This Lughnasa-inspired workshop, led by Monica Corish, will take place in Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim on Sunday August 11, 10:00 – 18:00, only €30.

The day will begin with a short writing exercise in the Glens Centre.  Weather permitting, we will then go on a car-pooling, wheelchair-accessible, mystery field trip, where we will glean further inspiration, before returning to the Glens Centre in the afternoon. And if it is a day of torrential rain, as is entirely possible, a Plan B will be hatched. More details closer to the time…

You can book directly through the Glens Centre website, or by phone/email: (071) 985583 / info@theglenscentre.com

Image credits: Lugh by Brian Froude, Wheat Bees Design mightyskins.com, Tailltiu by Jim Fitzpatrick.

You can learn more about this series of workshops, “Poetry and Story, Landscape and Myth”, from Ocean FM Arts House (the interview between Harry Keaney and Monica Corish begins about 16 minutes into the podcast).

To book, contact the Glens Centre Manorhamilton directly:  (071) 985583 / info@theglenscentre.com. Sunday, May 26, 10:30 – 16:30. Cost: €30. Places limited, advance booking required.

In the month of May the Cailleach of Winter transforms into the blossoming Goddess of Summer. Bealtaine is associated with the fertility of nature and the imagination; with flowering hawthorn; and the need-fire of purification and blessing. The Tuatha De Danann are strongly linked with Bealtaine. According to the Book of Invasions, the golden people of the goddess Danu landed at Sliabh an Iarainn (Iron Mountain, on the shores of Lough Allen, Co Leitrim) during the Bealtaine festival. Many years later they went through the same mountain into the Otherworld and became the daoine sídhe.

At this workshop we will draw on the stories of Bealtaine to spark new writing in any form – poetry, story, memoir, opinion, reflection. The workshops will be led by award-winning writer and AWA-trained writing group leader Monica Corish monicacorish.ie. They are suitable for both novice writers and experienced writers, anyone over the age of eighteen. No previous knowledge of folklore or myth is needed.

This is the first in a series of workshops on the theme of “Poetry and Story, Landscape and Myth”, supported by the Glens Centre, the Arts Council and Leitrim County Council. Photo credit Slieve Anierin mountainviews.ie

Be inspired to write by the landscapes and borders, mythologies and megaliths of Leitrim and the North West. Four one day workshops at the Glens Centre, Manorhamilton, led by Monica Corish. €30 / single workshop; €100 / 4 workshops

• Bealtaine: Sun May 26 2019, 10:30 – 16:30
• Lunasa: Sun, Aug 11 2019, 10:00 – 18:00
• Samhain: Sun, Nov 3 2019, 10:30 – 16:30
• Imbolc: Sun, Feb 2 2020, 10:30 – 16:30

Places limited, advance booking required.

To book, contact info@theglenscentre.com / (071) 9855833.

Supported by the Glens Centre, the Arts Council and Leitrim County Council.

A day of writing inspired by Lugh, god of first harvests, great gatherings, skill, crafts, oaths and truth.

Where? Lakeside Centre, Belleek Road, Ballyshannon, Co Donegal
When? Saturday, August 11, 11 AM – 5 PM
How much? €75
Early bird concession: €65 before August 3
Questions? Go to monicacorish.ie/workshops/ or email monicacorishwriting@gmail.com

A workshop to generate new writing, inspired by the myths of the Cailleach, of Samhain and Winter, the dark of the year… The workshop will take place in the Sligo Park Hotel on Pearse Road, halfway between Queen Maeve’s Cairn on Knocknarea and the Cailleach a Bherra’s House in the Ballygawley Hills, in the heart of Sligo’s ritual landscape. What better place to meet your mythic muse?

When? Saturday, November 25, 10:30 – 5:30. Where? Hazelwood Suite, Sligo Park Hotel. Cost? €80. Numbers limited, advance booking essential. For more info contact 087-6414185, monicacorishwriting@gmail.com To pay, go to www.monicacorish.ie/workshops/

This is the second in a series of “Poetry and Story Inspired by Myth” workshops led by award-winning writer and AWA certified writing group leader Monica Corish.

Saturday, November 25, 10:30 – 5:30, Hazelwood Suite, Sligo Park Hotel. Cost €80 / €70 if payment received by November 19. To book, go to monicacorish.ie/workshops/, for more info contact monicacorishwriting@gmail.com

She is the Hag of Winter, both female and male, the end and the beginning, the gateway to the ancestors, she is the dark before birth and the dark we fear. And, in her wild and withered dryness, she is the juicy source of our best writing…

This is the second in a series of “Poetry and Story Inspired by Myth” workshops led by award-winning writer and AWA certified writing group leader Monica Corish.

The workshop will take place in the Sligo Park Hotel on Pearse Road, halfway between Queen Maeve’s Cairn on Knocknarea and the Cailleach a Bherra’s House in the Ballygawley Hills, in the heart of Sligo’s ritual landscape. What better place to meet your mythic muse?

Poetry and Story Inspired by Myth, August 19. This workshop is now full 🙂 If you would like to go on a cancellation waiting list, please send me your mobile number via email or FB private message – Thanks, Monica

FULL To go on a cancellation waiting list, please email me   Writing Workshop: Poetry and Story Inspired by Myth: Saturday, August 19, 11 am – 5 pm. Star of the Sea, Mullaghmore, Co Sligo. Places limited to 12, early booking advised. Cost: €75 / €65 if received by August 12.  For more info go to monicacorish.ie/workshops

Yeats’ poem and Stephanie Meyer’s’s novels were both inspired by myth and legend, fable and fairytale – by the collective dreams that have helped humanity come to terms with an unpredictable world since the beginning of human time.

The list of writers inspired by myth goes on and on: Margaret Atwood in “The Handmaid’s Tale”; Carol Ann Duffy in “The World’s Wife”; Philip Pullman in “His Dark Materials”; WH Auden in “Museé des Beaux Arts”; JK Rowling in the Harry Potter stories; William Allingham in “The Fairies”; Salley Vickers in “Miss Garnett’s Angel”…

Perhaps you think that you don’t know enough about myth to participate in this workshop? You do – from school, from home, from pop culture, we all grow up learning ancient and fabulous tales. Some, such as Queen Maeve and the Táin, were written down; others – of fairy rings and púcas, selkies and changelings – were handed down at bedtime from grandparent to child; and others are alive and buzzing in our minds from watching last night’s television.

In this writing workshop we will read extracts from myth-inspired writing, and craft our own versions of the myths that engage us. You don’t need to do any preparation– just come along with your pen and notebook, and a willingness to be surprised at your own imagination and inventiveness. The workshop will be led by Monica Corish, an inspiring and encouraging Amherst Method certified writing group leader, and an award-winning writer of poetry, short stories and memoir.