Spring Open Day 2024

We will be opening our doors for Spring Open Day on Saturday 9 March, 2024! Taking place inside our beautiful Georgian building on Parnell Square in Dublin, Spring Open Day is a dynamic programme of free events that brings together anyone with an interest in books and writing. The day will include taster workshops, information sessions and a panel discussion. All welcome!

Spring Open Day 2024 Timetable:

From 10.30 – 11.00: Welcome! Tea, coffee and biscuits plus an informal chat about the work of the Irish Writers Centre.

10.30 – 16.30: Spring Open Day Book Swap (happening all day!)

Bring along a much-loved book, wrap it and label or tag it with a description of no more than three lines. If you bring a book, you go home with one too!

11.00 – 11.45: New Irish Communities Writing Session – Sign up via Eventbrite

Get a taster of this open creative writing group for non-native English speakers who come together every Saturday during seasonal terms. This session is ideal for beginner and emerging writers.

11.00 – 12.00: Writing Taster Short Stories with Cathy Sweeney – Sign up via Eventbrite

Cathy Sweeney’s critically acclaimed collection of short stories, Modern Times, was published by The Stinging Fly Press and Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2020. Cathy was awarded a Literature Bursary from The Arts Council of Ireland in 2020 and 2023 and she was Writer-in-Residence at University College Cork in 2022. She is the recipient of a Hawthornden Foundation Fellowship. Her debut novel Breakdown was published with Weidenfeld & Nicolson in January 2024.

Please note, attendees can only sign up to one (of the three) taster sessions for Spring Open Day 2024. We have made this restriction to give as many people as possible the opportunity to attend. The three taster sessions are Science Fiction Writing with John Kenny, Writing Taster Short Stories with Cathy Sweeney, and Crime Fiction Writing Taster with Declan Burke.

12.00 – 13.00: Novel Fair Information Session and Q & A with Betty Stenson, Programming Officer at IWC – (No booking required, just turn up!)

Now in its 13th year, the Novel Fair is an annual competition initiated by the Irish Writers Centre that gives twelve aspiring novelists the opportunity to pitch their projects to top publishers and agents.

13.15 – 14.15: Meet the IWC Team – Advice on all things Irish Writers Centre related (No booking required, just turn up!)

With a short presentation from Teerth Chungh, Interim Director, Betty Stenson, Programming Officer and Jo Morton Communications and Marketing Officer and plenty of time for interactive chats and questions.

13.30 – 15.00: Inkslingers Open Writing Group – Currently booked out with waiting list, for further information please email  info@irishwriterscentre.ie

14.30 – 15.30: Crime Fiction Writing Taster with Declan Burke – Sign up via Eventbrite

Declan Burke is the author of Eightball Boogie (2003), The Big O (2007), Absolute Zero Cool (2011), Slaughter’s Hound (2012), Crime Always Pays (2014), The Lost and the Blind (2014), and The Lammisters (2019). Absolute Zero Cool was shortlisted in the crime fiction section for the Irish Book Awards, and received the Goldsboro Award for Best Humorous Crime Novel in 2012. Eightball Boogie and Slaughter’s Hound were also shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards. Declan is also the editor of Down These Green Streets: Irish Crime Writing in the 21st Century (2011) and Trouble is Our Business (2016), and the co-editor, with John Connolly, of Books to Die For (2013), which won the Anthony Award for Best Non-Fiction Crime. Declan was a UNESCO / Dublin City Council writer-in-residence for 2017-18. He blogs at Crime Always Pays.

Please note, attendees can only sign up to one (of the three) taster sessions for Spring Open Day 2024. We have made this restriction to give as many people as possible the opportunity to attend. The three taster sessions are Science Fiction Writing with John Kenny, Writing Taster Short Stories with Cathy Sweeney, and Crime Fiction Writing Taster with Declan Burke.

14.30 – 15.30: Science Fiction Writing Taster course with John Kenny – Sign up via Eventbrite

John Kenny is a freelance writer, editor and creative writing tutor with short stories published in Uncertainties Vol 1, Revival Literary Journal, The Galway Review, The World SF Blog, Jupiter, First Contact, Woman’s Way, Emerald Eye, Transtories, Fear the Reaper and many other venues. John has been co-editor of Albedo One since its inception in 1993. He is editor of original horror anthology Box of Delights for Aeon Press, Writing4All: The Best of 2009, and Decade 1: the Best of Albedo One.

Please note, attendees can only sign up to one (of the three) taster sessions for Spring Open Day 2024. We have made this restriction to give as many people as possible the opportunity to attend. The three taster sessions are Science Fiction Writing with John Kenny, Writing Taster Short Stories with Cathy Sweeney, and Crime Fiction Writing Taster with Declan Burke.

15.30 – 16.30: Writer-Led Panel Discussion: The Writing Community: are you a member? – Sign up via Eventbrite

“We support a vibrant and diverse community of writers of all types and talents to develop their craft, capacity and confidence to thrive as a writer in the world.” – The Irish Writers Centre Strategy 2022 – 2026.

With novelist, playwright and poet Dermot Bolger, novelist and editor Mia Gallagher and writer, performer, and cultural consultant Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan, this panel discussion will explore what it means to be – or to become – a member of Ireland’s writing community.

In this exciting panel, there will be discussions on what it means to be an advocate for the literary community, while feeding into wider discussions about the role of the artist and arts in our world and ecosphere. We will also be tracing the history of the Irish literary community from the 1970s to the present day, and exploring what it means to be a part of the writing community when you’re on the fringes.

Headshot: Mia Gallagher (photo credit: Robbie Fry)

Mia Gallagher was born in Dublin, where she still lives and works. She writes novels, short stories and essays and has also devised and written for theatre. Her most recent work is Great Beasts of Myth, a short story commission for RTÉ Radio. She is currently completing her third novel. Mia is a contributing editor with The Stinging Fly and a member of Aosdána. She was on the Board of the Writers Centre between 2012-2015.

Headshot: Dermot Bolger

Born in Dublin in 1959, the novelist, playwright and poet Dermot Bolger is one of Ireland’s best-known writers. His fourteen novels include The Journey Home, A Second Life, Tanglewood, The Lonely Sea and Sky and An Ark of Light. In 2020 he published his first collection of short stories, Secrets Never Told. His debut play, The Lament for Arthur Cleary, received the Samuel Beckett Award. His numerous other plays include The Ballymun Trilogy, charting forty years of life in a Dublin working-class suburb; and most recently, Last Orders at the Dockside and an adaptation of James Joyce’s Ulysses, both staged by the Abbey Theatre. His ninth poetry collection, The Venice Suite: A Voyage Through Loss, appeared in 2012. He devised the best-selling collaborative novels Finbar’s Hotel and Ladies Night at Finbar’s Hotel, and edited numerous anthologies, including The Picador Book of Contemporary Irish Fiction.

A former Writer Fellow at Trinity College Dublin, Bolger writes for Ireland’s leading newspapers, and in 2012 was named Commentator of the Year at the NNI Journalism Awards. In 2021 he received The Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award for Poetry. His tenth poetry collection, Other People’s Lives, was published by New Island in 2022.

Headshot: Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan

Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan is a Dublin-based writer and performer and cultural consultant from India. Her work has been published by Dedalus Press, Lifeboat Press, Poetry Ireland, Banshee, and Stinging Fly amongst others. Chandrika was selected to participate in the Irish Writers Centre’s XBorders programme 2018 and 2020, Poetry Ireland’s Introductions 2021, and Science Gallery Dublin’s Rapid Residency 2021. Chandrika was editor of Poetry Ireland’s Trumpet issue 9, is book reviewer for Children’s Books Ireland’s Inis magazine, and is on the Board of the Irish Writers Centre. She was Writer in Residence for the Institute of Physics for 2023.

Access our Building

Tá Áras Scríbhneoirí na hÉireann i 19 Cearnóg Pharnell, Baile Átha Cliath 1. Is teach Seoirseach é agus, ar an drochuair, níl ardaitheoir ann. Tá cúig chéim isteach ón tsráid. Bíonn bunús na n-imeachtaí i Seomra Kiely ar an chéad úrlár agus is gá tríocha céim a dhreapadh chuige sin.

The Irish Writers Centre is currently housed in 19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1. This is a Georgian building which unfortunately does not have a lift. There are 5 steps into the entrance level. The majority of the event’s activities will take place in the Kiely room which is on the first floor and requires climbing 30 steps in total. Please do inform us of any accessibility requirements you might have before the night so we can make any necessary arrangements.

If you have any questions about the event, please email info@irishwriterscentre.ie.