Beginners & Intermediate Creative Writing Classes at Galway Technical Institute In The New Year with Susan Millar DuMars & Kevin Higgins

Creative Writing for Beginners with Kevin Higgins takes place one evening per week (Monday) from 7-9.30pm. (8 weeks) It commences on Monday, January 14th, 2013. Advance booking is essential. Places cost €120. Kevin Higgins will provide writing exercises for, and give gentle critical feedback to, those interested in trying their hand at writing poems, stories or memoir. To book a place, go to http://www.gti.ie/aeapply/course/detail/t/62/c/201301-002811  

Intermediate Creative Writing with Susan Millar DuMars takes place one evening per week (Tuesday) from 7-9.30pm (8 weeks) It commences on Tuesday, January 15th, 2013. Advance booking is essential. Places cost €120. This class is suitable for those who’ve participated in creative writing classes before or begun to have work published in magazines. Flexible exercises and work-shopping of assignments, together with the study of the works of published writers, will help each class member to find their own writing voice. To book a place go to http://www.gti.ie/aeapply/course/detail/t/62/c/201301-002889

For further information contact Galway Technical Institute, Father Griffin Road, Galway, phone Karen McKiernan on 091-581342 or email her at adultedinfo@cgvec.ie or see http://www.gti.ie. You can also book by calling to G.T.I. during office hours or on Monday, January 7^th, 7-8pm when you can pay using credit/debit card or by Postal Order made payable to ‘City of Galway VEC’.  

DAYTIME CREATIVE WRITING with Susan Millar DuMars @ Galway Arts Centre in NEW YEAR

In the New Year, Galway Arts Centre presents a daytime class for all those beginner and continuing creative writing students out there, facilitated by Susan Millar DuMars. Susan Millar DuMars writes both poetry and fiction. A collection of her stories, Lights In The Distance, was published in December 2010 by Doire Press; she has published two collection of poetry, Big Pink Umbrella (2008) and Dreams For Breakfast both with Salmon Poetry. Her next collection of poetry, The God Thing, will be published by Salmon Poetry in early 2013. She is also co-organiser of the Over The Edge reading series which specifically promotes new writers.

The class is suitable for both beginning and continuing creative writing students, working in either poetry or fiction. Students will spend their week responding to writing exercises designed to inspire, rather than inhibit. In class, they will receive gentle feedback on their work from their classmates and from the teacher. The class takes place on Monday afternoons, 2-3.30pm, commencing on Monday, January 21st.

The cost to participants is 110 Euro with a 100 Euro concession price. Booking is essential as places are limited. For booking please contact Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, phone 091 565886 or email info@galwayartscentre.ie

STARTING IN JANUARY Writers at Work: A Course with Susan Millar DuMars

Have you got pages in a drawer you’ve been wanting to show someone?

This course is for writers who are at work on a project.

This could be a novel, short story, collection of stories, sequence of poems,or even a play or film script.

Participants’ only homework each week will be to read two fifteen page extracts from other students’ manuscripts and be prepared for a 20-30 minute discussion on same. Providing generous and specific feedback on others’ work helps us to be inspired risk takers in our own writing. Each participant will experience at least one such session of feedback on their own work. An in-class writing exercise at the start of each class will serve to further shake off mental cobwebs, and perhaps lead us into new writing.

This is an ideal course for the hardworking but isolated writer.

The course is takes place on Tuesdays (2-4pm) starting on Tuesday, January 22nd and runs for ten weeks. Places must be booked in advance. The cost to participants is €120 with a concession rate. To register contact Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, Galway. Telephone 091-565886. Email: info@galwayartscentre.ie   

Facilitator Susan Millar DuMars’ debut poetry collection, Big Pink Umbrella, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2008. Her next collection, Dreams for Breakfast, appeared in 2010. Her work features in Landing Places, Dedalus’ 2010 anthology of immigrant poetry written in Ireland; and also in The Best Of Irish Poetry 2010. A fiction writer as well, she published a collection of short stories, Lights In The Distance, with Doire Press in 2010. She has been the recipient of an Arts Council Literature Bursary for her stories. Susan teaches creative writing to adults and to groups with special needs. She lives in Galway, where she and her husband have run the Over the Edge readings series since 2003. Susan is currently at work on her third poetry collection, The God Thing, to be published early in 2013 by Salmon.

New Year Poetry Workshops with Kevin Higgins at Galway Arts Centre

Starting in January, Galway Arts Centre is offering aspiring poets a choice of three poetry workshops, all facilitated by poet Kevin Higgins, whose best-selling first collection, The Boy With No Face, published by Salmon Poetry, was short-listed for the 2006 Strong Award for Best First Collection by an Irish poet. Kevin’s second collection of poems, Time Gentlemen, Please, was published in 2008 by Salmon Poetry and his poetry is discussed in The Cambridge Introduction to Modern Irish Poetry. His third collection Frightening New Furniture was published in 2010 by Salmon and his work also appears in the generation defining anthology Identity Parade –New British and Irish Poets (Ed. Roddy Lumsden, Bloodaxe, 2010). A collection of Kevin’s essays and book reviews, Mentioning The War, was published by Salmon Poetry earlier this year. His next collection of poetry, The Ghost in The Lobby, will be published in March 2014, also by Salmon.

Kevin is an experienced workshop facilitator and several of his students have gone on to achieve publication success. One of his workshop participants at Galway Arts Centre won the prestigious Hennessy Award for New Irish Poetry, two have won the Cúirt New Writing Prize, and yet another the Cúirt Poetry Grand Slam, while several have published collections of their poems. Kevin is also co-organiser of the successful Over The Edge reading series which specialises in promoting new writers.

Each workshop will run for ten weeks, commencing the week of January 21st. They will take place on Tuesday evenings, 7-8.30pm (first class January 22nd); on Thursday afternoons, 2-4pm (first class January 24th) and on Friday afternoons, 2-3.30pm (first class January 25th).

The Tuesday evening and Friday afternoon workshops are open to both complete beginners as well as those who’ve been writing for some time. The Thursday afternoon workshop is an Advanced Poetry Workshop, suitable for those who’ve participated in poetry workshops before or had poems published in magazines. The cost to participants is €110, with an €100 concession rate.

Places must be paid for in advance. To reserve a place contact reception at Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, phone 091 565886 or email info@galwayartscentre.ie 

Launch of INFUSIONS anthology by Java Writers

Launch of 'Abandoned Darlings'

LAUNCH of ‘Cinderella Backwards’ poetry CD by Elaine Feeney & Sarah Clancy ALL PROCEEDS TO SUPPORT GALWAY PRO-CHOICE GROUP'S WORK

LAUNCH

of

Cinderella Backwards poetry CD by Elaine Feeney & Sarah Clancy

Saturday, December 1st, 7pm at The Kitchen Café @ Galway City Museum

All proceeds to support Galway Pro-Choice Group's work

Cinderella Backwards is a CD packed full of poetry by Elaine Feeney and Sarah Clancy. It features some of their well known performance pieces alongside newer work by both writers. The lively CD is packed with poems full of the two writers (un?)usual mix of satire, politics, humour and sharp observation. James Harold, Galway's well loved City Arts Officer will launch the CD in the Kitchen Cafe @ Galway City Museum. The evening will also see the launch of the Bare Hand's Print Anthology edited by Kerrie O' Brien and Sarah Maria Griffin. All proceeds from the Cinderella Backwards CD will go to support Galway Pro- Choice Group's work.

Launch of 'Wayword Tuesdays' Poetry Anthology

The Tuesday Knights

Breege Wardein, Ruth Quinlan, Stephen Byrne, Dave Donovan,
Eileen Ní Shuilleabháin, Bernie Ashe, Anne Irwin

Are Delighted to Invite You

to the launch of their Poetry Anthology

Wayword Tuesdays

in Charlie Byrnes Bookshop

at 6pm 30th November 2012.

Galway Rape Crisis Centre in association with Over The Edge presents the DEAD GOOD POETRY & MUSIC SOCIETY

Following the success of Galway Rape Crisis Centre’s Culture Night event, their DEAD GOOD POETRY & MUSIC SOCIETY will return in association with Over the Edge at Galway Rape Crisis Centre on Friday 23 November, 7-10pm. This is a free event and the GRCC is proud to present poets Marie Cadden and Susan Lindsay, music from My Fellow Sponges and some other very special musical guests.

Venue: Galway Rape Crisis Centre,

‘The Lodge', Forster Court, Galway City.

For further details: 091-564800

Marie Cadden

Marie Cadden was winner of the 2011 Cuirt New Writing Prize for Poetry, Runner-Up 2012 Westport Arts Festival Poetry Prize, 3rd Prize Francis Ledwidge Poetry Competition 2012, shortlisted for Desmond O'Grady Poetry Competition 2012, Bradshaw Books/Cork Literary Review Manuscript Competition 2011, Over the Edge New Writer of the Year Award 2010.

Susan Lindsay was a founding Director of the Creative Counselling Centre and Connect Assocs. Dublin. Having previously had her book, The Love Crucible (self-help genre) published by Marino in 1995, in 2011 she was selected by Poetry Ireland to read for the Introductions Series & her debut collection of poems, Whispering the Secrets (http://www.doirepress.ie/) was published.

Take an obsession with words; add a splash of weirdness, some theatrical training and you'd have something like what My Fellow Sponges get up to on and off stage. They are a five-piece Galway-based band with very diverse musical and non-musical interests who sing in three part harmonyand are influenced by a wide range of genres and musical styles.

For more about the work of Galway Rape Crisis Centre http://www.galwayrcc.org/

Over The Edge to receive Arts Council funding in 2013

We were delighted to be informed this morning that Over The Edge will continue to receive Arts Council funding in 2013. We will retain the same level of funding as we received this year, which was an increase on the amount received last year. Given the general funding outlook at this time, this is a great result for Over The Edge and will enable us to continue giving Galway City a year round programme of literary events which is the envy of the rest of the country.

North Beach Nights 2012 Grand Slam

Hannah Kiely, Gabriel Lacey & Judith Mok for Final Over The Edge: Open Reading of 2012

Judith Mok

The December Over The Edge: Open Reading takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, December 13th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Judith Mok, Gabriel Lacey & Hannah Kiely. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are especially welcome. The Over The Edge Christmas celebration will take place afterwards.

Hannah Kiely was born in Waterford and has been living in Galway for several years. She attended both NUIG and GMIT in Galway. Hannah is a well known business woman, member of many boards and a regular contributor to Money Matters in the Galway Independent and also a commentator in many other business publications. Hannah has been writing since she was very young and has been attending classes with Susan Millar DuMars at GTI over the past number of years. Hannah writes from the heart and her poetry is a wonderful insight into people and the events happening around us all. She writes of the moment, with an immediacy of observation. In between working and volunteering with many charities, Hannah somehow finds time to cycle and write.

Gabriel Lacey is a retired civil servant who was born in Co. Tipperary and lived in Dublin for many years before moving to Galway 23 years ago. He has travelled extensively in Europe and America. As a result, he doesn’t know where he is most of the time and this is what inspires him as a writer. He was a member of Tallaght Theatre Group in Dublin from 1979-89 and played several leading roles in various plays; he also directed The Factory Girls, by Frank McGuinness. He has been an enthusiastic student of Kevin Higgins and Susan Millar Du Mars. Both of them, to their credit, resisted the urge to kick him out of writing classes. He is a member of Javawriters and is thrilled to be included in their first anthology, Infusions, released this Christmas.

Judith Mok was born in Bergen in the Netherlands. She has published three novels and four books of poetry as well as short stories. She has written for Radio and Newspapers. Her short stories have been short listed twice for the Francis Mc Manus award and her first novel The innocents at the Circus for the Prix de l’Academie Francaise. Her work has appeared nationally and internationally in literary magazines and Anthologies. She travels the world working as a classical singer. Judith’s most recent poetry collection, Gods of Babel, was published in 2011 by Salmon Poetry. http://www.salmonpoetry.com/details.php?ID=236&a=207

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always most welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council & The Arts Council. We were delighted to be informed recently that our Arts Council funding for 2013 will remain at the same level as it was for this year, which was itself an increase on what we received in 2011. A great result in the circumstances.