New Irish Communities
Free creative writing workshops for non-native speakers to explore creative writing in English.
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“English is not my native tongue, it’s not for many, many more creative practitioners today. So how do we navigate an English-dominated world with our writing explorations?”
Sree Sen, New Irish Communities facilitator
Welcome to New Irish Communities
The Irish Writers Centre is excited to announce the 2025 New Irish Communities (Saturday 10 May – Saturday 21 June), a series of six creative writing sessions for non-native speakers to explore creative writing in English.
In a warm and supportive environment, participants can meet new writers, share their stories, and take part in creative writing exercises. All sessions are facilitated by writers from diverse literary backgrounds, in both poetry and prose.
New Irish Communities is ideal for beginner and emerging writers.
For the first time, we are excited to host a special showcase event on Saturday 28 June 2025 of the writing produced during the six weeks period.
New Irish Communities 2025
Sign up to any New Irish Communities 2025 session by following the links below:

Session 1 Facilitated by Amy Abdullah Barry
Date: Saturday 10 May, 2025
Time: 11.00am-1.00pm
Location: Irish Writers Centre
Free (book required)

Session 2 Facilitated by Aashima Rana
Date: Saturday 17 May, 2025
Time: 11.00am-1.00pm
Location: Irish Writers Centre
Free (book required)

Session 3 Facilitated by Mark Granier
Date: Saturday 24 May, 2025
Time: 11.00am-1.00pm
Location: Online
Free (book required)
Session 4 Facilitated by TBC
Date: Saturday 7 June, 2025
Time: 11.00am-1.00pm
Location: Online
Free (book required)

Session 5 Facilitated by Ola Majekodunmi
Date: Saturday 14 June, 2025
Time: 11.00am-1.00pm
Location: Irish Writers Centre
Free (book required)
Session 6 Facilitated by TBC
Date: Saturday 21 June 2025
Time: 11.00am-1.00pm
Location: Irish Writers Centre
Free (book required)
How does New Irish Communities work?
What do these workshop sessions look like?
From Saturday 10 May 2025 from 11am – 1pm we are running weekly writing sessions in the Irish Writers Centre building on Parnell Square (Dublin) which are facilitated by experienced writers and poets working in different genres and forms.
While the majority of sessions take place in person at the Irish Writers Centre, two of the sessions will take place online to enable broader access to the sessions.
Please note, it is not necessary to have attended any previous New Irish Communities sessions to join in.
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
Each session functions as a stand-alone workshop, so it is not necessary to have attended any previous New Irish Communities sessions so drop in at any point.
Since 2013, New Irish Communities has been kindly supported by Dublin City Council.