A LIMERICK woman who was a former regional advisor for nursing and midwifery at the World Health Organisation has been announced as the winner of a Creative Writing Bursary at the University of Limerick.
Ainne Fawcett-Henesy, who is also a regular contributor to Newstalk Radio on medical matters, says she is “immensely” looking forward to the challenge of taking on the MA Programme.
The scholarship was made available to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the BEALTAINE/Age & Opportunity annual festival, in association with the Creative Writing programme at University of Limerick and Listowel Writer’s Week.
The bursary of €3000 (plus partial fee waiver) was initiated to support someone aged over 60 to participate in the MA programme at UL, led by Professor Joseph O’Connor.
The aim of the initiative is to enable applicants to fulfil a long-held ambition to take a formal writing course, mentored by the MA in Creative Writing programme at the University of Limerick.
Ainne said: “I have had a burning ambition to undertake a Masters level course to develop my creative writing skills for a very long time. Due to personal circumstances it has not been possible for me to do so, before now.”
Ainne has already self-funded a 12-week online course on creative writing and has also been a regular attendee at the Kate O’Brien Weekend (Limerick Literary Festival) for several years.
The Master of Arts in Creative Writing at UL is taught by internationally successful authors including chair of Creative Writing, Professor Joseph O’Connor (author of Star of the Sea), Donal Ryan (author of The Spinning Heart) and Giles Foden, (The Last King of Scotland).
The one-year programme enables students to develop their skills in creative writing through careful consideration of the work of established writers; study of the elements of a piece of creative writing and an understanding of the requirements of the submission and publication process.
