The Art of Criticism with Desmond Traynor

Course Content

This course will develop the skills needed for reviewing books, music, films, plays and visual art for newspapers, magazines and online publications. It is suitable for people who would like to make a professional career in arts journalism and criticism, with an emphasis on the context in which this takes place in Ireland. Ideally, participants should have some idea of where their strengths lie (i.e. what is their area of expertise). People with good knowledge of a particular art form, who may lack confidence in their writing ability or be unsure about how to structure a review, will benefit from this course.

Participants will be expected to produce work on a regular basis. Workshopping will take place in class and individual written feedback will be given. Relevant texts will be distributed in class.

Course Outline

The focus will be on how to write a review – giving outlines while avoiding spoilers, offering opinions and insights without being overcritical, how to be entertaining without being condescending. Also, how to place a review – finding the outlet that is right for you. The different tools and skills required for short, informative pieces and longer, more considered articles. Learning terminology that is both common to all strands of reviewing, and particular to the individual participants’ chosen speciality. How reviewing in Ireland might differ from writing for international publications.

Week 1 – General Introduction – tips and advice. Participants speak about their own background and experience, and what they would like to achieve. Short written exercise in class. Short reviewing task given for next week.

Week 2 – Exercise in comparing and contrasting different reviews of the same book/film/concert/play, etc. Framing a review in terms of the kind of publication for which it was commissioned. Written exercise where participants agree to review the same book or film.

Week 3 – Pitching to editors and following editorial briefs. Assembling a portfolio. Doing the required research, and how to build an audience. More workshop exercises.

Week 4 – The pleasures and pitfalls of being controversial, the pressures of maintaining independence in the face of public relations and marketing campaigns. Workshopping continued.

Week 5 – Forensic focus on language: What language is used? Opinionated? Formal/Informal? Who is it aimed at? Does it engage you as a reader? Why? What does each paragraph discuss? Perhaps organise a trip to the cinema or an exhibition. More workshopping of participants’ submissions.

Week 6 – Workshopping shared task. Course summary. Participants reflect on their progress and next move.

Course Outcomes

Participants will grow in confidence in giving their opinions on art works clearly and concisely, and learn how to defend their positions, through reference and analysis. It is worth trying to instil that the rave review or the hatchet job are not the only alternatives when it comes to reviewing, and that a balanced approach is often the most fruitful in contributing to the conversations around cultural production, for both the artists and the audience.

Desmond Traynor is a writer and critic, a Hennessey Literary Award and Alumnus Essay Award winner. His short stories have been widely published, and his novel, The Myth of Exile and Return, was nominated for the Irish Novel of the Year Award in 2004. Desmond gained a Distinction in the M Phil in Creative Writing from Trinity College, in 2000. His critical essays have appeared in many anthologies and peer-reviewed journals and several of his essays have appeared in online journals and been broadcast on RTE Radio. He has practiced as an arts journalist for over thirty years, primarily covering books, film and music for a wide variety of newspapers, magazines and websites, including The Irish Times, Irish Independent, Magill, The Dublin Review of Books, Books Ireland, Film Ireland, Film West, Graph, The Dubliner and The World of Hibernia, including eighteen years reviewing novels at the Sunday Independent. He has also broadcast film reviews on RTE Radio 1, interviews on BBC Radio Ulster, and theatre reviews on Anna Livia Radio. He currently contributes to the Dublin music listings magazine, The Goo.

Booked out? To be added to the waiting list for this course, please email info@irishwriterscentre.ie.