Athlone’s Literary Festival has announced its 2011 line-up, and among the highlights is a creative writing workshop with Big Smoke Writing Factory, a renowned organisation run by writers for writers. They provide a platform for writers to not only improve their work but to share it with others. The festival takes place from October 7 to 9.
The workshop is entitled ‘midLANDSCAPES’ and aims to explore the influence of the landscape on the writer. This intense one-day workshop aims to get creativity flowing in an enjoyable way. There will be an emphasis on landscape and its influence on the writer, as well as the notion of the landscape as character. Other areas covered include voice, dialogue, plot, and style. The workshop will be fast-paced and challenging, and is aimed at beginners as well as those with writing experience in all forms (poetry, drama, fiction, memoir, etc ).
The workshop will be run by Nicole Rourke, a highly experienced workshop facilitator who trained in theatre and workshop facilitation in the Middle East. She has written, performed, and directed several pieces for theatre and is currently working on a piece entitled The Suitcase Milonguera. Her work has earned critical acclaim at festivals in Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Israel, Poland, and Singapore. Nicole worked as a creative writing facilitator at the Irish Writers Centre from 2006 to 2009 and is a co-director of Big Smoke Writing Factory.
This is the first workshop by Big Smoke Writing Factory in Athlone and it provides a unique opportunity for Midlands writers.
The writing workshop takes place on Saturday October 8 at 10am in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel. A full festival programme is available at www.athloneliteraryfestival.com and the festival can also be found on Facebook and Twitter. To make a booking, please contact [email protected] or phone/text (086 ) 2282760. More information can be found at www.bigsmokewritingfactory.com
