Irish Writes Centre National Mentoring Programme 2025

Are you looking for feedback and a fresh perspective on your writing? Receive creative and professional support with an experienced Irish writer through the National Mentoring Programme. We are currently welcoming applications from Friday the 31st of January to Sunday 2 March 2025 at 5pm.

The National Mentoring Programme is an exciting opportunity to receive sustained creative and professional mentoring from an established Irish writer of your choosing. Writers living in all 32 counties are eligible to apply.

The opportunity is available to writers of:

• Fiction
• Creative non-fiction
• Children’s / Young Adult fiction
• Poetry

Each mentorship consists of three meetings with an experienced writer over a period of approximately 6–8 months. The mentor reads up to 10,000 words / 180 lines of poetry in advance, and will give creative feedback at each meeting. They may also provide professional information and advice. All mentees will avail of the relationship for free.

Who is it for?

This opportunity is specifically for:

• Emerging writers who can demonstrate a commitment to writing e.g. creative writing training or courses undertaken, journal publications, awards or notable mentions, or other recognisable achievements.
• Writers who have published one or two books and who feel they could benefit from further professional guidance and feedback on their work-in-progress.
• Writers with 3+ book publications who have begun writing in a form in which they have yet to publish a book

Mentee opportunities are open to writers over the age of 18 who are resident on the island of Ireland.

The Irish Writers Centre encourages applications from writers whose backgrounds are typically underrepresented in Irish literature. We particularly invite applications from Black, POC (person of colour), Traveller, Roma, LGBTQIA+, disabled and working class writers.

Applicants should neither be in full-time education at the time of application, nor planning to undertake a full-time education course at the same time as their mentorship .

If you have received mentoring through this particular mentoring programme within the last three years, you are ineligible to apply.

How to Apply

Applications will only be accepted through Submittable. Only one submission per applicant is allowed.

Application deadline: Sunday 2 March 2025 at 5pm

Full details on eligibility and how to apply can be found here.

“My mentor, Colin Barrett, has been generous and knowledgeable in answering my questions, from the mundane to the philosophical. Having a mentor gives me a sense of accountability in producing new work, and seeing my stories through Colin’s lens has been hugely helpful.”

Eimear Arthur

Mentored by Colin Barrett, National Mentoring Programme 2024

“The National Mentoring Programme offered me a fresh perspective on my work, and I learned so much from my mentor, Betsy who worked with me to develop scenes, clarify structure, and strengthen characters. She encouraged me to write the story I wanted to write, instead of what I thought others wanted, and set ambitious targets that forced me out of my ‘perfectionist’ mentality that was blocking progress. I would recommend the programme to any emerging writer. It is a very enjoyable and productive step towards fulfilling your dream.”

Rachael O’Brien

Mentored by Betsy Cornwell, National Mentoring Programme 2024