Local Writers selected for the Irish Writers Centre’s National Mentoring Programme 2023

Fingal Arts Office partnered with the Irish Writers Centre to provide professional development opportunities to support Fingal writers through the Irish Writers Centre’s National Mentoring Programme. Four local writers; Alicia Byrne Keane, Thomas Brezing, Lauren Lawler and Jack Poole have been selected by the Irish Writers Centre to receive professional literary mentoring over eight months from an acclaimed Irish writer of their choice.

After a national call out, 37 writers have been selected from nearly three hundred applicants. Fingal Arts Office funds the literary mentorships along with the Arts Council of Ireland to guarantee that the best applicants from the county would be selected. Their support will ensure that the chosen mentees receive this potentially life-changing support free of charge. It is also an investment in the long-term literary reputation of the region.

The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr. Adrian Henchy commented “I would like to congratulate the four writers who have been selected to receive mentoring through this programme and I am certain the support will be of significant benefit to their writing careers.”

County Arts Officer, Sarah O’ Neill said “Fingal County Council is delighted to partner with the Irish Writers Centre again this year to support the development of professional Fingal writers. This important literary mentoring opportunity responds to the strategic goals of the council’s Arts Plan 2019 – 2025, enabling excellence by supporting creative individuals to excel in their thinking and practice.”

The mentoring process involves four 90 minute meetings between the selected mentee and their chosen professional writer. Each mentor reads up to 10,000 words / 180 lines of poetry of the awarded mentee’s writing in advance of all four meetings, sharing their kind and critical feedback with the mentee, face-to-face at each meeting. Mentors also provide broad professional advice, sharing the benefit of their years of experience. It is a form of peer-to-peer teaching that is increasingly popular in literature, formalising the process whereby successful writers pass on their craft and experience to the next generation of writers across the country. The four mentors assigned to the selected writers this year are Enda Wyley, Jane Clarke, Peter Sirr and Dave Rudden.

The Irish Writers Centre’s mission is to support a vibrant and diverse community of writers of all types and talents to develop their craft, capacity and confidence to thrive as a writer in the world. The hope for the National Mentoring Programme is that the chosen mentees will go on to write the next great works of literature with the support and sustenance of their chosen mentor. It is a form of peer-to-peer teaching that is increasingly popular in literature, formalising the process whereby successful writers pass on their craft and experience to the next generation of writers across the island.

Running since 2017, the programme now has numerous published authors among its alumni, including Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, Fiona Scarlett, and Victoria Kennefick to name just a few.