The Ten by Ten Workshop

Presented by the Irish Writers Centre and The Stinging Fly

The Ten by Ten Workshop is an in-person, intermediate-level workshop for fiction writers organised jointly by The Irish Writers Centre and The Stinging Fly.

The Ten by Ten Workshop will provide a group of ten writers the opportunity to push forward with their writing over ten Saturdays. The Stinging Fly and The Irish Writers Centre want to enable the ten selected writers to develop their craft and engage more deeply with their work while working with a group of like-minded and similarly motivated individuals. Ideally this workshop is intended for writers already embarked on a specific fiction project, be that a short-story collection or a novel.

The workshop will run in the Irish Writers Centre on Saturday mornings from late-February until mid-May 2026. Anyone applying must be available to attend all ten workshop sessions.

Each week two participants will submit works in progress (a draft of a short story or novel excerpt) to the rest of the group. All work will be shared in advance and closely read by the workshop leader and the other participants. Each participant will have two pieces of work read and discussed by the group over the course of the ten weeks.

Writers Roisín O’Donnell and Nicole Flattery will lead the workshop. Roisín O’Donnell will lead the first five workshops (February 28th to March 28th) and Nicole Flattery will lead the remaining five workshops (April 18th to May 16th).

Applications for the Ten by Ten Workshop will be accepted via Submittable from Tuesday 9th December until 5pm (Irish time) on Tuesday 6th January 2026.

Please read all of the information on this page before proceeding to the Submittable application form here.

Places will be offered based on work submitted and the information provided with your application. 

We ask you to submit up to 2000 words from the short story or novel you are currently working on. You can also submit up to 10 pages from a previously published work (though this is not required).

The application form includes a cover note. You should 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.

Please make sure to read the application form fully before preparing your submission. We advise applying ahead of the deadline, to ensure you have enough time to fill out the application form.

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 aim to return decisions to all applicants by Friday January 23rd. 

The tuition fee for the Ten by Ten Workshop is €450 (€405 for IWC members).

Two concession-rate places (€360) and one free place are available via The Stinging Fly’s access programme for writers who are unwaged or on a low income. You can apply for a concession or free place by clicking the appropriate boxes on the application form.

All fees due must be fully paid by Friday February 20th.

Workshop Dates & Times

The Ten by Ten Workshop will be held on the following dates:

Saturday February 28th, 11am – 2pm
Saturday March 7th, 11.30am – 1.30pm
Saturday March 14th, 11.30am – 1.30pm
Saturday March 21st, 11.30am – 1.30pm
Saturday March 28th, 11.30am – 1.30pm
Saturday April 4th Easter Break
Saturday April 11th Easter Break
Saturday April 18th, 11.30am – 1.30pm
Saturday April 25th, 11.30am – 1.30pm
Saturday May 2nd, 11.30am – 1.30pm
Saturday May 9th, 11.30am – 1.30pm
Saturday May 16th, 11.30am – 1.30pm

You can find information on accessing the Irish Writers Centre here.

Any questions? Contact Eoin: admin [at] stingingfly [dot] org

Bios:

Roisín O’Donnell’s short story collection Wild Quiet was published in 2016 and was shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award and longlisted for the Edge Hill Prize. Her short stories have been published in The Stinging Fly, The Irish Times and many other places, and have been broadcast on RTÉ Radio. Her first novel Nesting was published in January 2025; it became an instant Sunday Times Bestseller, and was long-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Roisín was listed as one of the Observer’s Ten Best New Novelists of 2025. Donal Ryan described Nesting as ‘one of the best and most important novels of our time,’ while the Irish Independent declared it ‘A novel that truly matters.’ Nesting won the An Post Irish Book Award for Novel of the Year 2025.

Nicole Flattery is a writer and critic. Her work has appeared in the London Review of Books, The Stinging Fly and Granta, amongst others. Her story collection, Show Them a Good Time, was published in 2019 and novel, Nothing Special, was published in 2023.