Hearing she was a winner of our recent ‘Wild Atlantic Writing Awards’ creative nonfiction category on the theme of ‘secrets’ could not have come at a better time for Jillian Godsil - just as she prepares to undergo live-saving surgery this week. After sharing the sad news with Ireland Writing Retreat about her recent diagnosis of breast cancer, Jillian, from Arklow in Ireland, said reading the good news about her erotic story ' Research Purposes Only' had lifted her spirits

Creative nonfiction finalists and winner announced on theme of 'secrets' Sex in one way or another was a key subject in many of the stories submitted for the creative nonfiction category of our ‘Wild Atlantic Writing Awards’ on the theme of ‘secrets.’ From a clandestine love affair to erotic literature, from herpes to an undercover policeman posing as a prostitute. Why sex? Good question. Let’s delve into sex in literature a little. First of all, sex is considered ‘the forbid

Danger often wears many disguises: a gunman on the loose hiding in a hotel, the fury of white-water rapids or the smile of a stranger on a lonely roadside.  Three writers, Kathy Judge, Brenda Lightle and Judy Holm, used such varied scenarios to create their stories and become finalists in our Wild Atlantic Writing Awards (WAWA) competition on the theme of ‘danger.’ Brenda Lightle A stranger’s kindness can sometimes hide menace.  For Brenda Lightle who lives near Seattle, it s

A Canadian woman who survived an experimental bone marrow transplant, an Austrian researcher who studied polar bears and...

Ever enjoyed creative writing workshops in an ornate 300-year-old library surrounded by valuable vintage books including a rare first...

Meet Julia James Burns , who once lived on an exotic island in the Indian Ocean and VJ Bauer , a proud great-grandfather - winners of our...

You could win the next WAWA competition . It's on the theme of 'secrets.' Secrets mean many things to many people but one thing is...

Many were sad, some bittersweet, others held a hint of humor. Still others, hope. With the theme being ‘ endings ,’ it was only natural...

A retired clinical biochemist in Dublin, a freelance journalist in Belfast, a poet in Oxford and a pharmacist in Cork are among ....

What we fear and love, sometimes in equal measure, are endings. But unbeknownst to us, endings arrive often in the guise of beginnings,...

Illustrating the sheer diversity of people entering our Wild Atlantic Writing Awards (WAWA) , we proudly introduce Shelley Arnfield , a...

WAWA Winners Plus A Chance To Choose Our Next Competition

While hundreds of stories we've received for the latest Wild Atlantic Writing Awards (WAWA) competition on  the theme of ‘danger’ are...

Books published by participants to Ireland Writing Retreat

A former midwife living in the Canary Islands paralysed after an accident, a charity volunteer and candidate for local elections from...

We were going to post an article about how much we enjoyed being with writers at our recent Travel and Discovery Retreat. But then we...

Four finalist stories from our previous writing competition and a new writing competition on the theme of 'danger'

Have you ever been in a dangerous situation in your life? What was it? How did it happen? How did you deal with it? Did it change you in...

One aged 21 from Florida, now living in Nashville and the other in her 60s from Tyrone, Northern Ireland now living in Berkshire, winners...

Ireland Writing Retreat is delighted to highlight some of the finalists in a previous ‘Wild Atlantic Way Awards’ (WAWA) competition on...