County Cork, Ireland
University of Cork, Ireland
For the past five weeks, I've been across the Irish Sea from Reese and the dogs, writing in Cork, Ireland. What started off as a solo adventure ended up being an adventure of community and camaraderie. As far as spending time away from my family, this was well worth it.
Each summer the University of New Orleans meets in Cork, Ireland for their Writer's Workshop, hosted at University College Cork. Luckily for me, the program is open to writers outside of the program as well. Throughout my time there, I participated in two writing workshops, one fiction and one non-fiction. Both were led by published authors who also happen to be wonderful teachers. For weeks, my peers and I immersed ourselves in each others work, learning new craft techniques, asking questions, pushing each other to create better work.
Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland
On free weekends, I took the chance to do some exploring. The first weekend I headed up to Belfast, but the rest of the time I enjoyed some little day trips to Cobh and Kinsale. Both are little seaside towns that are less than an hour by train or bus, respectively. While many go to enjoy the delicious, fresh seafood (so I've been told), I went for a change of scenery while I write and people watch. Both towns have charming cafes and pubs with some of the most friendly people I've ever met. If you're traveling through southern Ireland, these should be on your must visit list, even if it's just a fly-by.
Cobh, Ireland
There were so many good moments that came out of these past weeks, but here are my top three:
Weekly Readings - Each week the whole program gathered at a local pub for readings. A requirement for anyone that wants to make a living as a writer but a daunting task nonetheless. The students and faculty made it one of the most comfortable places to share work and be vulnerable. This was my third time reading and each time it gets a bit easier.
Leading Workshop - In my fiction workshop, it was a requirement of all graduate students to lead the discussion on a story. Given that I hope to teach one day, this opportunity was amazing. Both my professor and fellow students helped enrich this teaching moment for me and I can't thank them enough.
My roommates - I'm going to go out on a limb and say that in the history of random roommate assignments, there has never been an assignment quite this amazing. From the start it was a blast and just got better as the weeks went on. There are songs that won't sound the same without everyone in the room singing along and whiskies that won't taste as good without sharing stories with one another. I can't image what the summer would've been like without them.
And while I had an amazing time this summer, I'm happy to be reunited with Reese and the dogs in Edinburgh.
