Dates: 27 January to 31 March 2025 (excluding bank holidays on 3 Feb & 17 Mar)

Venue: Western Gateway Building, Room G16, UCC 

Fee: €300

Closing date for registrations: Monday, 20th of January 2025.

Due to the workshop nature of this course, there are limited places available.

Course Overview: 

This Flash Fiction course is for anyone who has ever wanted to write. Flash fiction, in its essence, is short, powerful and complete. Learn to read and understand flash fiction before putting pen to paper. By the end of the course, students will have between one and three pieces of their own flash fiction, and for those who would like to try and publish them, there will be a class about submitting to journals.  

The course will look at Flash Fiction both classic and contemporary, and students will read flash fiction on a range of topics and styles, showing the diverse reach of this specific art. Students will also learn the difference between Flash Fiction and the Short Story. As this genre of fiction writing continues to grow, become a part of it. Find your voice and have fun in the process. Each student will get peer review and feedback from the professor, who is a prize-winning author.  

Course Content: 

• Week 1: introduction to Flash Fiction  
• Week 2: Learning to read Flash Fiction 
• Week 3: Analysing winning Flash Fiction 
• Week 4: Workshop 1 
• Week 5: Workshop 2 
• Week 6: Workshop 3 
• Week 7: Workshop 4 
• Week 8: Next steps + a look at the world of publishing 

Course Lecturer : 

Patrick Holloway is a writer and professor with a PhD and Master’s in Creative Writing. He is the 2021 winner of the Molly Keane Creative Writing Competition, The Allingham Flash Fiction Competition, and the Flash 500 competition. His work has been published by The Stinging Fly, Carve, Overland, The Irish Times, The Illanot Review, Scoundrel Time, Poetry Ireland Review, The Lonely Crowd, Write Bloody Publishing, New Voices Scotland, Papercuts, The Moth, Southworn, among many others. His story, 'Laughing and Turning Away' won second place in the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest. 'The Lift, the Fox, and the Lilies' won the Overland Literary Journal contest and was also published by The Irish Times. His story 'Counting Stairs' was highly commended for the Manchester Fiction Prize. He has been shortlisted for numerous other prizes including: Bath Short Story Prize, Moth Poetry Prize, Moth Short Story Prize, Bath Flash Fiction Prize, Dermot Healy Poetry Prize, Over The Edge New Writer of the Year Award (for both fiction and poetry) and the prestigious Alpine Fellowship for Fiction.   

Requirements: 

Applicants must be at least 18 years old at course commencement. 

Contact Details for Further Information: 

Email: shortcourses@ucc.ie  

Please note our refund policy as follows: 

100% refund if student cancels 1 week prior to course commencement, less €50 processing fee.

100% refund if student's course is cancelled due to insufficient numbers.