Happy Halloween – an Irish festival
Halloween dates back at least two thousand years to the Celtic festival of Samhain marking the start of winter, a cold, dark and dangerous time. It began at sunset on … Continue reading
You’ve got 24 hours to tweet a scary story
To enter this international writing competition run by the literary magazine The Penny Dreadful all you have to do is tweet a one line horror story with the hashtag #PDHorror. … Continue reading
What if Someone Secretly Made a Film of Your Life…? The question that launched a self-published novel the Daily Mirror called ‘one of this year’s must-reads’
Cinema Lumière ‘A magical, thought-provoking and uplifting tale … one of this year’s must-reads’ –Daily Mirror ‘A stunning debut. Made me laugh out loud, cry … and ache with recognition’ … Continue reading
A short story is a fiendish device: Sci Fi writer Michael Swanwick — Quotes for Writers (and People who like Quotes)
A short story…can be held in the mind all in one piece. It’s less like a building than a fiendish device. Every bit of it must be cunningly made and … Continue reading
The Laureate for Irish Fiction just gets better and better…
Originally posted on Irish Writing Blog:
Anne Enright, one of 34 authors on the longlist for the inaugural Laureate for Irish Fiction (Image: The Guardian) A longlist of 34 authors…
Yes, Agents Google Writers
Originally posted on Carly Watters, Literary Agent:
This is the social media elephant in the room. You don’t query in a vacuum. If you write a query letter and an…
An inspirational workshop for apprentice performance poets
If you’ve always wanted to write and perform your own poetry there’s a chance to attend a masterclass next Saturday afternoon October 25th 2014 with Dean Atta . Rhyme and … Continue reading
…The supreme expression of story is the novel…Richard Flanagan, winner of 2014 Booker. Quotes for Writers (and people who like quotes)
I do not share the pessimism of the age about the novel. They are one of our greatest spiritual, aesthetic and intellectual inventions. As a species it is story that … Continue reading
When you compete with Shakespeare there’s only going to be one winner….Virginia Woolf Quotes for writers (and anyone who likes quotes)
I read Shakespeare directly I finished writing. When my mind is agape and redhot. Then it is astonishing. I never yet knew how amazing his stretch and speed and word-coining … Continue reading
Writing about women – SALLY WAINWRIGHT Quotes for Writers (and people who like quotes)
Why wouldn’t you put them on screen? I find women more interesting. They’re more heroic. The banality of the day-to-day; the reality of it; coping with the problems on a … Continue reading
The Seven Deadly Sins of Short Story Writing and how to avoid them
This post grew out of an article I originally wrote for the Hysterectomy Association when I was writer in residence of their annual writing competition earlier this year. I recently … Continue reading
The benefits of list-making – Rhodri Marsden Quotes for Writers (and people who like quotes)
Aside from heavy drinking, the creation of lists is the most effective temporary form of anxiety relief that I know of, and, as a bonus, it’s substantially cheaper and results … Continue reading
Do you know a poem by heart?
Does Wordsworth or Rosen or Gerald Manley Hopkins trip off your tongue? Are whole poems hard-wired into your memory so they are with you always – you don’t need a … Continue reading
BRIDGET WHELAN writer 