Masterclass: Writing Historical Fiction with Martina Devlin
Info
Date: October 10, 2026
Time: 11.00 am – 2.00 pm
Duration: 1 day (3 Hours)
Level: Advanced | Intermediate | Beginner |
Cost: €75 (€68 Members)
Location: In Person
This course will take place in person on Saturday 10 October at the Irish Writers Centre.
Course Summary
Compelling historical fiction focuses on who rather than what. History is written by the winners but fiction is a way of focusing on the losers and marginalised, who can be more interesting. It is challenging – but also rewarding – to showcase someone from a humble station, not only because they are more relatable, but how they lived is less likely to be recorded. History books don’t linger on them. The novelist bridges that gap.
Course Outcomes
Advice on: worldbuilding; the art of integrating true events and real figures into fiction; how to achieve historical accuracy without getting bogged down in ‘info dump’; how to find and use primary sources; master dialogue that is accurate for the period without clunking in modern ears.
Martina Devlin is an award-winning author specialising in historical fiction. Novels include Charlotte about Charlotte Brontë’s Irish connections, The House Where It Happened about a mass witchcraft trial and her latest, Glorious Monsters, about the Shelleys and Lord Byron (autumn 2026). Prizes include the Royal Society of Literature’s V.S. Pritchett Prize, a Hennessy Literary Award, and numerous shortlistings for the Irish Book Awards. Martina holds a PhD in literary practice from TCD and has taught literature there and at other universities.
