Writing Magic Realism with Heather O’Neill
Info
Date: August 23, 2023
Time: 6.30pm - 8.30 pm
Duration: 2 hours
Level: Beginner | Emerging |
Cost: €30/€27
Location: Irish Writers Centre
This one-day course will take place on Wednesday 23 August, 2023 at the Irish Writers Centre (one session in total).
Course Summary
The object of this course will be to introduce the participants to the scope of magical realism and how it differs from fantasy. We will look at the subtleties and absurdism of magical realism, and how it appears in a realistic world without destabilizing it, but rather enhances it.
This course will show the link between magical realism and metaphor and allegory. It will show how magic can be added to realistic writing, rendering it more alive and meaningful. In magical realism, the magic is from your own story and inner life. We will examine how to find the magical elements in one’s own life, family history and cultural background.
Course Outline
The course will be a conversation and also a workshop. Participants will be encouraged to write scenes from their lives into which they will add magic.
Course Outcomes
Participates will come away with a lesson in how to add magical elements to their texts.
Heather O’Neill is the author of seven books, including Lullabies for Little Criminals, The Lonely Hearts Hotel, and When We Lost Our Heads. She has been nominated for the Women’s Prize for Fiction for three of her novels. She is American and Canadian and is currently based Montreal.
