Venue:  Western Gateway Building, Room G09, UCC

This ten-week course is a warm, gentle introduction to writing creatively for people of all levels of experience. We'll take a look at the techniques often used by actors and writers to enhance their creativity, and put them into practice so that the process of having an idea, picking up a pen and beginning to write becomes enjoyable and effortless.

This course is designed to be interactive and fun. It will involve: the introduction of wildly various ideas gleaned from the tutor’s long experience as a writer and writing teacher; discussion about how these ideas might be used to enhance creativity; experimentation and play with the ideas; and sharing of the work that is produced. There’s no pressure to produce or share work, and students can take everything at their own pace. Below is a very simple course outline:

1 What does 'creative writing' mean to you?

2 Idea machines! How to generate ideas.

3 Telling a story

4 Work in progress

5 Portraits: descriptive and biographical writing

6 Work in progress

7 Beautiful words: writing poetry

8 Work in progress

9 Creating the universe of the imagination

10 Work in progress and reading

In the 'Work in Progress' sections of the course, participants will have the opportunity to bring their work to the group to be discussed in a friendly, open environment. In this way you can improve and develop your work throughout the course. We will conclude the course with a reading of work for friends and family.

I would like students to bring: one large foolscap notebook; one very tiny notebook; and one really lovely notebook which they have chosen themselves. These do not have to be expensive! They will also need a pen and several spare pens: preferably pens they really enjoy writing with. Finally, they will need to bring themselves and their imaginations. NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IS REQUIRED, but this course is as beneficial for students with writing experience – especially those experiencing blocks – as for those coming to writing for the first time.  Each session will last 2 hours with a short tea break.

Short courses are non-assessed

Kathy D'Arcy is a Cork poet whose collections Encounter (Lapwing), and The Wild Pupil (Bradshaw) were published in 2010 and 2012 respectively. In 2013 she was awarded an Arts Council Literature Bursary, and in 2014 she received an Irish Research Council Award to undertake a PhD in Creative Writing in UCC, where she also teaches in the Women's Studies and Creative Writing departments. D'Arcy originally qualified and worked as a doctor, and has also worked as a youth worker with homeless teenagers and families in crisis, as well as running creative writing groups for adults and young people. She is also a playwright, and her play 'This is my Constitution' was staged in 2013 at an Irish parliamentary briefing on constitutional change. She is 2016 editor of the Cork Literary Review and of Rhyme Rag, an online poetry journal for young people, 'among the best poems I have read in years' (Thomas McCarthy).  More information on www.kathydarcy.com

Regina Sexton, Short Course Co-ordinator

E. r.sexton@ucc.ie

Marian O Keeffe, Short Course Administrator

E: marian.okeeffe@ucc.ie

T: 00353 21 4904700

To register and pay please click the ‘apply now’ button

Students may also apply by completing the application form below and returning same with a cheque, postal order or bank draft made payable to UCC. Please return to Adult Education at The Laurels, Western Road, Cork by Monday 18 September 2017. Payment may also be made by calling to Adult Education during normal office hours.