Courses at the Irish Writers Centre
It’s August, and some of you will be starting to think about September and new starts, the smell of a fresh notebook and all that possibility ahead.
The Irish Writers Centre has a whole range of courses, from writing about art to getting a publication deal for your first novel. Below is a just a taste of what’s on offer—you can find the complete list on their website.
Writing Your One Wild and Precious Life: Memoir Writing with Maureen Boyle
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver
In this course you will explore different ways to access memory using a range of triggers and writing techniques. You will read examples of memoir writing and think about the issues that arise in any memoir project – consideration of those whose lives intersect in our stories; how research might help the project, the options we have in terms of form and voice; issues of truth and fictionalisation. Students may work in prose or poetry, and on one long or several short pieces.
Make Your Own Literary Luck with Sue Divin
The harder I work, the luckier I get.’—Samuel Goldwyn.
Is getting a publication deal just about pure luck? Can you make your own luck? This course is ideal for emerging writers currently working on a novel or hoping to achieve that elusive novel deal.
Delivered via discussion and some practical activities over 2 evening online sessions. Learn how to take your work to the next level through exploring self-editing, mentoring, pitching and the world of novel competitions including the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair.
A Novel Approach with David Butler
In this eight-week course, facilitator David Butler will help you to workshop your novel-in-progress by examining areas such as point-of-view, structure, effective openings, dialogue, humour, irony, etc., in order to help you create a page-turning work of fiction. By the end of the eight weeks your novel will be, as Alfred Hitchcock phrased it, ‘life with the dull bits cut out’.
Fact or Fiction: Using Personal Experiences to Tell Stories with Tanya Farrelly
In this workshop attendees will explore how to use real life experiences to write stories and personal essays. Most great fictional stories are inspired by truth, whether that is something that has happened to the writer or somebody they know, or a simpler truth such as a familiar location or a conversation remembered. The personal essay takes a more direct approach and is popular for its confessional tone. In this course, we will experiment with both forms so that participants will come away with a better idea of whether they prefer to write factual essays or to incorporate their truths into fiction.
Check out all courses at the centre here.
