About BIG SMOKE
There's no fire without smoke...... Big Smoke Writing Factory offers creative writing classes, workshops and resources at 7 Lower Hatch Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.
BIG SMOKE is an organisation which believes in serving the needs of its students to create a supportive, creative, inspiring and productive environment in which students can:
- develop their writing skills
- be placed in a class which suits their abilities and goals
- have a fun and enriching experience at each class, workshop or event
- feel comfortable and confident sharing their work and contributing to group discussions
- feel comfortable asking questions and sharing their knowledge among peers
- learn in a student-centric environment, from teachers who are passionate about writing and the teaching of writing
BIG SMOKE is run by writers, for writers. We believe in quality teaching and workshop facilitation, and collaborate on developing resources for our 'general' classes, like our Beginning to Write classes, while bringing our particular expertise in a wide variety of fields to our students through our more specialist courses. We constantly use feedback from students to improve existing classes and develop new ones.
The BIG SMOKE team believe that a workshop, class or event should be an enjoyable and beneficial experience for all involved and welcome feedback at all stages to ensure that everyone is getting the most out of their BIG SMOKE experience. We hold regular Open Days so that potential students can discuss with a member of the team what kind of course might suit their writing needs best, and we hold twice-yearly Literary Cafes to showcase our students' work.
The Big Smoke Writing Factory is currently managed by two of its founding members and directors, Nicole Rourke and Claire Hennessy, who deliver some of the organisation's workshops alongside a number of guest teachers. Big Smoke Writing Factory Ltd is registered with CRO, company number 474530.
Press releases, media, etc
The Big Smoke Writing Factory has been profiled in The Irish Times, the Sunday Business Post, on Mind Your Business (RTE radio 1), Newstalk, and Near FM. For media enquiries, please email or phone 087-976-6253.
Selected links:
The Why We Write documentary series on Newstalk includes contributions from Big Smoke directors and facilitators Nicole Rourke and Claire Hennessy, as well as from some of our students: Singing from the Edge of the Abyss (episode 2 of 4); Paper Never Refused Ink (episode 3 of 4), March 2010.
Founding directors and facilitators Maggie Smith Hurt and Nicole Rourke interviewed for Mind Your Business (available here)
Big Smoke internships:
If interested in gaining work experience in an arts organisation, please email us a CV. Our interns are part-time and contribute to general Big Smoke administration as well as working on particular projects and areas of interest. We look for people with an interest in the arts (particularly writing) who are dedicated, enthusiastic and self-motivated. Please note that applicants must have a high level of written English and be computer-literate.
Big Smoke teaching opportunities:
Our guest teachers usually come to us through recommendations and referrals. If you are an experienced writer and creative writing facilitator interested in teaching with Big Smoke, please research our course offerings carefully before pitching a course idea. Course proposals should be accompanied by a CV and marked for the attention of Claire.
