Devised by dlr County Council Emerging Writer-in-Residence Sonya Gildea and The Stinging Fly, The Great Big Giant Short-Story Experiment is a day long, in-depth and interactive exploration of the short story form with writers Wendy Erskine, Sheila Armstrong, Stephen Sexton & Danielle McLaughlin.
All are welcome to join us and our four lead writers in the experiment.
In advance of gathering on June 22nd at the Studio in dlr Lexicon, our four lead writers and all experiment participants will be cordially invited to write a short story in 48 hours.
After you’ve purchased a ticket for the event, we will be in touch with you to arrange a start time. At the agreed start time, you can expect to receive your set of writing prompts and instructions on how to send us your story.
We hope that everyone signing up for the event will also have a go at writing a story even if you've never written a story before.
On June 22nd, we will gather to share stories and to discuss the experience of getting our words onto the page.
“My hope for all of us – writers, poets and readers alike – is that the GBGSSE will be a collective coming together, a shared experience in the solidarity of writing, reading and exploring new work with our four lead writers, and with each other. What we want most is a day that will be relaxed, thought-provoking, inspirational and fun for all.”
Sonya Gildea, dlr Writer in Residence
Please note: Should you decide to submit a story for the experiment, it will need to be submitted no later than Monday June 17th.
On the day:
· Complimentary teas and coffees will be served mid-morning.
· There will be a scheduled lunch break, with enough time for everyone to go and purchase lunch
·Ink Café (teas, coffees, lunch, snacks etc) is on site at the LexIcon or there is several restaurants and cafes close by.
If you have any questions please email: sonyadlrwriterinresidence@gmail.com
with GBGSSE in the subject bar
WRITERS
Sheila Armstrong is a writer and editor from the north-west of Ireland. She is the author of two books, How To Gut A Fish (2022), a collection of short stories, and Falling Animals (2023), a novel. She has over ten years of in-house and freelance editorial experience across genres.
Wendy Erskine is the author of two prize-winning short story collections, Sweet Home and Dance Move, published by The Stinging Fly Press and Picador. For PVA Books, she edited well I just kind of like it, an anthology of writing about art in the home. A frequent broadcaster, she had a show on Soho Radio for Rough Trade Books. In 2023 she was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and in 2022 she was Seamus Heaney Fellow at Queen’s University, Belfast. Her non-fiction has appeared widely. She is a full-time secondary school teacher.
Danielle McLaughlin is the author of the short-story collection, Dinosaurs on Other Planets, and the novel, The Art of Falling, which was shortlisted for the 2022 Dublin Literary Award. She has been Writer in Residence at University College Cork and Visiting Writer Fellow at the Oscar Wilde Centre, Trinity College, Dublin. She has also designed and delivered workshops in Creative Writing for various organisations and festivals and currently mentors a number of emerging writers.
Stephen Sexton’s first book, If All the World and Love Were Young, was the winner of the Forward Prize for Best First Collection in 2019. He was awarded the E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2020. Cheryl’s Destinies was published in 2021, and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize.
THE STINGING FLY is a literary magazine, a book publisher, an education provider, and an online platform. Independent and not for profit, our mission is to seek out, nurture, publish and promote the very best new writers and new writing
