International Lamplight (Online) Residency - Ireland
Co-presented by Varuna and The Irish Writers Centre
Join us for another International Lamplight Residency with Ireland, made possible through Creative Australia International Engagement funding. This online residency is an opportunity for fiction writers to enjoy the combined warmth and support of Varuna and the Irish Writers Centre. Find inspiration for your writing, enjoy professional development opportunities, and build international connections with other writers to sustain your creative project.
Eligibility
This program is only open to Australian writers who have a publication record, or to Irish writers via the Irish Writers Centre. Please note that the program has a focus on fiction writing.
What we are looking for
Assessors will be looking at your writing experience, clarity of focus and objectives (how you will use your time), and the merit of your writing. They will also consider the balance of the group, with a view to ensuring the residency has a collegiate atmosphere.
Program
This two-week online residency includes:
A writers conversation with Mary Anne Butler and Conor Kostick to talk about your current work.
An online Q&A session with an award-winning Irish writer Elaine Feeney.
An online Q&A session with bestselling and award-winning Australian author Charlotte Wood.
Facilitated professional networking opportunities with your peers throughout the week, including the opportunity to share work, talk about process, and receive feedback.
Places limited to eight only. Four participants will be in Australia, and four participants will be in Ireland.
Participants need to allow at least one hour at specific times every day for programmed sessions, with the expectation that you will spend at least three hours dedicated writing time each day (although this is flexible according to your own personal circumstances). Participants will need a reliable internet connection, and a computer or mobile phone with a webcam and microphone.
Note: We also have a 10-week online masterclass with Irish writer Conor Kostick open for applications at the moment.
KEY DATES
Applications now closed for 2024
Program dates: 8-19 July 2024, with sessions every weekday.
WHAT YOU NEED TO SEND US
A sample of your work (up to 10 pages) as a PDF.
Read submission guidelines for details on preferred format.
FEES
For Australian writers, the cost of the program is $395, or $295 for Varuna alumni. For those for whom this fee is unaffordable, a 50% subsidy is available via Varuna’s Equity Access Fund.
This program is open to Australian published writers only.
QUESTIONS?
Please feel free to get in touch by email or by phone 02 4782 5674. Should you have any difficulty completing the application, we will be very happy to assist you with completing your application over the phone.
Varuna is grateful to the Creative Australia International Engagement funding for support on this project.
For Irish writers, please visit the Irish Writers Centre for more about how to apply.
Conor Kostick
ABOUT CONOR KOSTICK
Conor Kostick is an Irish historian and writer living in Dublin. He is the author of many works of history and fiction. As a novelist he was awarded the Farmleigh writer's residency for the summer of 2010 and a place on the nominees list for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2012 and 2013. Epic is Conor’s most successful book, selling over 100,000 copies worldwide.
Mary Anne Butler
ABOUT MARY ANNE BUTLER
Mary Anne Butler’s plays have won the Victorian Prize for Literature, Victorian Premier’s Drama Award, a stage AWGIE and two NT Chief Minister’s Book of the Year Awards. She has been nominated for the Griffin Theatre Award and twice for the Nick Enright Award (NSW Literary Awards).
Mary Anne is a Sidney Myer Creative Fellow, Arts NT Fellow, Winston Churchill Fellow, Regional Arts Fellow and Asialink Fellow. She holds an MPhil in Creative Writing and an MEd in Arts Education, and is currently undertaking a PhD in the Creative Literature of the Anthropocene.
Charlotte Wood
Charlotte Wood is the author of seven novels and three books of non-fiction. Her new book Stone Yard Devotional was described by the UK Guardian as ‘a quiet novel of immense power’ and has been praised by authors Anne Enright, Tim Winton, Karen Joy Fowler, Hannah Kent and Paula Hawkins among others.
Her previous books include The Luminous Solution, a book of essays on the creative process; the international bestseller, The Weekend; and The Natural Way of Things which won a number of prizes including The Stella Prize and the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. Her features and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Literary Hub, The Sydney Morning Herald andThe Saturday Paper among other publications.
In 2023, Belvoir Theatre Company staged an adaptation of her novel The Weekend, and her novel The Natural Way of Things featured in ABC Television’s 2021 series The Books That Made Us.
She has produced a podcast of interviews with artists, The Writer's Room with Charlotte Wood, and in 2024 launched a monthly newsletter on the creative process titled Subtraction.
Elaine Feeney
Elaine Feeney writes poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. She has published three poetry collections including The Radio was Gospel & Rise.
Her debut novel As You Were won Dalkey Emerging Writer Prize, The Kate O’ Brien Prize, Society of Authors’ McKitterick Prize, and was shortlisted for Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards and was shortlisted for the Rathbones-Folio Prize.
Her second novel, How to Build a Boat was published in 2023 and was longlisted for The Booker Prize, shortlisted for Novel of the Year at Irish Book Awards and won Tatler’s Literature Award, 2023.
Feeney’s short fiction was published in The Art of The Glimpse: 100 Irish Short Stories and she has published widely including The Paris Review, The Stinging Fly, The Moth, Poetry Review and The Guardian. A new collection, All the Good Things You Deserve is forthcoming in 2024.
She lectures at University of Galway.
