is returning this Octobor in venues across the county from Monday, 2nd October to Sunday, 8th October 2023. Launched by Kildare Library & Arts Services (in association with the Irish Writers Centre), Kildare Readers Festival connects readers with authors and artists through exciting, innovative and accessible events and workshops. We look forward to welcoming audiences for regular favourites such as Ten Books You Should Read and the Sunday Session. Dermot Bolger will this year speak with poet Michael O’Loughlin and soprano Judith Mok. Oein DeBhairduin will be giving us an exclusive preview of his book Twiggy Woman in Celbridge Library. Kathleen Murray will chat to Ed O’Loughlin about her debut novel The Deadwood Encore described as ‘the Coen Brothers... Read Moreread more.


Looking back on Autumn Open Day 2023

August 30, 2023 4:23 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Last Saturday, the 26th of August, we opened our doors for the annual IWC Autumn Open Day. Featuring a range of events – including taster workshops, professional development seminars, meet-and-greets and more – the Open Day was and is an excellent opportunity for those unfamiliar with the Irish Writers Centre to drop in, have a roam around the building and learn about the many ways the IWC can support you as a writer. Festivities kicked off with a coffee reception, followed by a taster workshop led by novelist Kevin Curran. A co-winner of the inaugural IWC Novel Fair back in 2012, Kevin is a writer and secondary school teacher from Balbriggan whose most recent novel Youth was published by Lilliput Press earlier this year. Kevin was one of several writers to run workshops over the course of the day, joining... Read Moreread more.


Opportunities and Competitions September 2023

September 12, 2023 2:15 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Photo credit: the facade of Palás cinema in Galway, taken by our Communications and Marketing Officer Jo Morton.  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 September. Irish Writers Centre Opportunities: The Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair 2024 Deadline: 30th September 2023 Our very own Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair is back for its 12th year with submissions open until the the 30th of September. You probably know all about it by now but in case you don’t, IWC Novel Fair is a competition open to anyone who has yet to publish a full length novel. How does it work? Well, all you have to do is submit the first 10,000 words of... Read Moreread more.


Opportunities and Competitions August 2023

August 16, 2023 1:42 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Photo credit: A view across towards the Rotunda Hospital and the Garden of Remembrance out of the top floor of the Irish Writers Centre at no. 19 Parnell Square, taken by our Communications and Marketing Officer Jo Morton.  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 August. Submission Opportunities:   Druid Theatre Deadline: 25th August 2023 Druid are Ireland’s foremost theatre company and they are accepting submissions of new plays from now until the 25th of August. Selected scripts are read as part of Druid Debuts, their annual series of rehearsed readings of new plays, with a view to further development. This is definitely an opportunity that is not to be missed. Make... Read Moreread more.


Announcing our Cill Rialaig Residencies Awardees 2023

August 10, 2023 12:57 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

We are delighted to announce the seven selected awardees for the Irish Writers Centre residencies with Cill Rialaig, Co. Kerry. The seven chosen writers are, Suad Aldarra, Sadhbh Devlin, Lisa Harding, David McGrath, Pallavi Padma-Uday, Aedín Ní Thiarniagh, Aimée Walsh. This Autumn marks the ninth consecutive year of Irish Writers Centre residencies with Cill Rialaig. These writers will spend ten days in Cill Rialaig from 26 October – 5 November developing new work.   Cill Rialaig Residencies Awardees:                     Suad Aldarra is a Syrian-Irish writer and data scientist based in Dublin. She was awarded the Art Councils of Ireland English Literature bursary in 2021. Her debut memoir, I Don’t Want to Talk About Home, was published by Penguin in July 2022 and was shortlisted for An Post Irish Biography of the... Read Moreread more.


“Character and place are where my imagination likes to play,” Aingeala Flannery on Novel Fair, and her award winning debut The Amusements

July 28, 2023 4:39 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

  Interviewer: Tom Jordan This blog post has been written by our member of staff, Tom Jordan, Arts 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.       This is the third interview in a series where we talk with former winners of the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair. Our Administrative Assistant Tom Jordan interviewed Aingeala Flannery, author of The Amusements, which was recently awarded the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year. The Amusements was Aingeala’s debut – strikingly, it was not the manuscript that she won Novel Fair with! Read on to find out more about her Novel Fair experience and the roundabout way it helped in... Read Moreread more.


Our Young Writer Delegates look back on West Cork Literary Festival 2023

July 26, 2023 1:58 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Earlier this month, writers, readers and book-lovers from far and wide travelled to Bantry for the West Cork Literary Festival 2023. From the 7th to the 14th of July, attendees were treated to a week full of readings, conversations, events and special guests, which showcased new voices and a wide range of writing. Among the attendees were our IWC/West Cork Literary Festival Young Writer Delegates, Rehan Ali, Maitiú Charleton, Thomas O’Donovan and Ashlin O’Sullivan. 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 West Cork Literary Festival! Soula Emmanuel & Ann-Marie MacDonald reviewed by Maitiú Charleton As a Young Writer Delegate I had the opportunity to attend a wide range of captivating literary events throughout the West Cork Literary Festival. One stood out to... Read Moreread more.


The Meridian Series: Four Professional Development Courses Starting This Autumn

July 24, 2023 1:36 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

We are delighted to report that Meridian – our new series of creative and professional development courses – is well underway. Launched earlier this year, Meridian is aimed specifically at professional writers and emerging writers taking their first steps towards making a career in writing. To date, Meridian courses have been taught by the likes of Jan Carson (Surviving as a Writer), Anne Tannam (Foundational Facilitation Skills), Jennie Taylor (Contemporary Art Criticism) and Madeleine Keane (Pitching to Feature Editors). The next four Meridian sessions are now available to book online. See below for details on the individuals courses and workshops. Refresh with Poetry and Mindfulness with Cath Drake CATH DRAKE Mindfulness has been shown to reduce stress and improve well-being, clarity, focus and creativity. It’s also a refreshing way into your writing, to enrich and deepen your writing practice, and... Read Moreread more.


Betsy Cornwell awarded the Blue Mountains (Australia) Residency 2023

July 19, 2023 2:44 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

We are delighted to announce that author Betsy Cornwell has been awarded the Blue Mountains (Australia) Residency 2023, in partnership with the Irish Writers Centre, Varuna, The National Writers’ House, Australia and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre. The Blue Mountains (Australia) Residency is a brand new four-week international residency offered in Australia in the National Writers’ House for one month in October, inclusive of participation in the Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival. This four week residency includes accommodation and meals, €1250 towards airfare and expenses, and participation in the Blue Mountains Writers Festival that takes place on October 20-22, 2023.   Headshot: Betsy Cornwell   Betsy Cornwell is the New York Times bestselling author of Mechanica and five other novels, most recently Reader, I Murdered Him. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Notre Dame and a BA from Smith College, and she currently teaches... Read Moreread more.


Opportunities and Competitions July 2023

July 4, 2023 3:10 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Photo credit: A view across Dublin Bay towards the Poolbeg Towers taken by our Administrative Assistant Tom Jordan.  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 July. Journals and Anthologies   Sans. Press Deadline: 12th July 2023 Sans. Press are accepting submissions for their next anthology until the 12th of July. They are looking for stories in any genre that respond to the title Another Name for Darkness. The anthologies that these guys put out are really interesting and beautifully designed and they pay every contributor a flat fee of €150 so make sure to get your submissions in! Channel  Deadline: 23rd July 2023 Channel’s aim is to build rich, mutually sustaining relationships... Read Moreread more.


Announcing the 2023 IWC/DBF Foundation Programme Participants

July 4, 2023 2:40 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

We are delighted to announce the six writers selected to participate in the 2023 IWC Foundation Programme, organised in association with the Dublin Book Festival. The programme, now in its second year, is open to all those living in the administrative area of Dublin City Council and is aimed specifically at writers from backgrounds currently underrepresented in Irish literature. The six writers selected to participate in this year’s programme are Sam Furlong, Mai Ishikawa, Brian McGuinness, Sara Ribeiro, Glauber Silva and Kenneth Vill. As part of the Foundation Programme, the six awardees will receive a series of training and development supports, including one-on-one mentoring, writing workshops, an IWC creative writing workshop course and more. Alongside these supports, the writers will immerse themselves and contribute to Dublin Book Festival this November, with the additional opportunity to perform their new writing at... Read Moreread more.


Our Young Writer Delegates look back on Belfast Book Festival 2023

June 29, 2023 1:15 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Earlier this month, writers, readers and book-lovers from far and wide travelled to Belfast for the Belfast Book Festival 2023. From the 13th to the 18th of June, attendees were treated to a week full of readings, conversations, film screenings, walking tours, events and special guests, which showcased new voices and a wide range of writing. Among the attendees were our IWC/Belfast Book Festival Young Writer Delegates, Cian Dunne, Fatoumata Gandega, Caleb McKeever and Sarah McMahon. 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 BBF 2023!   Photo headshot: Deirdre Madden   Deirdre Madden in conversation with Wendy Erskine Reviewed by Cian Dunne The final event of the festival’s first full day saw two of Northern Ireland’s most esteemed prose writers in conversation... Read Moreread more.


Connections Through Literature Series with Kildare Libraries

June 28, 2023 2:54 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

The Irish Writers Centre is delighted to let you know about our partnership with Kildare Libraries. Born out of our joint love of Literature, Kildare Libraries presents the Connections Through Literature course series: “This series has been born out of a joint love of literature, with the goal to unite our readers, writers and artists with our audiences through the medium of stimulating, contemporary and accessible events.” There is a fantastic range of online and in-person courses from This Modern Life Poetry Masterclass with Rachel Long to Writing for Podcasts & Radio with Zoë Comyns. Please note, in-person courses are based in Kildare Libraries. Full programme can be found here: Connections Through Literature Programme. read more.


One for the Records: Remembering Bloomsday 2012 

June 16, 2023 11:24 am Published by Leave your thoughts

In anticipation of this year’s Bloomsday celebrations – kicking off this Friday in venues across Dublin City – we at the Irish Writers Centre are looking back on a very special day in our building’s history.     Guinness Book of World Records Certificate 2012 Text reads: “The most authors reading consecutively is 111 at the Irish Writers Centre, Dublin , Ireland on 15-16 June 2012. The 111 writers read from their work in slots of 15 minutes each over 28 continuous hours before an aggregate audience of 1280.”   On the 16th June 2012, in celebration of the Irish Writers Centre’s 25th anniversary, we were delighted to play host to a Guinness World Record-setting event. The event, which began at 10am on Friday the 15th and ended at 2pm the following day, constituted a new world record for the most... Read Moreread more.