Mentoring & workshops
The Short Story: Editing and Revising Your Work
Online: Wednesday, July 23, 2025, 7pm-9pm. (Max participants 8-10.)
Cost: €50 | €35 concession rate (unwaged, low income, no questions asked)
This one-off group session should be suitable for anyone who is writing short stories and feels there’s too big a gap between what they know they're capable of achieving and what’s actually being realised on the page.
Going Deep: a one-to-one session looking at a specific short story of yours
My roster for ‘Going Deep’ is currently full. I’ll have further availability in October 2025. More info about these sessions here.
Getting Unstuck: a 1-hour session, one-to-one
I have availability for these sessions throughout July 2025!
About my work as an editor & mentor
Working with writers is genuinely one of the greatest joys of my life. As an editor and a mentor, I have been proud to work on stories and books by authors including Nicole Flattery, Rebecca Ivory, Michael Magee, and Chetna Maroo.
For over a decade I worked at The Stinging Fly. As Editor, I read up to 1000 stories a year, selecting and editing this work for publication in the magazine. As Editor at Large, I commissioned and edited reviews, essays, and short stories, and ran the Stinging Fly Writer Development Programme, where I mentored a number of authors working towards their first books.
As a teacher and facilitator, I have delivered workshops, talks and seminars at universities across Ireland and the UK, including University College Cork where I taught on the MA in Creative Writing. I have also taught and given talks for institutions and organisations such as The Irish Writers Centre, The Faber Academy,The Stinging Fly, and The Arvon Foundation.
Nowadays I work with writers on a freelance basis and through state-funded initiatives such as the National Mentoring Programme.
My approach
If you’re looking for a sense of how I approach things, the following articles/podcasts might be useful:
Notes on Rejection – I commissioned and edited a series of short essays reflecting on the experience of rejection, and wrote an introductory essay.
One Night Stands – I commissioned four writers (Marie-Helene Bertino, Rebecca Ivory, Stephen Sexton, Jon McGregor) to each write a story in a single night. Afterwards, I recorded a two-part podcast where I spoke to the authors about the process: Part 1 | Part 2.
Next steps
If you’re interested in receiving mentoring and would like to know more about the process, including my rates etc, you can drop me a short message below: