Home News Writer-in-Residence positions in Trinity, UCD and NUI Galway

Writer-in-Residence positions in Trinity, UCD and NUI Galway

The Arts Council has a long-standing partnership with a number of Irish universities offering Writer in Residence/Fellowship positions to provide university students with an opportunity to meet and develop creative reading and writing skills with a practicing writer, and to enable creative writers to develop their work while in a position of relative financial stability.

Three Arts Council supported writer-in-residence positions are now accepting applications for 2020. These three fellowships are based at Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and NUI Galway.

Full details of the positions and application procedures can be found here, but in brief, these are as follows:

Writer’s Fellowship, Trinity College Dublin

Closing Date: Monday, 12 August 2019

Fee: €15,000.  In addition, the Fellow is provided with accommodation in Trinity College, use of an office in the Oscar Wilde Centre for Irish Writing and dining on Commons.   

The Trinity College Writer’s Fellowship is a joint initiative of Trinity’s School of English and the Arts Council of Ireland.  The fellowship was established in 1986 and since then it has been co-funded by the School of English and the Arts Council of Ireland.  Many well known writers have held the Fellowship including: John McGahern (1988), Paul Durcan (1990), Sebastian Barry (1995-1996), Marina Carr (1998-99). The holder for 2019 was Mary O’Malley.

Informal inquiries are welcome and should be directed to the School Administrator, Ruth Archbold, at archbolr@tcd.ie.    

Criteria for Appointment include:

  • Established or promising reputation and experience of/ potential for teaching creative writing at postgraduate level.

Preferred criteria include:

  • Publications in creative writing (poetry/drama/fiction)
  • General profile and match with staff who teach creative writing in the School of English.

Application Procedure: 

Applications for the Fellowship are invited annually and considered by a committee on which Trinity and the Arts Council are represented. It is anticipated that interviews of short-listed candidates will take place in mid-September 2019. Applications should include a cover letter outlining areas of interest, a full CV and the name and contact details of three referees (e-mail addresses if possible), and should be addressed to the School Administrator, Ruth Archbold at archbolr@tcd.ie

Applications must be received no later than Monday, 12 August 2019.

Creative Writing Fellow, UCD

Closing Date: Wednesday, 31 July 2019

Fee: €18,300

Applications are invited from Irish writers of established reputation for the position of Creative Writing Fellow which is jointly funded by the Arts Council and the School of English, Drama, and Film. The Creative Writing Fellow role is designed to provide a writer with a unique opportunity to develop his/her practice in an university environment while giving members of the university community the opportunity to engage with a practicing writer. The Fellowship will be tenable for the period January-August 2020 and the successful applicant will be paid a fee of €18,300.

Candidates are invited to submit a covering letter outlining their interest together with a full CV containing details of their teaching experience with the names and contact details of 2 referees to: 

Ms Deirdre Daly
School of English, Drama and Film
University College Dublin, Belfield
Dublin 4

For a job description please contact Ms Deirdre Daly at graduateedf@ucd.ie.  Informal enquiries can be made to Dr. Paul Perry at Paul.Perry@ucd.ie .  

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview based on the following criteria: 

  • Artistic track record
  • Experience teaching creative writing
  • The quality of the proposal/proposed approach to residency

Applications may be sent by post to the above address or by email to graduateedf@ucd.ie

The closing date for applications will be no later than 17.00 on Wednesday, 31 July 2019.

Writer in Residence, NUI Galway

Closing date: Friday, 9 August 2019

Fee:  €20,000

NUI Galway invites applications from writers of established reputation for the position of Writer-in-Residence for the 2020 calendar year (January to December). The Residency will be jointly funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and the University.

The Writer-in-Residence will be provided with the opportunity to develop their practice in the supportive, creative environment of NUI Galway while also engaging with students and staff from across the university and the wider community.

The successful applicant will also be expected to deliver at least one public talk/reading in each of the two semesters, and to contribute to the ongoing fostering of links between the University and the wider literary communities and festivals in the city/region. 

Closing date is 17.00 on Friday, 9 August 2019

For more information and application form, please see here.  

Informal enquiries about the post may be made to Dr John Kenny, School of English and Creative Arts, at john.kenny@nuigalway.ie.