Writing.ie’s Lucy O’Callaghan interviews Mags McLoughlin, the CEO of the Irish Writers Centre.
Mags McLoughlin is the CEO of the Irish Writers Centre, which is based in Parnell Square in Dublin. It’s a role she only began ten months ago but has hit the ground running. “It’s been a rollercoaster ride so far, but in all the good ways.”
Within a couple of weeks of becoming CEO, she was thrust into the Arts Council funding application. “These applications are huge and very detailed. This funding is so important to our work at the Irish Writers Centre so to be involved in the application from the get-go was brilliant.” Although daunting, it put Mags straight into working with the finance director, vice CEO, and head of programming. “It gave me an understanding of how it all works, how important it was for us to develop a growth plan and for me to think hard about what I wanted to do here in my first year at the Irish Writers Centre.”
Along with applying for funding, they had seeded their ideas for the coming year. Now, ten months into the role, Mags says she’s seeing the green shoots growing.
The Irish Writers Centre
The Irish Writers Centre is well known for its courses, and its academy is an area Mags is keen to expand. You can attend in person or online and choose from short or longer courses on many different aspects of writing. Mags told me that they welcome established and emerging writers to come and teach – to show others how to hone their craft. This is evident in the many courses offered but also in the amount of returning students wanting to try out new courses. The classes are usually limited to 12 people so that everyone gets the most out of the course. The centre has also begun to run masterclasses which Mags brilliantly describes as a shot in the arm on a particular aspect of writing.
Another area Mags is keen to develop is bringing events outside of Dublin. “We want to be accessible to writers from across the island of Ireland.” The Irish Writers Centre is expanding its on-the-road events and is involved in 6 festivals this year, running spoken word events, and their Writers in the Region events are evolving too. So far, they have been held in Galway, Leitrim, Waterford, and Derry.
Damien Donnelly, head of programming, is building on a variety of courses and events. One such is the Writer’s Showcase series. The first of which was on earlier this month and featured poetry from established and emerging writers. The plan, Mags told me, is to hold these regularly and showcase different types of writing, including short stories and novels.
Mags was excited to tell me about the Irish Writers Centre’s collaboration with Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, in which a vibrant video series was launched celebrating 15 years of Dublin as a member of UNESCO City of Literature, and an acknowledgement of the IWC as an all-island resource for writers at every stage of their career. Mags explained that the series aims to look at literature and legacy, featuring iconic Irish writers from the past 50 years, contemporary writers from the past 15 years, and recently emerging writers. It is asking them to share their writing journeys, their experiences of writing and performing in Dublin as well as much more. They will also showcase writers with various backgrounds, coming from different counties and countries who now call Dublin or Ireland home. The episodes will roll out monthly, with the first airing in July and featuring Joseph O’Connor. The series shines a spotlight on the literary voices that have shaped Irish cultural identity, while also celebrating those who are defining its future.
Mags: the biggest challenges for writers
I asked Mags what she thought were the biggest challenges for writers in Ireland today, and she told me that she thought it was a combination of financial pressures and time. It is not realistic to think you can make a living writing straight away. It takes time to build a career in writing and very few writers write full-time. The Irish Writers Centre strives to be affordable for writers from all backgrounds. There are bursaries available, and it is worth keeping an eye out on the website for these. The bursaries can be used for places on a course, a residency, or mentoring. The IWC gave out 80 bursaries last year.
Time is another acknowledged challenge for writers, and Mags believes that attention-grabbing media often consumes a lot of our time. Time we could be spending writing! If you want to seriously write, it’s important to prioritise time to do this.
The IWC is also encouraging writers in the 18-30 age bracket to get involved through partnerships with the literary magazine The Stinging Fly, and The Frustrated Writer’s Group.
Mags has certainly got off to a flying start in her new role and the team at the Irish Writers Centre has achieved a lot over the last year. Her enthusiasm is evident and she told me her role as CEO combines what she knows with what she loves.
Going forward, Mags is keen to establish IWC as a foundation for writers. She’d like to develop philanthropy and cultural and corporate partnerships. Everything raised goes back to the writers of Ireland.
(c) Lucy O’Callaghan
Check out the Irish Writers Centre here: Home – Irish Writers Centre : Irish Writers Centre.
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