Creative Writing Night Classes in Sligo

An exciting new course of night classes in Creative Writing will commence in Sligo on Monday nights in mid January.  The course runs for two hours each Monday night for twelve weeks. The classes will suit beginners and improvers. 

This is a practical and fun course with the emphasis on writing. Topics covered include what to write about, point of view, setting, style, voice, memoir, flash fiction, short stories, poetry, dialogue, drama, critique and markets. The structure of the classes is very supportive to the often very personal nature of writing. At the end of the course students should have an impressive body of work completed. 

The facilitator, John Corless, from near Claremorris, in County Mayo, is a vastly experienced tutor. He has an MA in Creative Writing and is currently researching a PhD. 

Many satisfied students have taken a similar course at GMIT Castlebar, over the past number of years.  Some have gone on to win prizes and had their work published. In 2011 alone, a number of John’s students had their work published in various magazines, anthologies and websites. In addition, a stage play is due to open in February/March of this year, which was written in the Castlebar class.  And some students have formed a new group and their debut anthology is due out soon. 

John has also facilitated workshops with active retired groups in Ballindine and Ballinrobe in County Mayo – both groups launching anthologies of their work. John facilitated workshops as part of the Luisne project, and has mentored students in the UK, USA and Uganda. He has also facilitated workshops at a number of festivals and summer schools and has worked in national and secondary schools, facilitating creative writing and drama workshops. 

He has performed his work all over the country including at the Electric Picnic, Force 12, The Munster Literary Festival, Over The Edge, and The Whitehouse Poetry Revival.  He regularly features on RTE and local radio stations. He writes poetry, drama and fiction.  His work has been published in several countries.  He has won many prizes for his writing. 

John’s debut collection, Are you ready? (Salmon Poetry) was published in 2009 and has sold out two print runs making it one of the biggest selling poetry titles for many years. 

John’s poetry is a mix of political and satirical; one critic described it as Paul Durcan meets The Sawdoctors.  Another said: "... he shines the tell tale torchlight of his killer wit into all the most embarrassing areas of contemporary Irish life. No-one is safe..." Another added: “…side-splitting humour and tongue-in-cheek commentary are synonymous with John’s poetry…" 

Pre-booking for the Sligo course is essential as places are limited. The course fee is €150.  If you want any further details on the course you can telephone John on: 087 98 43 900 or check his website www.johncorless.net

Download  Creative Writing Enrolment Form 2012 (PDF) - 207 kbs  

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