Irish Writers Centre Mentorship: Margaret O'Brien

Local writer Margaret O'Brien, has been selected by the Irish Writers Centre to receive professional literary mentoring over the next eight months. The mentor is novelist and short story writer, Alan McMonagle.

After a national call out, 39 writers have been selected from a total of 416 hundred applicants. Along with other Arts organisations and County Council Arts Offices, The Source Arts Centre funds the (Tipperary) literary mentorships - along with the Arts Council of Ireland to guarantee that the best applicant from the county are selected.

The mentoring process involves four 90 minute meetings between the selected mentee and their chosen professional writer sharing their kind and critical feedback with the mentee, face-to-face at each meeting. Mentors also provide broad professional advice, sharing the benefit of their years of experience.

The Irish Writers Centre’s mission is to support a vibrant and diverse community of writers of all types and talents to develop their craft, capacity and confidence to thrive as a writer in the world. Running since 2017, the programme now has numerous published authors among its alumni, including Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, Fíona Scarlett, Will Keohane, Alice Kinsella and Victoria Kennefick to name just a few.

Margaret O’Brien is an affiliate of Amherst Writers & Artists and formerly a lecturer in WIT/SETU. Her writing has been published in a range of publications and she co-edits the literary journal Trasna. Her book, Weather Report: A 90-day journal for reflection and well-being, with the aid of the Beaufort Wind Scale was published in 2022. She founded the annual Brewery Lane Writers’ W/E in 2013 and curated it for a decade and continues to run the open mic, Poetry Plus, in Brewery Lane Theatre, Carrick-on-Suir. She runs her own workshops, Writing Changes Lives, both in person and online. www.margaretaobrien.com