Armagh, Northern Ireland

Armagh, Northern Ireland

The Armagh Project: Playwriting and Creative Writing

The oldest city in Ireland, Armagh’s history and culture are as lush and vibrant as the verdant fields surrounding its rocky slopes.  Saint Patrick chose Armagh’s ancient hilltop as the place to build his first church in 445 A.D.  Even earlier than that, in the middle of the first millennium, legendary pagan queen Macha leant her name to the high place Ard Macha (“Macha’s Height”) upon which she built her fortress.  Armagh proper sprawls along these same hills, its winding streets and stone buildings leading wanderers and learners alike through the ages of Irish civilization.  Armagh twists like a kaleidoscope to reveal at one turn a state of the art library overlooking the historic city center, or a modern theater and arts center back dropped by one of the two cathedrals of St. Patrick crowning the hilltops.  Another twist and discover the contemporary planetarium atop College Hill or the mysterious ruin of Emain Macha just west of the city (now known as Navan Fort) considered by Christian scholars to be the place where Irish history began.

In this city where ancient and modern Ireland converge, students will join in a rich tradition of study and storytelling as they explore this heartland of Ireland and craft their own work to add to the canon of voices from past to present. Participants in both the Creative Writing and Playwriting sections will live at the modern Armagh City Hostel while having meetings and classes at the AmmA Center, a technologically enhanced multi-media center in the heart of the historic city.  Students will have their final work published in a printed compendium as well as presented publically during The John Hewitt International Summer School at Market Place Theatre in Armagh.  This week-long program of readings, talks, debate and discussion, drama, music and exhibitions features more than 30 top writers, speakers and artists from across Ireland and beyond.

Spend the month of July on a Writer’s Journey through the culture, history, politics and people of Ireland, guided by the Master Writers and Teachers of ieiMedia’s Armagh Program.  The next new voice that you hear in contemporary Irish literature may be your own.

Program Description

Students can select either the Creative Writing Residency in Memoir and Poetry or the Creative Writing Residency in Playwriting.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Uncovering Memory: Creative Writing Residency in Memoir and Poetry
This month-long course in autobiography will introduce you to the essentials of how to tell your life story through the lenses of memory, observation, reflection, and narration. Against the backdrop of Ireland’s oldest city, Armagh, with its rich cultural history and striking landscape, students in this writing workshop will explore the techniques that poets and nonfiction writers use to generate new material and revise their work. Assigned readings will include poetry and memoir by contemporary Irish, British, and American writers that will serve as both inspiration and models for what’s possible. Writing assignments will be coordinated with excursions in and around Armagh. In addition to attending classes, student will receive one-on-one critiques of their work, and create a portfolio of writing that fits their personal goals as writers of memoir, poetry, or both.

Giving Voice: Creative Writing Residency in Playwriting
Surround yourself with the rich tapestry of Irish storytelling through the voices of some of Erie’s most important playwrights while you craft your own work inspired by the culture, history and people of Armagh.  Read and explore texts by Sean O’Casey, Brian Friel, and Martin McDonough while creating your own 10-minute play.  Learn how improvisation and freewriting can develop your voice while structured peer and instructor feedback sessions propel your work forward.  Participate in the annual Poetry and Creative Writing Festival that will give your work its first public performance and give you an opportunity to perform your fellow students’ work.  Classroom instruction in dramatic structure, writing practice and vocal training is married with cultural field trips and exploration studies in and around the city of Armagh.  Students will explore the creation of theatre from idea through writing and into performance. 

Academic Credit

Students can choose to enroll in either the Creative Writing Section or the Playwriting Section.

Undergraduate  Credit
Academic Credit is not offered for this program however ieiMedia programs are designed to meet the credit requirements for most major university writing programs.  Contact your Academic Advisor to see what credit options may be available to you. This course is appropriate for 3 or 4 undergraduate credits.

Graduate Credit
Graduate students are encouraged to work with Armagh Program faculty to develop an individualized course of study that will meet curricular requirements for the student’s home school.  Graduate students have the option of bringing a work-in-progress or thesis research focus to the Armagh Program in order to continue building in the student’s area of academic focus.  This course is appropriate for 4 graduate credits.

Professional Workshop/Post-Graduate Studies
The Writing Programs at ieiMedia are taught by Master Teachers and Writers who bring their professional expertise as guides to emerging writers.  Professional and Post-Graduate Learners benefit from moderated small group experiences and one-on-one coaching that allows for individualized plans of study or work.  The Armagh Program is an ideal place to begin work on a new creative endeavor as well as a robust writing environment in which to develop work-in-progress.

Armagh Street

The City

Armagh is situated 40 miles south of Belfast and 80 miles north of Dublin, placing it firmly as a cultural and political fulcrum in the long history of Ireland.  Just as North meets South, Protestant meets Catholic here as both churches have a cathedral to St. Patrick crowning opposing hilltops.  The people of the town can share stories about “The Troubles” – the time of conflict between British rule and the quest for Irish autonomy – but are just as quick to point out the signs of a thriving city nurtured under the shelter of almost two decades of peace in the region.  Armagh offers a healthy shopping district, diverse dining options, a state-of-the art multi-media center, and a modern performance and art space as contemporary counterpoints to the more ancient cultural and historical sites within and without its walls.

Academic Resources

Armagh is rich with study and research opportunities to support any creative endeavor.  The Armagh Public Library was founded in 1771 and holds among its collection of medieval and 17^th century manuscripts, engravings and Irish artifacts, a first edition of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (with Swift’s notes) and a copy of Gwynn’s Book of Armagh.  The Cardinal O’Fiach Memorial Library and Archive houses material related to Irish history and language as well as church history, history of the Irish diaspora, and Irish sporting traditions.  The Irish and Local Studies Library, the Armagh City Library, and the AmmA Center round out the scholar’s resources.

Travel Opportunities

Frequent and ample bus service will take you to Belfast in just over an hour and to Dublin in just over two hours – opening access to more of Ireland or to other areas of Great Britain or Europe through the international airports of both cities.  The Armagh Program includes two three-day weekends of free time for students to travel on their own.  Easy day trips from Armagh include journeying to the primal and compelling Giant’s Causeway in the far north, touring the famously tranquil and idyllic scenery of County Londonderry, or visiting the marble arch caves in Femanagh, Northern Ireland’s Lake District.  If you are craving the metropolitan both Dublin and Belfast have become international cities full of much of the same abundant shopping, cultural events and night life you are likely to find in New York, London or Rome.

Armagh Area

Students

Armagh Students

The Armagh Program in total is open to up to 36 undergraduate, graduate or post-graduate/professional students across both programs. Students from many universities — including Iowa State University, James Madison University, Louisiana State University, Ryerson University, New York University, UCLA, University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Temple University, Arizona State University, Gonzaga University, University of Arizona, University of Montana, Loyola College, San Jose State University, Humboldt State University, San Diego State University, Rice University, University of Nevada-Reno, Nanyang Technological University, University of British Columbia and Baylor University — have participated in past ieiMedia programs. We’ve also had students from Japan, the United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, Thailand, Singapore, Canada, Turkey and Trinidad.

This course is particularly suited to those students interested in creative writing, communication, playwriting, theatre studies, Irish cultural studies, literature, poetry, and storytelling.  Enrollment is open to students from any major provided they have a strong writing background.  Course instructors use writing samples and other diagnostics to make decisions about acceptance into the program or placement within program groups. The program is open to English-speaking students from around the world.

Faculty

Armagh Professor and Students

Program Faculty is comprised of Master Teachers and Writers, each highly skilled academically or professionally.  Faculty for 2012 will include:

Ned Balbo (Master Teacher – Creative Writing) is the author of three books, including The Trials of Edgar Poe and Other Poems, selected by A.E. Stallings for the 2010 Donald Justice Prize, and Lives of the Sleepers (Ernest Sandeen Prize and ForeWord Book of the Year gold medal).  Balbo’s poetry and prose have appeared in Creative Nonfiction, Iowa Review, River Styx, Shenandoah, and elsewhere. He teaches poetry, prose, and popular culture at Loyola University Maryland.

Terri Ciofalo (Armagh Site Director) is a professional theatre artist and experienced Production Manager teaching graduate and undergraduate theatre at the University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign.  She earned her MFA from the Yale School of Drama and has toured theatrically both in the United States and overseas.

Kimberley Lynne (Resident Playwright and Program Director – Playwriting)   A published author and playwright, Kimberley has had over 30 works staged and presented in professional, community, and university theatres.  A staff and faculty of member of the University of Baltimore, she has worked in theater as an actor, director, scenic designer and producer.  Her professional affiliations include Actors’ Equity and the Dramatist Guild.

Jane Satterfield (Program Director – Creative Writing) Poet and essayist Jane Satterfield is the author of Daughters of Empire:  A Memoir of a Year in Beyond and two collections of poems: Assignations at Vanishing Point (Elixir Press Poetry Prize) and Shepherdess with an Automatic (Towson University Prize). Winner of the UK’s 2011 Mslexia Prize for Poetry and the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society Gold Medal for the Essay, she teaches creative writing at Loyola University Maryland

Joan Weber (Master Teacher – Playwriting) is an independent teaching artist, writer and program director in acting, improvisation and playwriting in the Baltimore-Washington region. Joan has taught all ages from pre-school through graduate school, most currently with Towson University. She is a regular contributor to the Teaching Artist Journal, discussing policy and practice of theatre in education as well as her specialty in arts integration.

Accommodations

Students and faculty will be housed at the Armagh City International Youth Hostel.  Kitchen facilities and some communal meals are provided.

Equipment

Students should bring a personal computer capable of connecting to the internet.  Students should have a full and current version of Microsoft Word installed on their computer.  Each student should also bring a digital camera or other device capable of taking quality, downloadable photos as well as a 2 to 4 gb thumb drive for transferring work.  Other equipment may be outlined in the course syllabus for each section.

Program Cost

The cost is $3,995 plus airfare. The price includes housing and some special meals, instruction, basic travel insurance, welcome and goodbye dinners and special programs, activities and cultural events. Transfer from and to the airport in Dublin is also provided.  Students may have to pay their home institution if they chose to seek credit for this course.

Financial Aid

Students studying abroad for the summer term have limited financial aid options. Check with your school’s financial aid office to find out if assistance is available. More information on financial aid is available here.

Application Process

Students must fill out the online application and submit the names of two references as well as a copy of your college transcripts (unofficial okay), along with a $500 deposit. Deposits will be refunded only if a student is not accepted into the program.  You must paste into the application writing sample for diagnostic and placement purposes.

For more information, fill out our contact form.