2025-26 Fiction Workshops
Applications are open now and will close at 5pm on Tuesday July 22nd.
We are offering three 6-month fiction workshops this year.
The aim of our 6-month workshop programme is to provide writers with the opportunity to work with a group of similarly motivated individuals towards developing their writing practice over an expanded period of time.
Our workshops are designed to benefit writers who have already been writing for some time as well as anyone seriously interested in getting started. Participants are provided with an opportunity to hone their craft in a supportive yet rigorous environment. Key to all of our workshops is the process of participants sharing, reading and discussing one another’s work.
Online Fiction Workshop with Danielle McLaughlin
(all workshop sessions held online via Zoom)
Hybrid Fiction Workshop with Jan Carson and Rob Doyle
(mix of online and in-person workshops)
In-person Fiction Workshop with Colin Barrett and Cathy Sweeney
(all workshop sessions held in-person at the Irish Writers Centre in Dublin)
All three workshops will run from late September 2025 until early April 2026.
Eight places are available in the online workshop and the hybrid workshop. Ten places are available on the in-person workshop. Places will be offered by Friday August 15th.
Prior to each workshop session, participants will submit works in progress (either a draft of a short story or novel excerpt) to the rest of the group. All of this shared work will be closely read by the workshop leader and the other participants in advance of the workshop session.
All workshop participants can expect to share work four times over the course of the six months. Participants are encouraged to use their time on the workshop to write as much as possible and to make full use of the opportunity to have their work read and discussed by the workshop leaders and their fellow participants during each workshop round.
– Places on the workshops will be offered based on work submitted. Applicants must submit 6 to 8 pages from a short story or novel.
– 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 In-person Fiction Workshop or the Hybrid Fiction Workshop must be available to attend the in-person workshop sessions at the Irish Writers Centre in Dublin.
– 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.
Applications for all three workshops will be accepted until 5pm (Irish time) on Tuesday July 22nd 2025.
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Fees
The tuition fee for the online workshop and the hybrid workshop is €2000. The concession rate for anyone who is unwaged or on low income is €1500.
The tuition fee for the in-person workshop is €2400. The concession rate for anyone who is unwaged or on low income is €1800.
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 2025 and in January 2026. (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 friends and donors, 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. Preference will be given to those writers who would otherwise not be able to participate. We will ask you to tell us why you want to be considered for a free place in the cover note that is included on the Submittable application
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Dates
NB: All of the dates provided below are provisional and will be confirmed when we are offering workshop places. Individual workshop sessions may need to be rescheduled during the year.
Online Fiction Workshop with Danielle McLaughlin
Sessions for this workshop will take place fully online over Zoom on Wednesday evenings from 7pm to 9pm unless otherwise noted.
DATES: (ALL ONLINE)
September 2025: Introductory Meeting – Date TBC
Round 1
October 2025: 8th, 22nd, 29th
November 2025: 5th
Wednesday November 12th: Session with Guest Writer
Round 2
November 2025: 19th and 26th
December 2025: 3rd and 10th
Wednesday January 14th: Session with Guest Writer
Round 3
January 2026: 28th
February 2026: 4th, 11th and 18th
Wednesday March 4th: Session with Guest Writer
Round 4
March 2026: 11th, 18th and 25th
April 2026: 1st
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Hybrid Fiction Workshop with Jan Carson and Rob Doyle
Five in-person workshop days will be held in the Irish Writers Centre on Saturdays in October 2025 and in January, March and April 2026 (10am to 4.30pm). The remaining sessions will be held online over Zoom on Monday evenings 7pm-9pm.
PROVISIONAL DATES:
Round 1 – In-Person with Jan Carson (Saturdays)
October 11th and 25th
Monday November 3rd – Online Session with Guest Writer
Round 2 – Online with Rob Doyle (Mondays)
November 10th, 17th and 24th
December 1st and 8th
Saturday January 24th – In-Person Teaching Day at IWC
Round 3 – Online with Jan Carson (Mondays)
February 9th, 16th, 23rd
March 2nd
Monday March 9th – Online Session with Guest Writer
Round 4 – In-Person with Jan Carson (Saturdays)
March 28th and April 11th
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In-person Fiction Workshop with Colin Barrett and Cathy Sweeney
Workshop sessions will take place in-person on Wednesday evenings in the Irish Writers Centre, 6.30pm to 8.30pm. Additional sessions with visiting guest writers will take place on two Saturdays, one before Christmas and one in early 2026. Saturday dates and times TBC.
PROVISIONAL DATES for Wednesday evening sessions:
Round 1 with Colin Barrett
October 2025: 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th
Round 2 with Colin Barrett
November 2025: 12th, 19th and 26th
December 2025: 3rd and 10th
Round 3 with Cathy Sweeney
January 2026: 21st and 28th
February 2026: 4th, 11th and 18th
Round 4 with Cathy Sweeney
March 2026: 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th
April 2026: 1st
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Workshop Leaders
Danielle McLaughlin (Online Workshop) is the author of the short-story collection, Dinosaurs on Other Planets, and the novel, The Art of Falling, which was shortlisted for the 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 (Hybrid Workshop) 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. Quickly, While They Still Have Horses, a collection of stories, was published in 2024. Jan’s writing has been widely translated. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Rob Doyle (Hybrid Workshop) was born in Dublin. His third book, Threshold, was published in 2020 by Bloomsbury, and was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year. Doyle’s debut novel, Here are the Young Men, was published in 2014 by Bloomsbury and the Lilliput Press. This is the Ritual, a collection of short stories, was published in 2016 to widespread acclaim. Rob Doyle is the editor of the anthology The Other Irish Tradition (Dalkey Archive Press), and In This Skull Hotel Where I Never Sleep (Broken Dimanche Press). He has written for the New York Times, TLS, Sunday Times, Dublin Review, Observer and many other publications, and throughout 2019 he wrote a weekly column on cult books for the Irish Times. His book, Autobibliography, was published in 2021. A new novel will be published early next year.
Colin Barrett (In-person Workshop) 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 2024 and won the Nero debut fiction prize.
Cathy Sweeney (In-person Workshop) is a writer living in Wexford. Her collection of short stories, Modern Times, was published by The Stinging Fly Press and by W&N in 2020. Her debut novel, Breakdown, was published by W&N in January 2024.
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