This lively, interactive, and incredibly practical workshop will equip you with everything you need to begin or continue your journey with the short story. Combining discussion, writing exercises, and teaching drawn from Jan’s own experience, participants can expect to explore all the components of the short story, including character development, plot, structure, voice, editing, and much more. Over the course of the session, they'll have a chance to develop and write their own short story, learn how to give and receive helpful editorial feedback on a work in progress, and consider the importance of reading in terms of developing writing practice. Jan will also offer hard learnt advice on the publishing process. This workshop is suitable for both beginner writers and those keen to reinvigorate their writing practice.

Jan Carson is the author of several short story collections and novels including Quickly, While They Still Have Horses; The Raptures; and The Fire Starters, winner of the EU Prize for Literature. She has won the Harper’s Bazaar short story competition and been shortlisted for many awards, including the BBC National Short Story Award, the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Prize, and the Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year. Jan is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and her writing has been translated into over a dozen languages, appeared in numerous journals, and been frequently broadcast on BBC Radio. She lives in Belfast