Latest News from Inkwell
Writing.ie launches The National Emerging Writer Programme Online
What is the National Emerging Writer Programme?
Developed by writing.ie and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, the National Emerging Writer Programme is a world first – a centrally funded initiative to foster and develop new writing talent.
A year in development, the National Emerging Writer Programme harnesses the experience and expertise of three of Ireland’s leading writers, Carlo Gébler, Sinead Moriarty and Declan Hughes and brings it via DVD and You Tube directly to those who can benefit from it most – emerging writers.
Consisting of three 40 minute videos: ‘Start Writing’, ‘Telling the Story’ and ‘Revising, Rewriting and Overcoming Obstacles’, The National Emerging Writer Programme focuses on essential writing technique and is packed full of tips.
Each of the programmes has been edited into easy view sections for web-viewers and is available to view right here on www.writing.ie just click the links at the bottom of the page.
View the trailer here:
Who is it for?
Whether you are a completely new writer or a writer who has been working on a project or projects for some time, you will find tips and invaluable advice in these programmes. Available to view for free worldwide, you don’t have to be Irish to benefit from the expertise of our authors.
Where can you get it?
Available free to borrow from libraries throughout Ireland on DVD, and freely available to view in segments via You Tube through www.writing.ie, the full National Emerging Writer Programme will also be available to purchase on DVD via Amazon.
Where do I find the support materials?
Additional PDF support materials including our authors recommendations for books that you can read in order to develop your writing are available here.
What is Dublin UNESCO City of Literature?
Dublin is the fourth city to receive the prestigious UNESCO City of Literature designation, a perpetual designation – and is a city where writers are not remote figures, but are part of the everyday landscape. The city has officially recognised writers by conferring of the Freedom of the City on George Bernard Shaw, Douglas Hyde and most recently, Thomas Kinsella, Sebastian Barry was honoured with the Lord Mayor’s Award in 2009. Further underlining the city’s literary credentials, the Man Booker International Prize was presented in Dublin for the first time in June 2009.
No less than four Nobel Prizes for Literature have been awarded to writers associated with the city: George Bernard Shaw, W.B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney. Dublin-based writers continue to receive international acclaim in fiction, drama and poetry. The Man Booker Prize has been conferred on Iris Murdoch, Roddy Doyle, John Banville and Anne Enright, and in 2009 Sebastian Barry received the Costa Book of the Year Award and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. In 2009, Colum McCann won the U.S. National Book Award for his novel ‘Let The Great World Spin’. Dublin is home to the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award which was won by Dublin-based writer Colm Tóibín in 2006.
The novelist Anne Enright has claimed that ‘In other towns, clever people go out and make money. In Dublin, clever people go home and write their books.’
Jane Alger, Director of Dublin City of Literature said of The National Emerging Writer Programme,
“The development of a National Emerging Writer programme by Dublin City of Literature will continue to focus world attention on Irish writing and provide support and education for writers across the country. We hope that the National Emerging Writer Programme will have a significant and tangible impact on writing in Ireland, a legacy that will result in many new writers emerging on the world stage.”
Which writers feature in The National Emerging Writer Programme?
In order to give the maximum benefit to the maximum number of writers, three of Ireland’s leading writers from three different genre – literary fiction, commercial women’s fiction and crime fiction – were invited to participate in the programme.
Carlo Gébler
Born in in Dublin in 1954, Carlo Gébler was brought up in London, and studied at the University of York and the National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield. He also has a Ph.D from Queen’s University, Belfast. He has written several novels including The Eleventh Summer (1985), Work & Play (1987), Malachy and his Family (1990), Life of a Drum (1991), The Cure (1994) and How to Murder a Man (1998), A Good Day For A Dog (2008) and The Dead Eight (2011) along with works of non-fiction such as The Glass Curtain (1991), and Father & I (2000) a memoir about his relationship with his father, Ernest Gébler and The Siege of Derry, a history (2005).
In addition Carlo has written short stories, travel articles and several works for children including Caught on a Train (2001), shortlisted for a Bisto prize, August ’44 (2003) and most recently The Bull Raid (2005), a modern retelling of the Tain, of the Cattle Raid of Cooley. His documentary film Put to the Test won a Royal Television Society award in 1999 and his play 10 Rounds (2002) was shortlisted for the Ewart-Biggs Prize in the same year. He has also written plays for the radio, most recently Charles & Mary(2011) which tells the story of Charles and Mary Lamb, the brother and sister who wrote Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare. Carlo Gébler is currently writer-in-residence in HMP Maghaberry, Co. Antrim. He lives in Enniskillen with his wife and five children.
Sinead Moriarty
Sinead was born and raised in Dublin where she grew up surrounded by books. Her mother is an author of children’s books. Growing up, Sinead says she was inspired by watching her mother writing at the kitchen table and then being published. From that moment on, her childhood dream was to write a novel.
After university, she went to live in Paris and then London. It was at the age of thirty, while working as a journalist in London that she began to write creatively in her spare time – after work, at lunch times … and, truth be told, during work hours.
After a couple of years toying with ideas, she joined a creative writing group and began to write The Baby Trail. The bitter-sweet comedy of a couple struggling to conceive hit a nerve in publishing circles. It was snapped up by Penguin Publishing in the UK and Ireland and has, to date, been translated into twenty-five languages. Currently writing her ninth novel, Sinead’s books consistently top the Irish and international charts.
Declan Hughes
Declan Hughes is the author of the Ed Loy PI series: The Wrong Kind of Blood; The Colour of Blood; The Dying Breed (US: The Price of Blood); All The Dead Voices; and City of Lost Girls. His books have been nominated for the Edgar, CWA New Blood Dagger, Shamus and Macavity awards, and The Wrong Kind of Blood won the Shamus for Best First PI Novel. Declan is also an award-winning playwright and screenwriter, and the co-founder of Dublin’s Rough Magic Theatre Company. Declan lives with his wife and two daughters by the sea in South Dublin, Ireland.
Find out more about Declan at www.declanhughesbooks.com
Vanessa O’Loughlin of writing.ie said, “The National Emerging Writer programme gives all writers the benefit of the expertise and experience of three of Ireland’s leading novelists, allowing new writers to view content at a time that suits them and to work at their own pace. Writing is a solitary profession and support is essential. Writing.ie aims to showcase Irish writing talent on a global scale and to provide encouragement and practical assistance to new writers – The National Emerging Writer programme is a natural extension of our core objectives and we were delighted to work with the Dublin City of Literature team on this exciting project.”
Click here to view Starting to Write
Click here to view Telling the Story
Click here to view Revising, Rewriting and Overcoming Obstacles.
Click here for Support Materials
