Workshops
Photo © Mike Hannon
When:
18 - 21 September daily, 9.30am - 12.30pm
Where:
Venues TBA, with most being no more than a 10 minute walk from the readings venue, Triskel-Christchurch in South Main Street. The exception is Alannah Hopkin's workshop on 'The Uncanny: Horror and Ghost Stories' which takes place at University College Cork--a fifteen minute walk to Triskel, Christchurch, or a 5 minute bus ride. All venues will be determined by number of participants and mobility considerations.
Fee:
Prices vary. Please see individual class descriptions for more information.
Maximum number of participants in each workshop is 15.
Click on the panels to view the course descriptions and tutor bios.
Crime Writing with Owen Hill
Price: €150
This workshop is suitable for all levels. First time writers are welcome, as well as those with some experience. We will examine the various parts that add up to a successful mystery novel, using examples from some of the best mystery authors. I will suggest novels to read in advance but reading each entire novel before the workshop is not required. I will provide a handout with highlights from each book.
Day One
Day One
Suggested reading: Raymond Chandler’s essay 'The Simple Art of Murder' and Patricia Highsmith’s novel Strangers on a Train.
We will talk about the various types of novel that are defined as “mystery”. Are you writing noir, a police procedural, a “cozy”? What informs these choices? These categories have rules of form. To what degree will you deviate?
We will also talk about the nuts and bolts of constructing a good “thriller”. Is an outline necessary? How do you begin? How does a writer build dramatic tension? We will discuss Elmore Leonard’s ten rules for writers. Are they appropriate for your work?
The day will conclude with a short in-class exercise.
Suggested reading: Ken Bruen’s The Guards.
Setting is an important element in any successful mystery novel. Where is you novel to be set? This is one area where “write what you know” could be good advice. Will you use street names, actual addresses? Is your narrator new to the setting or does he/she know the town like the back of his/her hand? How much “ink” should you use in description?
There will be a short writing exercise at the end of the session.
Day Three
Suggested reading: Jonathan Lethem, Motherless Brooklyn
We will discuss point-of-view. Who is telling the story? How does he/she fit into the story? We will look at Jonathan Lethem’s “quirky” narrator compared to techniques used by Derek Raymond and Ed McBain.
We will have a longer exercise in this session as we write and then rewrite the same scene using various points-of-view.
Fourth Day
Suggested reading: Chester Himes, A Rage In Harlem.
Do you know the “lingo”? Are you using diction that is appropriate to the place and time of your novel? How much slang is too much slang? Do you understand the technical terms used in the police station, the gun shop, or at the coroner’s inquest? We will look at the work of Chester Himes and James Sallis.
We will end the session with a short exercise.
Owen Hill is the author of two mystery novels, The Chandler Apartments and The Incredible Double. He is currently working as co-editor and annotator of the new edition of Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, due from Random House in 2014. Owen has participated in panels at the San Francisco Book Fair, at the Hardboiled for Hard Times symposium, and has given talks on the genre at Bouchercon mystery conventions in Austin and San Francisco. He is a reviewer for the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Independent Review, and has taught writing and literature as a guest teacher at the California College of the Arts, San Francisco State University and Sonoma State University. He currently teaches at the Bay Area Public School. Also a poet, he received the Howard Moss residency for poetry at Yaddo in 2005.
Photo © John Minihan
“Berkeley, California poet Owen Hill captures the taste & texture of the yeasty street & bed life of his native turf with an eye that manages to be fresh & appropriately amoral." Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune"The mystery is real, the stakes are high; some people make it through while others . . . well, let's just say they're compromised. Here we have the essence of noir, a sense of life lived at the edges." David Ulin, Los Angeles Times
“Owen Hill's breathless, sly, and insouciant mystery novels are full of that rare Dawn Powel-ish essence: fictional gossip.” Jonathan Lethem
Flash Fiction / Prose Poetry with Dave Lordan
Price: €150
Explore, discuss, and enjoy the prose-poem and flash fiction with Dave Lordan, author of one of 2013's most talked about and inventive books of prose-poetry and experimental short fiction, The First Book of Frags. This workshop will be intense but very engaging, and Dave’s feedback will be friendly but unflinchingly rigorous. Participants will be asked to produce two or three prose poems or flash fictions for discussion and feedback in class during the course.
The workshop will have three main elements:
Thought. Discussion and debate on the past, present and future of the prose-poem and flash fiction. Dave will introduce participants to some of the best and most inspiring examples of the forms, from past and present literatures. Participants are free to offer their own examples.
Action. Writing prompts and challenges. Drawing on his own writing practice, Dave will set a stimulating and unusual daily writing prompt, intended to generate a wide variety of unique creative responses from each individual participant.
Reflection/Projection. Feedback on participants’ work. Dave will give expert individual editorial advice based on the work produced and will advise each participant on future approaches to writing, publishing and, if relevant, performance and broadcast.
Class by Class breakdown
1: The Short Tradition. From Baudelaire to Barthelme and beyond.
2: The experimental approach. How to be a unique writer of flash fiction and prose poetry.
3: Text and para-text. Guise and irony in the short form. Creative connections between short form literature and other short writing, such as blurbs of all sorts, job specs, technical documents, political leaflets, artistic manifestos, suicide notes, dream diaries...
4: Short Collecting/Collecting Shorts. Coming up with and following through on concepts for prose-poetry and flash-fiction collections. Editing and publishing a short-form collection.
Dave Lordan was born in Derby, England, in 1975, and grew up in Clonakilty in West Cork. In 2004 he was awarded an Arts Council bursary and in 2005 he won the Patrick Kavanagh Award for Poetry. His collections are The Boy in the Ring (Cliffs of Moher, Salmon Poetry, 2007), which won the Strong Award for best first collection by an Irish writer and was shortlisted for the Irish Times poetry prize; and Invitation to a Sacrifice (Salmon Poetry, 2010). Eigse Riada theatre company produced his first play, Jo Bangles, at the Mill Theatre, Dundrum in 2010. He has lived in Holland, Greece and Italy, and now resides in Greystones, Co Wicklow. His First Book of Frags appeared from Wurm Press in 2013. www.davelordanwriter.com
'The Uncanny': Ghost & Horror Stories with Alannah Hopkin
Price: €150 (or €500 for UCC credit. Detailed explanation below.)
What does Robert Louis Stephenson’s tale The Bodysnatcher have in common with Roberto Bolaño’s metafiction Nazi Literature in the Americas?If that question interests you, you are probably (a) a keen reader and (b) a writer of short stories. Perhaps many of your stories remain unpublished because (a) they are too long, too strange and too bizarre or (b) maybe (just maybe) they need some more work.
This workshop on the evolution of the horror story from the Victorian “shocker” to a playful and subversive genre of literary fiction is both a starting point for those with ambitions to write, and a refresher course for those discouraged by constant rejections. Participants are invited to submit a piece of writing no longer than 3000 words (completed story, or part of a longer one) before the course begins for review at the workshops. You will be asked to read specific texts before the course (these will be supplied on registration), and be prepared to take part in discussions and practical writing sessions.
Each three-hour workshop will consist of a close reading and discussion of the core text or texts. There will then be some practical writing exercises, followed by a constructive, structured review of students’ work.
Day One – Ghosts and Horror Stories
The Bodysnatcher by Robert Louis Stephenson
Foreword to Nightshift by Stephen King
1. The attraction of horror fiction has persisted down the years. What is it readers like about being frightened? Stephenson shows, and King tells. Discussion.
2. Writing exercises.
3. Review of students’ work.
Day Two – Vampires – Folk and Fairy tale in Literary Fiction
The Lady of the House of Love by Angela Carter (from The Bloody Chamber)
1. Angela Carter objected strongly when her work was described as ‘modern versions of fairy tales’. This piece clearly demonstrates that there is much more involved in her fantastic stories. We will pay close attention to her use of language, her imagery and her sense of humour.
2. Writing exercises.
3. Review of students’ work.
Day Three – The Doppleganger
William Wilson by Edgar Allan Poe
Gaulta by Javier Marías (from While the Women Are Sleeping)
1. Over 150 years separates these two stories about look-alikes or doubles. Ghostly counterpart, or invention of the subconscious? Real or imaginary? Super ego or alter ego? We investigate the potential of the doppelganger as a story motif.
2. Writing exercises.
3. Review of students’ work.
Session Four – Roberto Bolaño
Edelmira Thompson de Mendiluce by Roberto Bolaño (from Nazi Literature in the Americas).
1. The horror story and the fantastic in literature have evolved, often in the hands of writers working outside the mainstream (for example, Flann O’Brien, Jorge Luis Borges), into a powerful imaginative experience in which intellectual disorientation replaces the physical fear produced by the more traditional horror story.
2. Writing exercises.
3. Review of students’ work.
Optional: 'The Uncanny' with Alannah Hopkin may be taken as a University College Cork 5 credit module, on a non-degree occasional basis for a fee of €500. Candidates who pay the higher fee and opt to take the module for credit will be provided with a transcript of marks and will receive written feedback on their work. Candidates would also receive credit for this module should they subsequently register for the full MA in Creative Writing (within a period of five years).
Alannah Hopkin has published two novels with Hamish Hamilton, A Joke Goes a Long Way in the Country and The Out-haul. Her stories have appeared in the London Magazine, Stand, and the Cork Review among others, and been broadcast on RTE. She is also an arts journalist and has written several non-fiction books including Eating Scenery: West Cork, the People & the Place and The Ship of Seven Murders (co-author).She is a tutor on Poetry Ireland’s Writers in Schools scheme, and also runs writing workshops for Cork City Libraries and Cork County Council. She is currently finishing a collection of stories, The Ballydevlin Hauntings.
Short Stories for Beginners with Jon Boilard
Price: €150
Suitable for beginner writers who would like to explore the foundation elements of the short story, and for those who have never written before. Topics include: plot, setting, character, conflict, symbols, point of view, and building themes. Participants will read and discuss their own stories in class and writing exercises will feature in most sessions. The tutor will advise on building good writing habits, finding a writing community and how to send off work for publication.
SESSION ONE:Elements of Fiction
Plot, Setting, Character, Conflict, Symbol, and Point of View are the main elements which fiction writers use to develop a story and its Theme. Setting might be the most important element in one and almost nonexistent in another. Just as a Crime Scene Investigator cannot approach a crime scene looking for a specific clue (e. g., shell casings), you as a reader cannot approach a story deciding to look for a specific element, such as Symbol. This session will look at each element in depth, and the class will look at participants' work in progress.
SESSION TWO: Sending your work out.
Remember that writing isn't just the act of putting words on paper, it's also sending your completed stories to literary magazines for publication, entering fiction contests, basically flooding the market with your best material—the administrative side of writing can be just as important as the creative side. No agent or editor or publisher is going to come looking for you, you have to make yourself visible. You have to put yourself out there. Writing exercises and advice on establishing habits and sending out submissions features in this session.
SESSION THREE: Shameless Self-Promotion; News & Trends.
This session involves advice from the tutor on how to share and promote your work. Discussion will follow on current trends in fiction. Class will look at participants' work in progress.
SESSION FOUR: Resources for Beginning Writers, Q&A / Contact information.
The tutor will advise students on resources for beginning writers, and there will be a general Q&A session to discuss the topics covered during the week. The class will continue to discuss participants' work in progress.
Jon Boilard was born and raised in Western Massachusetts. He has been living and writing in Northern California since 1986. His short stories have been published in literary journals in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. One was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, another received a special mention for the same, a third won the Sean O'Faolain Award and several others have earned individual small press honors. His first novel, A River Closely Watched, was published by MacAdam Cage in 2012. http://jonboilard.com
Suitable for beginner writers who would like to explore the foundation elements of the short story, and for those who have never written before. Topics include: plot, setting, character, conflict, symbols, point of view, and building themes. Participants will read and discuss their own stories in class and writing exercises will feature in most sessions. The tutor will advise on building good writing habits, finding a writing community and how to send off work for publication.
SESSION ONE:Elements of Fiction
Plot, Setting, Character, Conflict, Symbol, and Point of View are the main elements which fiction writers use to develop a story and its Theme. Setting might be the most important element in one and almost nonexistent in another. Just as a Crime Scene Investigator cannot approach a crime scene looking for a specific clue (e. g., shell casings), you as a reader cannot approach a story deciding to look for a specific element, such as Symbol. This session will look at each element in depth, and the class will look at participants' work in progress.
SESSION TWO: Sending your work out.
Remember that writing isn't just the act of putting words on paper, it's also sending your completed stories to literary magazines for publication, entering fiction contests, basically flooding the market with your best material—the administrative side of writing can be just as important as the creative side. No agent or editor or publisher is going to come looking for you, you have to make yourself visible. You have to put yourself out there. Writing exercises and advice on establishing habits and sending out submissions features in this session.
SESSION THREE: Shameless Self-Promotion; News & Trends.
This session involves advice from the tutor on how to share and promote your work. Discussion will follow on current trends in fiction. Class will look at participants' work in progress.
SESSION FOUR: Resources for Beginning Writers, Q&A / Contact information.
The tutor will advise students on resources for beginning writers, and there will be a general Q&A session to discuss the topics covered during the week. The class will continue to discuss participants' work in progress.
Jon Boilard was born and raised in Western Massachusetts. He has been living and writing in Northern California since 1986. His short stories have been published in literary journals in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. One was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, another received a special mention for the same, a third won the Sean O'Faolain Award and several others have earned individual small press honors. His first novel, A River Closely Watched, was published by MacAdam Cage in 2012. http://jonboilard.com
Fiction Masterclass with Michèle Roberts
Price: €200
Prerequisite: students must have had at least one publication in a professional literary journal to participate. This workshop is suitable for those who are already familiar with the “building blocks” of short stories (plot, characters, dialogue, setting), and would like to push their writing to the next level. Please feel free to email info(AT)munsterlit(DOT)ie should you have any queries regarding qualifying for this course. 
Michèle Roberts is the author of twelve highly acclaimed novels, including The Looking Glass and Daughters of the House which won the WH Smith Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She has also published poetry and short stories, most recently collected in Mud-stories of sex and love (2010). She is Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. http://www.micheleroberts.co.uk/
'The Picture Story': photography with John Minihan
Price: €150
Day One : What are your goals as a photographer?
Students will engage with me into process of making photographs, be it with film or digital cameras. Every snapshot is a short story. Critiquing other photographers work, giving students the chance to effectively express their own voice and vision – it’s all about seeing. Do you want to make photography a career?
Day Two : Demystify the technology
The compelling power of an occasion which the still photograph invokes has been proven countless times, the acute eye sees potential images all the time. I will demystify the technology and concentrate on seeing for that’s the beginning of making pictures.
Day Three : The Picture Story
Every aspect of contemporary life has been defined enriched and altered by photography. The ease of producing photographs now – with the digital revolution has transformed everyone into an apparently successful photographer – or has it? Old photographs offer the past to us in a way that words cannot. Photo-stories have a life of their own. People on Bicycles is the theme for my 2013 workshops, whether it’s a bicycle outside a door or someone cycling to work.
Day Four : The Experience of Looking
Photographers have been called many names; Shadow Catchers, Soul Stealers, Face Peelers – after the death of Princess Diana they became social outcasts. Let’s talk about significant photographs that eloquently articulates how the art of photography has shaped the course of history.
John Minihan was born in Dublin in 1946 and raised in Athy, County Kildare. At the age of 12 he was brought to live in London, and went on to become an apprentice photographer with the Daily Mail. At 21 he became the youngest staff photographer for the Evening Standard. Over the years Minihan developed a close relationship with many writers and his photographs of Samuel Beckett show a particular affinity between the two men. William Burroughs once referred to Minihan as "a painless photographer". His friendship with Samuel Beckett produced some of the most remarkable photographs ever taken of the writer.He is currently a freelance photographer specialising in 'the arts'. http://johnminihan.blogspot.ie
Day One : What are your goals as a photographer?
Students will engage with me into process of making photographs, be it with film or digital cameras. Every snapshot is a short story. Critiquing other photographers work, giving students the chance to effectively express their own voice and vision – it’s all about seeing. Do you want to make photography a career?
Day Two : Demystify the technology
The compelling power of an occasion which the still photograph invokes has been proven countless times, the acute eye sees potential images all the time. I will demystify the technology and concentrate on seeing for that’s the beginning of making pictures.
Day Three : The Picture Story
Every aspect of contemporary life has been defined enriched and altered by photography. The ease of producing photographs now – with the digital revolution has transformed everyone into an apparently successful photographer – or has it? Old photographs offer the past to us in a way that words cannot. Photo-stories have a life of their own. People on Bicycles is the theme for my 2013 workshops, whether it’s a bicycle outside a door or someone cycling to work.
Day Four : The Experience of Looking
Photographers have been called many names; Shadow Catchers, Soul Stealers, Face Peelers – after the death of Princess Diana they became social outcasts. Let’s talk about significant photographs that eloquently articulates how the art of photography has shaped the course of history.
John Minihan was born in Dublin in 1946 and raised in Athy, County Kildare. At the age of 12 he was brought to live in London, and went on to become an apprentice photographer with the Daily Mail. At 21 he became the youngest staff photographer for the Evening Standard. Over the years Minihan developed a close relationship with many writers and his photographs of Samuel Beckett show a particular affinity between the two men. William Burroughs once referred to Minihan as "a painless photographer". His friendship with Samuel Beckett produced some of the most remarkable photographs ever taken of the writer.He is currently a freelance photographer specialising in 'the arts'. http://johnminihan.blogspot.ie
Photo © John Minihan
Story Into Song with John Spillane
Price: €150
At my song writing workshops we actually write songs. In the past I have attended a few workshops where the participants play their songs only to be criticised by experts who talk down to them. I was inspired to invent a novel approach, where we all sit down and write a finished song in one session. This teaches many lessons, including finishing things, which is often a big problem for writers. I create a space where all negativity, all criticism and judgement are locked outside. We get down and dirty and write songs. First we write words. Then we assemble them in a certain order, using the tricks of the trade, verse, chorus, repetition, rhyme etc. Then we sing them and we have a song. I try to come behind people and help them lose whatever inhibitions and fears they may have about writing songs. Positivity is the key, and this can be applied to other parts of life also. Anyone who signs up for my song writing workshop should be prepared to sing, it doesn’t matter at all how good or bad a singer you think you are!
For the Story into Song Workshop we will all write a short simple song on day one, just to get everyone believing. On day two we will focus on the theme of the festival, Story, and will examine and enjoy the Irish ballad tradition and see how a story may be told in a song, how the music can heighten the action. We will look at the magical chemical reaction that happens when words and music meet.
Each participant will pick a theme and write one serious ballad which can be perfected over days three and four. The aim is to have a lot of fun, write a lot of words and music, move quickly and not get bogged down.
Come along and write songs!
Thank you,
John Spillane
John Spillane is a musician, songwriter, performer, recording artist, storyteller, poet, dreamer. He has released nine albums and many singles and EPs. Two-time Meteor award winner, John is one of the most accomplished songwriters in Ireland today. Among those who have covered his songs are Christy Moore, Karen Casey, Pauline Scanlon, Cathy Ryan, Sharon Shannon, Sean Keane and George Murphy, to name a few. He performs to audiences, both large and small, everywhere. John has been conducting Songwriting Workshops for many years. Among the places John has presented workshops are Listowel Writers’ Week 2005 and 2006; Composer in the Classroom Scheme with the Cork International Choral Festival; The West Cork Literary Festival; Mountains to the Sea Book Festival and at the Cork Prison Education Unit. www.johnspillane.ie
At my song writing workshops we actually write songs. In the past I have attended a few workshops where the participants play their songs only to be criticised by experts who talk down to them. I was inspired to invent a novel approach, where we all sit down and write a finished song in one session. This teaches many lessons, including finishing things, which is often a big problem for writers. I create a space where all negativity, all criticism and judgement are locked outside. We get down and dirty and write songs. First we write words. Then we assemble them in a certain order, using the tricks of the trade, verse, chorus, repetition, rhyme etc. Then we sing them and we have a song. I try to come behind people and help them lose whatever inhibitions and fears they may have about writing songs. Positivity is the key, and this can be applied to other parts of life also. Anyone who signs up for my song writing workshop should be prepared to sing, it doesn’t matter at all how good or bad a singer you think you are!
For the Story into Song Workshop we will all write a short simple song on day one, just to get everyone believing. On day two we will focus on the theme of the festival, Story, and will examine and enjoy the Irish ballad tradition and see how a story may be told in a song, how the music can heighten the action. We will look at the magical chemical reaction that happens when words and music meet.
Each participant will pick a theme and write one serious ballad which can be perfected over days three and four. The aim is to have a lot of fun, write a lot of words and music, move quickly and not get bogged down.
Come along and write songs!
Thank you,
John Spillane
John Spillane is a musician, songwriter, performer, recording artist, storyteller, poet, dreamer. He has released nine albums and many singles and EPs. Two-time Meteor award winner, John is one of the most accomplished songwriters in Ireland today. Among those who have covered his songs are Christy Moore, Karen Casey, Pauline Scanlon, Cathy Ryan, Sharon Shannon, Sean Keane and George Murphy, to name a few. He performs to audiences, both large and small, everywhere. John has been conducting Songwriting Workshops for many years. Among the places John has presented workshops are Listowel Writers’ Week 2005 and 2006; Composer in the Classroom Scheme with the Cork International Choral Festival; The West Cork Literary Festival; Mountains to the Sea Book Festival and at the Cork Prison Education Unit. www.johnspillane.ie
After you have paid for the workshop, should you have to cancel for any reason, we will exercise our best efforts to find a participant to replace you. If we can do so, we will refund your tuition payment. If we cannot replace you, we will not refund your tuition payment. The later the cancellation date, the more difficult it is for staff to find a qualified participant. Though we do recognize that emergencies happen, and we will do our best to help you, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to replace you in the event of a cancellation.
Mobility Requirements: Most of the venues have wheelchair access but not all. If you have limited mobility every effort will be made to accommodate you, but best chance is through an early booking.Your workshop place will be secured only after full payment. Every effort will be made to make sure that the programme proceeds as advertised but the Munster Literature Centre accepts no responsibility for changes made due to circumstances beyond our control. Refunds will be given only if a workshop is cancelled.
All workshop participants will be offered a 50% discount on festival reading tickets which go on sale in late July. Participants with booked places will be informed in early September of exact venue. Any other relevant requirements such as reading materials or submitted work (as indicated in some workshop descriptions) will be communicated to you in good time.
As workshops sell out notification of such will be posted on this page.
How to Book
We will be accepting workshop bookings from July.
Phone + 353 (021)4312955
Email info(AT)munsterlit(DOT)ie
In person at The Munster Literature Centre, Frank O’Connor House, 84
Douglas Street, Cork
We will be accepting workshop bookings from July.
Phone + 353 (021)4312955
Email info(AT)munsterlit(DOT)ie
In person at The Munster Literature Centre, Frank O’Connor House, 84
Douglas Street, Cork
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