Info

Date: December 2, 2023

Time: 11.00am-1.00pm

Duration: 2 hours

Cost: €5 (€3 IWC members, free for unwaged)

Location: Irish Writers Centre

This session will take place on Saturday 2 December, 2023 at the Irish Writers Centre (one session in total).

Join facilitator Suad Aldarra for two hours of creative writing exercises in a supportive workshop environment. Share your thoughts and life experiences through new pieces of poetry or prose in a variety of genres.


Who is this programme for?

BEYOND New Irish Communities (NIC) is a programme to encourage writers of diverse ethnicities to participate in specially curated creative writing workshops. BEYOND NIC may be of interest to you if you are living on the island of Ireland and if:

– English or Irish is not your first language OR
– You are Irish from a diverse background OR
– You are living in direct provision OR
– You think you might be an ideal BEYOND NIC participant
– Or a combination of the above

then BEYOND NIC is designed for you. If English is not your first language, you are welcome, however some proficiency in writing in English is recommended, as the sessions are all held in English. This programme is tailored for beginner and emerging writers. There is no selection process to belong to BEYOND NIC and if you think you’d like to join, you are welcome to sign up to one or more sessions.


What do we do in these workshop sessions?

Each session lasts two hours and will consist of the following:

• Creative writing exercises
• Close readings
• Group discussion
• Critique and feedback of work
• Recommended reading

We hope BEYOND NIC will be a valuable space where writers can make connections, learn to write creatively, and perhaps, to work together over time. However, each session functions as a stand-alone workshop, so don’t worry, it is not necessary to have attended any previous BEYOND NIC sessions to drop in at any point.


Suad Aldarra is a Syrian-Irish writer and data scientist based in Dublin. She was selected as the Common Currency writer in residence for Cuirt International Festival and English/Irish PEN in 2021 and was awarded the Art Councils of Ireland English Literature bursary. 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 Year Award.