Explore and Restore: Emerging Writers' Workshop

Explore and Restore: Emerging Writers’ Workshop (6 weeks)

When the glorious ‘honeymoon’ of the first draft wears off, it becomes clear that the craft of writing is, in fact, rewriting!

These workshops are suitable for anyone who’s taken an introduction/beginners course with us or has covered the basic aspects of creative writing in another capacity.

We’ll dig deeper into the craft of writing, examining more involved aspects of character creation and story structure as well as the implementation of emotion and expression in narrative. Along with interactive exercises, we’ll begin the process of feedback of work in progress.

This is the cornerstone of my sessions, the place where your work can truly lift off the page. Giving and receiving feedback is a great skill to master for editing and revision of your work.

The explore and restore workshops are suitable for writers working in all forms: short fiction, novels, memoir, drama, etc.

Where: Garden Room, Carmelite Centre

When: Wednesday evenings, October 16th - November 20th.

Time: 6.30-8.30 pm.

Testimonials:

This workshop has been absolutely fantastic! Nicole's experience in workshopping and facilitation have made the class a joy, and the folks that are attracted by her enthusiasm are of the highest calibre, both in critique and in their work. I would happily recommend this class to writers of all kinds - you will certainly be rewarded.”

- Conor Black

“ Nicole created a positive group environment of shared experiences and open feedback. Reading other people's work really helped me with my own. The feedback was structured,honest, insightful and incredibly helpful. It's given me renewed focus and drive."

- Steph Hegarty

About Nicole

Nicole is a highly experienced writing facilitator with over 25 years of experience. She designs and delivers creativity workshops and coaching for a variety of cultural and educational institutions including the Irish Writers' Centre, Temple Bar Cultural Trust, NUI Maynooth, the Gaiety School of Acting, and Ballyfermot College, among others. She was co-founder of one of Ireland's leading creative writing institutes, Big Smoke Writing Factory, which she co-directed for fifteen years; and she teaches 3rd-level creative writing for the Ireland-based Champlain and Capa American Colleges. Nicole was recently appointed to the Artists & Creative Facilitators Panel for the Dublin City Council Culture Company.

Outside of her facilitation work, Nicole is an actor and playwright and has been an integral part of the Irish theatre and spoken-word arena for more than three decades. She has featured with many theatre companies including Theatreworks, Storytellers, Yew Tree and Tmu-Na; and her international appearances include those at the London and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, Glasgow International, Craw Festival Berlin, Singapore Arts Festival, and Konfrontacje Teatraine Poland. Nicole's one-woman play, Baggage, was a smash hit at the SoloSIRENS festival in Dublin in 2019, and went on to be adapted to film reaching a global audience. Baggage will tour internationally in 2025. Her other notable success is Raven and The Crone, which premiered at The New Theatre for the First Fortnight Festival. Her spoken-word projects mark a distinctive originality within the genre. Tea or Gin, Gristle and Meeting Karma powerfully explore themes of sexuality, trauma, and resilience in monologues of extraordinary wit and profundity. Her latest piece, The Lingerie Queen of Crumlin topped the bill at the James Joyce Centre Bloomsday celebrations in 2024.

Host or Publisher Nicole Rourke