We are delighted to announce an open call for applications for The Stinging Fly Book Reviewing Workshop 2024.
The Book Reviewing Workshop is a new initiative that will run through Spring 2024, offering support to a small group of writers (6 to 8) in the development of their critical writing.
The workshop will be comprised of three parts:
Saturday January 20th (11am to 2pm): an in-person workshop in Dublin led by The Stinging Fly Reviews Editor, Gillian Moore
Saturday February 10th (11am to 1pm): an online seminar with writer and critic, Kevin Power
March/April 2024: a third event to be devised in consultation with the workshop group
Participants will be expected to attend each part.
Reviews Editor, Gillian Moore, has this to say about reviewing for The Stinging Fly:
We aim to stand outside the standard publishing and book reviewing cycle—we don’t necessarily review books the same month they come out—so that review writers can take their time, without feeling pressure to come up with an immediate ‘take’ or position on the work.
We look for pieces that attend closely and carefully to the work at hand, appreciating all of its nuances. Our reviews engage with the craft of writing—style, form, and technique—as well as its content and context; many of our readers are writers or aspiring writers.
We publish reviews of Irish and international fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. We value diverse perspectives and take an actively inclusive approach to addressing imbalances in representation in our reviews line-up.
How to Apply
There is no fee to apply or participate.
Those wishing to apply must be over eighteen and resident on the island of Ireland. Applications are welcome from early-career reviewers as well as those yet to publish a review.
To apply, please submit the following to admin@stingingfly.org:
- A brief biographical note (30 to 40 words)
- A couple of paragraphs on why you want a place on the workshop (60 to 100 words)
- A short review (200 to 250 words)
- A longer review (800 to 1,000 words)
Each review submitted should be of a single work of fiction, non-fiction, or poetry. Reviews published within the last two years are acceptable, as are previously unpublished reviews.
All of the above material should be included in a single document (Word or pdf) and attached to the email.
Please include your name in the file name, using the following format: JOAN BLOGGS – REVIEWING WORKSHOP.
Please include ‘TSF REVIEWING WORKSHOP 2024’ in the subject line of the email.
Submissions are now open and will close at 5PM (Irish time) on Wednesday December 6th.
We would hope to get back to all applicants by Monday December 18th.
If you have any queries please contact Eoin at admin@stingingfly.org
The Workshop Leaders
Gillian Moore is a literary critic and writer, and The Stinging Fly’s Reviews Editor. Her first book, Self-Help and Contemporary American Fiction, is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press.
Kevin Power is the author of two novels, Bad Day in Blackrock (2008) and White City (2021), as well as a book of criticism, The Written World (2022). He is the winner of the 2009 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Irish Times, and many other places. He teaches in the School of English, Trinity College Dublin.