Young writers urged to apply for national delegates programme
THE Irish Writer’s Centre has invited applications from ambitious Wicklow writers aged 18 to 26 to attend and contribute to Cúirt International Festival of Literature 2024 as Irish Writers Centre/Cúirt Young Writer delegates.
Now in its seventh year, the Irish Writers Centre (IWC) Young Writer Delegates Programme was created to give young writers an opportunity to immerse themselves in and contribute to a literature festival, soak up the atmosphere and experience the Irish literary landscape first-hand.
The young writer delegates will spend five days (four nights) at the Cúirt International Festival of Literature 2024 from Wednesday, April 24 to Sunday, April 28.
Delegates will be supported by local writer-mentor Alan McMonagle for the duration of the festival, helping delegates develop a (new or in-progress) piece of work and supporting the delegates through their public showcase.
Delegates will have access to as many festival events as they’d like to attend (depending on individual event availability), excluding workshops.
Each delegate will take charge of the official Young Writer Delegates Instagram for one day. Post-festival, each delegate will write a piece in response to their experience of the festival, which will be published on the IWC website.
Delegates will also read a piece of their work (new or in progress) at a public showcase as part of the festival programme. The festival provides a small honorarium for this event, which will be paid in cash to the delegates at the festival.
Accommodation will be provided for three participants from outside the Galway area, with a fourth dedicated place for a YWD living in Galway. This year, accommodation is located at The House Hotel in the city centre, where breakfast will be provided.
The programme is open to writers aged 18-26 living anywhere on the island of Ireland with a strong interest in writing and reading and an ambition to connect with and contribute to the Irish literary scene. To be eligible for this programme, it is not essential for applicants to have been published.
To apply for the programme, submit a short cover letter (approx. 1 page) including your home address and Eircode/postcode before the deadline at midnight on Wednesday, January 31.
In your cover letter, applicants should explain why they would like to be selected as an Irish Writers Centre/Cúirt Young Writer Delegate and how the opportunity benefits their writing practice.
Applicants should submit a Curriculum Vitae (max. two A4 pages), including any written work which may have been published online or in print and two differing samples of work (max. 500 words each)
Compile all of the above into a single attachment in Word Doc or PDF and email projects@ irishwriterscentre.ie with ‘Application for Cúirt Young Writer Delegates 2024’ as the subject line.
If you have not received an acknowledgement email within three working days, contact (+353) 1 872 1302.
For more information about the programme, visit irishwriterscentre.ie