This site is a road map to the world of creative writing at UCC. The School of English offers creative writing at undergraduate, Masters and PhD level. See what we do – check out our blog written by students, see the major names in literature who visit our campus, and explore the numerous courses we offer that redefine and broaden what it is to be a 21st century creative writer.
News and Events
Donal Ryan and Colette Bryce Readings next Tuesday 22nd January
UCC’s School of English Reading 2019 Series kicks off on Tuesday, January 22, with two of Ireland’s leading writers, Donal Ryan and Colette Bryce.
The reading will take place in the Creative Zone of the Boole Library January 22 @ 6.30pm.
Admission is free and all are welcome
Photographs: Murdo MacLeod (The Guardian)
The Trumpet Shall Sound!
Eibhear Walshe, Director of Creative Writing here in UCC, is publishing his new novel, The Trumpet Shall Sound this month, with a launch on 7th February in the Handel House Museum in London, and then in Dublin at the Royal Irish Academy on 21st February.
A date for the Cork launch will be announced soon.
the_trumpet_shall_sound_cover final
It is 1742 and the celebrated composer Georg Handel is in Dublin for the first performance of his new work Messiah. Once the most successful composer of opera in London, and fêted by aristocracy and royalty alike, Handel is now nearly penniless, recovering from a debilitating illness and out of favour and his exile in Dublin a sign of his fall from grace. With him and due to sing in his Messiah is the celebrated young actress, Susannah Cibber, the subject of scandal and public disgrace, on the run from an abusive husband and considered with suspicion by the musical elite of Dublin.
‘A plausible, sensuous coming-of-age story about a genius wrestling with love and ambition across eighteenth century Europe.’ Emma Donoghue
‘Eibhear Walshe brings us into Handel’s world with such precision, clarity and beauty that it seems real and unforced, the work of a true artist. The story of a truly memorable event in the cultural history of Ireland, this fine novel is also a profound meditation on creativity itself, told with imaginative audacity and tempered by scholarly scruple. An immensely enjoyable read.’ Joseph O'Connor
Danielle's book of evidence
Join our writer-in-residence, Danielle McLaughlin - turned editor- for the launch of Counterparts, a new collection of fiction by lawyers turned writers, on Wednesday December 5, Crawford Art Gallery @ 6pm.
The book, described as a "synergy" of literature and the law, is published by The Stinging Fly Press and features, among others, some familiar Cork names such as creative writing MA alumna Madeleine D'Arcy, local solicitor Catherine Kirwan, whose debut crime novel comes out in January, poet John Mee who lectures in law at UCC and his brother Michael Mee, a former lecturer in law who is a comedian and prose writer.
All funds from the book will go towards the Peter McVerry Trust.
Remembering John Montague
Poet John Montague's 90th birthday will be celebrated at a special event co-sponsored by Triskel Arts Centre, Poetry Ireland and UCC next month. Pulitzer prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon will host the evening of poetry and music along with Paddy Moloney and Triona Marshall of The Chieftains. John Montague enjoyed a close association with UCC and the School of English in particular, where he taught for many years and influenced a whole generation of Cork poets.
