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
So good they launched it twice!
Congratulations to Mona Lynch (MA class 2016/17), editor of Voices, which was relaunched today at a Travellers' Visibility Group health and development conference at the Triskel Arts Centre.
Voices, a book of stories by and about travellers, was curated by Mona during a writing residency at Cork Prison, as part of the MA in Creative Writing's Business of Writing module. Students are expected to participate in a community or commercial arts/literary event and to write about the experience. Mona chose to offer a writing workshop at Cork Prison and Voices is the very tangible literary result.
The new-look Voices, has illustrations added, and has become a valuable teaching and cultural resource since it was first published two years ago. A worthy venture all round.
Bridget's debut collection
Another publication for the MA in Creative Writing , this time from Bridget Sprouls who was on the inaugural MA course in 2013/14. The Remaining Years, Bridget's first collection of poetry (though she has published two children's books and is working on another) comes from American-based indie publisher, Kelsay Press. - https://kelsaybooks.com/
Bridget was born in New Jersey and educated at McGill University, Le Conservatoire de Musique de Québec, as well as UCC. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The Belleville Park Pages, Field, Map Literary, Steps Magazine, The Stinging Fly, and elsewhere. A recipient of Eyewear Publishing's Fortnight Prize, she currently divides her time between Cape Breton and New Zealand.
The following poem of Bridget's appeared in The New Yorker in 2016.
SCOUT
His sentences all ended with the word Austin,
a place I’d never seen,
so I packed a duffelbag,
overwatered the garden, and set out on foot,
the way many of the greats in my family had done,
among other rascally things.
The flutter of engines enchanted me.
Most awkward moment:
Out of cash,
bartering my eyelashes.
Thank you, bad-shot farmers, for all the pecans.
Thank you, hounds, for losing interest.
Some nights I would wake to a sweet melody grinding
like an ice-cream summons and stumble,
half-awake, trying to answer the phone in a forest.
So what if I drooled into rock receivers?
Someone needed to arrive first
and put an ear to the ground.
Someone needed to find a loft with flexible floors.
Who better to memorize the acoustics of local venues,
know which houses were haunted,
which gutters led somewhere?
I tumbled after the weeds,
eager to turn on the A.C.
and give the first tour.
Tadhg scores again!
Our MA alumnus (2015/16) Tadhg Coakley, whose debut novel, The First Sunday in September, a novel built around a fictional GAA hurling final, was published by Mercier last year, has returned to the literary pitch this year with an essay in the current edition of The Stinging Fly, Ireland's premier literary journal.
Curated by guest editor, writer Danny Denton, this issue features fiction, poetry and non fiction from both local, national and international names. Tadhg's essay, part of a larger non-fiction project, is entitled "Five Moments in Sport". He also writes on sport for the Irish Examiner - https://www.irishexaminer.com - and has an active blog - https://tadhgcoakley.com/.
Watch out for details of Cork launch, happening on June 22.