2024-25 Fiction Workshops
Our 6-month workshops aim to enable writers to engage more deeply with their work while allowing them to focus on developing their craft over an expanded period of time.
We are offering three 6-month fiction workshops this year.
Online Fiction Workshop with Danielle McLaughlin (all workshops held online via Zoom)
Hybrid Fiction Workshop with Mary Morrissy, Jan Carson and Colin Barrett (mix of online and in-person workshops)
Both of the above workshops are intended for writers looking to take their work more seriously and to develop their craft while working with a group of like-minded individuals.
NEW: Advanced Fiction Workshop with Sean O’Reilly (in-person and online)
This workshop is intended for fiction writers already working to complete a specific writing project and who are seeking to be challenged and inspired to push forward with their writing.
All three workshops will run from late September 2024 until the end of March 2025.
Eight places are available in each workshop. Places will be offered by Monday August 19th.
Prior to each workshop, participants will submit works in progress (a draft of a short story or novel excerpt) to the rest of the group for close scrutiny. All work is shared in advance and is closely read by the workshop leader and the other participants.
The tuition fee for each workshop is €1800. The concession rate for anyone who is unwaged or on low income is €1350. One free place will be offered in each group. Free places will be awarded to writers who are either unwaged or on low income.
Applications for all three workshops will be accepted from July 10th until 5pm (Irish time) on Thursday August 1st 2024.
– Places on the workshops will be offered based on work submitted. For the online and hybrid workshops, we ask you to submit 10 to 12 pages from a short story or novel. Writers applying for the advanced fiction workshop are asked to submit two short stories or up to 30 pages from their novel-in-progress.
– The application form for all workshops includes a cover note. Use this space to give us as much information as you can about your current writing project(s) and to tell us how you believe your work will benefit from participating in the workshop.
– Anyone applying for the Hybrid Fiction Workshop or the Advanced Fiction Workshop must be available to attend the in-person workshop sessions at the Irish Writers Centre.
– We are committed to pursuing a proactive approach to diversity and inclusiveness. We strongly encourage writers from underrepresented areas of society to apply for these workshops. If you are such a writer, we hope you feel encouraged to join us. If you know such writers, please spread the word (with our thanks).
We are accepting applications via Submittable.
Apply here for either the online fiction workshop or the hybrid fiction workshop.
Apply here for the advanced fiction workshop.
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Online Fiction Workshop with Danielle McLaughlin
Workshop sessions will take place fully online over Zoom on Wednesday evenings from 7pm to 9pm unless otherwise noted.
DATES: (ALL ONLINE)
September 2024
Wednesday 25th – 7pm-8pm – Introductory Session
October 2024
Wednesdays 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th
November 2024
Wednesdays 6th*, 13th, 20th, 27th
December 2024
Wednesday 4th
January 2025
Wednesdays 15th, 22nd, 29th
February 2025
Wednesdays 5th, 12th, 19th*, 26th
March 2025
Wednesdays 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th
* These dates will feature talks by guest writers on different aspects of writing craft.
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Hybrid Fiction Workshop with Mary Morrissy, Jan Carson and Colin Barrett
Four in-person workshop days will be held in the Irish Writers Centre on Saturdays in November and December 2024 and in March and April 2025. The remaining sessions will be held online over Zoom on Monday evenings 7pm-9pm.
DATES:
Monday September 30th 2024 – 7pm to 8pm – Introductory Session with Mary Morrissy
Monday October 7th 2024 – 7pm to 9pm – Online workshop with Mary Morrissy
Monday October 14th 2024 – 7pm to 9pm – Online workshop with Mary Morrissy
Monday October 21st 2024 – 7pm to 9pm – Online workshop with Mary Morrissy
Monday November 4th 2024 – 7pm to 9pm – Online workshop with Mary Morrissy
Monday November 11th 2024 – 7pm to 8.30pm – Online introductory session with Jan Carson
Monday November 25th 2024 – 7pm to 8.30pm – Online session with Guest Writer
Saturday November 30th 2024 – 10.30am to 4.30pm – IWC workshop with Jan Carson
Saturday December 7th 2024 – 10.30am to 4.30pm – IWC workshop with Jan Carson
Monday January 20th 2025 – 7pm to 9pm – Online workshop with Jan Carson
Monday January 27th 2025 – 7pm to 9pm – Online workshop with Jan Carson
Monday February 10th 2025 – 7pm to 9pm – Online workshop with Jan Carson
Monday February 17th 2025 – 7pm to 9pm – Online workshop with Jan Carson
Monday March 10th 2025 – 7pm to 8.30pm – Online session with Guest Writer
Saturday March 22nd 2025 – 10.30am to 4.30pm – IWC workshop with Colin Barrett
Saturday April 5th 2025 – 10.30am to 4.30pm – IWC workshop with Colin Barrett
Monday April 14th 2025 – 7pm to 8.30pm – Online review session with Jan Carson
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NEW: Advanced Fiction Workshop with Sean O’Reilly
This will be a supportive but rigorous workshop for experienced writers, ideal for anyone already working towards the completion of a novel or short-story collection who has previous workshop experience. Published writers and writers who have previously completed workshops with The Stinging Fly are welcome to apply. During each workshop session, participants’ work will be discussed and critiqued and you will benefit from an in-depth exploration of approaches to writing and revising fiction. All forms of fiction writing are supported on this course. Applicants will be required to submit a substantial sample from their work in progress (two short stories OR 30 pages from their novel).
Workshop sessions will take place in-person over 8 Saturdays in the Irish Writers Centre. Online sessions will be held over Zoom on Wednesday evenings.
DATES:
Saturdays, IN-PERSON, 10.30am-4.30pm
September 28th & October 5th 2024
November 16th & November 23rd 2024
February 8th & February 15th 2025
March 22nd & March 29th 2025
Wednesdays, ONLINE, 7pm-9pm
October 16th 2024 – Session with Guest Writer
October 30th 2024 – Session with Guest Writer
February 26th 2025 – Session with Guest Writer
March 12th 2025 – Session with Guest Writer
During January 2025, participants will have online one-to-one sessions with the workshop leader.
NB: All of the dates provided above are provisional and will be confirmed when we are offering workshop places.
Fees
The tuition fee for each workshop is €1800. The concession rate for anyone who is unwaged or on low income is €1350.
A deposit of €200 (non-refundable) will be payable once a workshop place has been offered and accepted. The balance will be payable in two instalments at the end of September 2024 and in January 2025. (Where necessary an alternative payment schedule can be agreed.)
Free Places
Thanks to the support we receive from the Arts Council and to the continued generosity of our patrons, we are in a position to offer one free place on each workshop. These will be awarded to writers who are either unwaged or on low income. You can tell us why you want to be considered for a free place in the cover note that is included on the Submittable application form.
Any questions? Contact Eoin: admin [at] stingingfly [dot] org
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Danielle McLaughlin is the author of the short-story collection, Dinosaurs on Other Planets, and the novel, The Art of Falling, which is shortlisted for this year’s Dublin Literary Award. She has been Writer in Residence at University College Cork and Visiting Writer Fellow at the Oscar Wilde Centre, Trinity College, Dublin. She has also designed and delivered workshops in Creative Writing for various organisations and festivals and currently mentors a number of emerging writers.
Jan Carson is a writer and community arts facilitator based in Belfast. Her first novel, Malcolm Orange Disappears, was published in 2014 followed by a short-story collection, Children’s Children (2016), and two Postcard Stories anthologies. Her second novel, The Fire Starters (2019), won the EU Prize for Literature and was shortlisted for the Dalkey Novel of the Year Award. The Raptures (2022) was shortlisted for the An Post Novel of the Year and the Kerry Group Novel of the Year. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and on BBC Radio 3 and 4. She won the Harper’s Bazaar short-story competition and has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award, the An Post Irish Short Story of the Year, and the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Prize. Jan’s writing has been widely translated. Her short story collection, Quickly, While They Still Have Horses was published in Spring 2024. Jan is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Mary Morrissy is the author of three novels, Mother of Pearl, The Pretender and The Rising of Bella Casey, and two collections of short stories, A Lazy Eye and Prosperity Drive. She has 20 years experience of teaching creative writing at university level in the US and Ireland. Until May 2020, she was the associate director of creative writing at University College Cork, teaching on the MA in Creative Writing and leading undergraduate teaching of creative writing. She now offers one-to-one creative mentoring and editing and appraisal services for writers.
Colin Barrett grew up in County Mayo. His stories have been published in The Stinging Fly, Granta, Harper’s and the New Yorker. His first book, the short story collection Young Skins, won the Guardian First Book Award, the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. His second collection, Homesickness, made the New York Times 100 Notable Books of the Year and was a Book of the Year in Oprah Daily and the Irish Times. His first novel, Wild Houses, was published in January 2024.
Sean O’Reilly is the author of two short-story collections, Curfew and Other Stories and Levitation, and three novels Love and Sleep, The Swing of Things and Watermark. He has led fiction workshops with The Stinging Fly since 2007 and is a member of Aosdána.
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