This article is from page 31 of the 2007-06-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 31 JPG
CLARE is the most supportive county and the Burren one of the most inspiring sites for writers, ac- cording to an author who will soon bring a unique writing course to north Clare.
Irene Graham, from Wicklow, has been running courses since estab- lishing The Creative Writer’s Work- shop in 1991 and the Burren is one of three places that she brings aspiring writers to.
Her next retreat course will run in The Burren College of Art from July 7 to 10 and she explained why her techniques are particularly success- ful in helping people to write.
“The courses are based on right brain/left brain learning, which is very powerful and helps to show people how to tap into creativity and imagination. We also look at the el- ements of storytelling. You have to know the rules before you can break them and the course helps you to think like a writer.”
She added that the idyllic north Clare setting is very inspiring and attracts a lot of people from other countries as well as budding writers from Ireland.
“It is a great setting and partici- pants have ranged from 20 to 80 years old. Clare is great and so many people are interested in it. Siobhan Mulcahy is an excellent Arts Officer and the book festival in Ennis early next year 1s going to be a very noted event too.”
Several former students of Ms Gra-
ham, who studied creative writing in Los Angeles, have gone on to get work published.
“A girl I taught years ago has just had three books accepted by Mills and Boon and another student now has a Hollywood literary agent but a lot of people might just keep journals or want to leave a memoir for their family. Not everyone wants to write a bestseller.”
Further information is available on 086 2523428 or at Wwww.thecreative- writersworkshop.com.