Lit's that time of year again
A series of creative writing workshops have been confirmed for this year’s West Cork Literary Festival, with one accessible by ferry only!
The five workshops run from 15-17 July with four of them taking place in Bantry and the fifth on Whiddy Island.
The five workshops are: Finding Writing Inspiration in the Everyday with Aoife Barry; The Short Story Writer’s Starter Kit with Jan Carson; Nature and Place Writing with John Connell; Poetry with Mícheál McCann; and Novel Writing with Priscilla Morris.
Aoife Barry’s non-fiction workshop is for beginner and emerging writers who want to write nonfiction pieces, whether for submission or self-publishing online. Aoife is a freelance journalist and broadcaster. She is the author of the bestselling non-fiction book ‘Social Capital’.
The Short Story Writer’s Starter Kit with Jan Carson aims to equip fledgling writers with everything they will need to begin or continue their journey in short story writing. Combining discussion, writing exercises, and teaching drawn from Jan’s own experience, participants will explore all the components of the short story including character development, plot, structure, voice, and editing.
John Connell’s workshop on Nature and Place Writing will start at the work of Henry David Thoreau and his seminal book ‘Walden’ and will investigate how nature and place writing has been present in its modern form for over a century. John is a multi-award-winning author, film producer, investigative journalist, and farmer.
Mícheál McCann’s generative, discussion-led poetry workshop explores a wealth of poems. Visitors will receive extensive feedback from the course tutor. All are welcome to the course, however, those pursuing publication may benefit most.
Visitors can join Priscilla Morris for a deep dive into novel writing. Whether just starting out or 5,000 words into a first, second or third draft, the workshop offers something to all new novel writers. Prescilla will explore the various components of the craft of novel writing, such as narration, character, story, and scenes. Visitors will also be shown a useful layered approach to revision.
Tickets for the writing workshops are now on sale. For more information or to book a spot, visit westcorkmusic.ie/LFWorkshops or call the festival office on 027-52788.
The full West Cork Literary Festival line-up will be announced at the end of March. Priority booking for Festival Friends will open on 3 April and general booking on 10 April. See westcorkmusic.ie/LFProgramme for the full programme.