Young Writer Delegates Programme at Cúirt 2026

We invite ambitious writers aged 18-26 to apply for this extraordinary opportunity to attend and contribute to Cúirt International Festival of Literature 2026 as Irish Writers Centre/Cúirt Young Writer Delegates.

In keeping with the Irish Writers Centre’s 2022-2026 Strategy, the Young Writer Delegates Programme seeks to create new opportunities, grant access and develop networks that connect writers to each other. This programme directly correlates with the objectives of Strategy Goal 2, which is to enhance opportunities for people across all communities to explore and participate in creative writing, as well as Strategy Goal 3, which is to cultivate an engaged community of writers and strategic alliances that support our ambitions.

What to Expect

 

LAST YEAR’S YOUNG WRITER DELEGATES WITH MENTOR ALAN MCMONAGLE AT CÚIRT 2024

 

Now in its ninth year, the Irish Writers Centre Young Writer Delegates Programme was created to give writers aged 18-26 an opportunity to immerse themselves in and contribute to a literature festival, soak up the atmosphere and experience the Irish literary landscape first-hand.

The four Young Writer Delegates will spend five days (four nights) at Cúirt International Festival of Literature from Tuesday 21 April to Saturday 25 April 2026.

What does the Young Writer Delegates Programme include?

1. Mentoring:Delegates will be supported by local writer-mentor Alan McMonagle for the duration of the festival. During a workshop, Alan will help the delegates to develop a new or in-progress piece of writing. Alan will also support the delegates through their public showcase at the festival
2. Festival Events:Delegates will be granted free access to as many festival events as they’d like to attend (depending on individual event availability), excluding workshops.
3. Public Showcase:Delegates will read the piece of work they have developed at a public showcase as part of the festival programme. The festival provides a small honorarium for this event which will be paid to the delegates at the beginning of the festival.
4. Social Media:Each delegate will be in charge of the official Young Writer Delegates Instagramfor one day to highlight festival events they are attending and their experiences as a Young Writer Delegate.
5. Review:Post-festival, each delegate will write a piece in response to their experience of the festival, which will be published on the Irish Writers Centre website. This can be a creative piece, a review of an event or even an interview with a writer.
6. Feedback:In exchange for being awarded the programme, the Irish Writers Centre will ask for feedback and evaluation to continue to improve the programme for future delegates!

Each year, four writers are selected for this programme. Please note that accommodation is provided for three delegates from outside the Galway area, with a fourth place dedicated for a delegate living in Galway. Accommodation is located in Galway City Centre and breakfast will be provided.

Eligibility

This programme is open to writers aged 18-26 living anywhere on the island of Ireland with a strong interest in writing, reading and an ambition to connect and contribute to the Irish literary scene. It is not essential for applicants to have been published to be eligible.

 

Terms

• Accommodation is provided for three delegates who are resident on the island of Ireland. One place is reserved for a local delegate living in Galway.
• Please note that if you have availed of the Young Writer Delegates Programme in the last three years, in any iteration, you are ineligible.
• We encourage young writers from backgrounds typically underrepresented in Irish literature to apply. We particularly invite applications from Black, POC (person of colour), Traveller, Roma, LGBTQIA+, disabled and working class writers, and those who consider themselves to be within the target groups described in the EDI Policyon our website.

How to Apply

Please apply to take part in this programme by  emailing your application to projects@irishwriterscentre.ie with ‘Cúirt Young Writer Delegates Application’ as your email subject.

 

Please include in ONE collated document:

• A short cover letter (approx. 1 page). In your cover letter, please include the following:
  • Why would you like to be selected as an Irish Writers Centre/Cúirt Young Writer Delegate?
  • How will this opportunity benefit your writing practice? You may wish to write about the bullet points listed in the programme outline above e.g. mentoring, festival events, etc.
  • Your role representing the Irish Writers Centre and Cúirt International Festival of Literature 2026 through your contribution to the official Young Writer Delegates Instagram and post-festival review
• A Curriculum Vitae (max. two A4 pages); please ensure that you include your Eircode / postcode, your email and contact number in your CV.
• Two differing samples of work (max. 500 words each)

 

Please note: Due to the volume of applicants we are not in a position to give individual feedback to applicants, unless they have been interviewed, depending on the scheme. This policy extends across all of our calls in the interests of equity and transparency.

Criteria for Selection

 

Participants will be chosen on the basis of one or more combinations of the following:

• Eligibility– Participants must be between the ages of 18-26 and resident on the island of the Ireland to apply. Applicants are ineligible if they have availed of the Young Writer Delegates Programme in the last three years (of any iteration/festival).
• Intent – The cover letter expressing the applicant’s aspirations for taking part will help us inform our decision. Be sure to tell us about your ideas on how your presence as a delegate will contribute to the festival.
• Samples– Your writing samples will inform part of the decision-making process.
• Geography– We are seeking applications from all over the island, with at least one local writer living in the Galway area to be selected.

Deadline for Applications

Apply by midnight on Sunday 15 February 2026 at midnight.

No late applications will be considered.

 

About Alan McMonagle

 

Alan McMonagle lives in Galway. In 2015, he signed a two-book deal with Picador, and in 2017, Ithaca, his first novel was published and nominated for the Desmond Elliott Award for first novels, the Dublin Literary Award, and shortlisted for a Bord Gais Irish Book Award. He has published two collections of short stories (Psychotic Episodes, Arlen House, 2013 and Liar Liar, Wordsonthestreet, 2008), both of which were nominated for the Frank O’Connor Award. He also writes for radio and his plays, Oscar Night, People Walking On Water, Shirley Temple Killer Queen and Pink Moon have been produced and broadcast as part of RTE’s Drama on One season. His second novel, Laura Cassidy’s Walk Of Fame, was published in 2020.

Testimonials

 

“Being a Young Writer Delegate was an opportunity that enriched my writing practice in a way that nothing else has. Immersed in a diverse group of other Delegates and the likeminded community of Cúirt at large, inspiration was never far from reach. With the assistance of a kind and knowledgeable mentor as well as each other, my cohort and I crafted pieces for our showcase alongside attending many of the festival’s events. Between talking with some of Ireland’s greatest writers, being mentored, and finding a new group of writerly friends, being a Delegate at Cúirt was a formative experience that will have an immense impact on my work for as long as I write it.”

– Matthew O’Rourke, Cúirt 2023

 

“Getting the chance to be an integral part of a major literary festival was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I will never forget. It was a delight to be mentored by such an experienced and celebrated writer as Danielle McLaughlin, who was also happy to introduce us to many of the speakers at the festival. If I could relive that week in mid-July, I would.”

–  Mark Jackson, WCLF 2022 

“The YWD programme with Cúirt and the IWC allowed me to be part of a network of young writers. We continue to share work regularly and meet up all around Ireland, to discuss writing and creative endeavours and catch up, a kind of writer support group. This has been invaluable in my journey as a writer. I was able to attend numerous talks and literary events with writers I have long admired. I have found Cúirt and the IWC to be a close-knit and friendly community, from Manuela Moser to the IWC team, and our YWD mentor Alan McMonagle,  who made me feel like I belonged and deserved to be at Cúirt.”

– Lucy Bleeker, Cúirt 2023

Application Deadline

Sunday 15 February, 2026 at midnight.

Please note that incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

About the Irish Writers Centre

For over 30 years as the leading support and development organisation for writers, the Irish Writers Centre has acknowledged and uplifted those with the courage and compulsion to write by providing opportunities for them to develop their skill, advance their ambitions and join a vibrant and diverse community of people who share their passion and purpose. We carry out our work, online and in person, on an all island basis. Our just-launched strategy outlines a commitment to diversity and sustainability across our activities and its ambition is to connect writers of all types and talents across the island.

 

About Cúirt International Festival of Literature

In 1985 Cúirt was founded by Galway Arts Centre as a three -day poetry festival, and has since grown to the week-long festival that it is today, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, events for all ages, and community-focused activities.

 

As one of Europe’s oldest book festivals, Cúirt is a leading voice for literature both internationally and across Ireland. We are committed to creating a space where all audiences are empowered through literature, bringing readers and writers together to tell stories, share new perspectives, and to celebrate writing, books, and reading in all its forms.