Details of spring workshops will be announced soon …

News

A Poetry Surgery: A Creative Writing Workshop

Saturday 8 November 2025

With autumn arriving and the darker evenings it seemed a good time to turn to poetry for our latest workshop, a Poetry Surgery, for which everyone was invited to bring along a poem that they were having difficulty finishing to work on. Poet, Matthew Geden, led a general discussion about what poetry is and focused on what makes them successful pieces of work, covering structure, rhythm and form. The group then moved on into producing some work themselves with a prompt from Matthew, writing about the subject first in prose and then thinking about how that prose might be turned into a poem – which elements to take from the prose and why, and what form the poem might take. The prompt, writing about someone we know, produced some wonderful portrayals of fathers and grandfathers in particular, and some real potential for interesting poems. We had a break for a lovely lunch and a chat with a chance to stretch our legs (though the weather didn’t really allow for a stroll round the gardens!)

“I found the workshop incredibly helpful, friendly and informative”

— Workshop participant

Outside we watched as the weather rolled in from the sea – with early sun followed by torrential downpours – and as hounds swarmed down the road, an unusual sight even in this rural location. In the afternoon we worked as a group on individual poems that people had brought in with them, offering feedback, and by the end of the session the discussion had nudged each poem forward, whilst some were pronounced finished and in need of no surgery at all. Although, as Paul Valery said, ‘a poem is never finished, only abandoned.’

What really stood out was the high standard of the poetry the group are producing - and whilst some were already published poets, for others these were early works and despite this they showed the ability to conjure an image or emotion of much more experienced writers. I look forward to reading their first collections ...

Manuscript Assessment

We provide a full critical assessment of your manuscript alongside/together with editorial feedback that is genuinely useful in helping you to develop your skills as a writer.

The report will above all be empathetic: we appreciate that sending your work to us may be nerve-wracking and we understand how much you put into your writing. But we will be honest – we will not mislead you or make unrealistic assertions about the possibility of success. Our reports give detailed analysis of subjects such as narrative, characterisation, style, structure and dialogue. We will be available to talk to you about the report and discuss your work at length in an ongoing editorial relationship. We will give you market-aware editorial advice that will really make a difference to your work

As a specifically Irish consultancy we can offer links with Irish publishers and agents, and in addition we have links with UK agents. If your manuscript is exceptional, we will consider it for submission in whichever market we feel would be appropriate.

“A gifted and insightful editor is the greatest boon any writer can hope to encounter. Unfortunately they are exceedingly hard to find, but one is most certainly Isobel Creed. What she has is that rare magic touch that can make a good manuscript brilliant.”

— —David Rice, author of Shattered Vows, The Pompeii Syndrome, Song of Tiananmen Square, and others

Please contact us for a free phone call to discuss your work and what type of assessment might suit you.

Book now