In the spring of 2018, with the help of fifteen volunteers, Monica Corish and I launched Fighting Words North West — a local branch of the national Fighting Words creative writing programme. We’ve held five well-attended, enthusiastic sessions in the Bundoran Community Library, and we are planning more Fighting Words North West events in the autumn term. INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING? PLEASE CONTACT ME at tomsigafoos@gmail.com.
Founded by Roddy Doyle, author of The Commitments and the Booker-Prize-winning Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (pictured here) and Seán Love in 2009, Fighting Words provides free tutoring in creative writing for students of all ages in Ireland. The FW Centre in Dublin, near Croke Park on Russell Street, is fully subscribed and bursting at the seams. Regional FW programmes are springing up in communities of all sizes and descriptions – Glencree in Wicklow, Castlebar in Mayo, and Clarenbridge in Galway, in addition to Belfast and Cork.
If this sounds interesting, and you’d like to get involved:
- Watch Seán Love’s inspirational 17-minute Ted Talk about Fighting Words.
- Browse the Fighting Words website.
- Read my blog posts for detail about local plans.
- Volunteer to take part in the Fighting Words North West programme.
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On the personal side, samples of my writing are posted here – some previously published, some unpublished. Please contact me at tomsigafoos@gmail.com if you would like to see the full texts or additional material.
The tabs:
- Blog: On Writing – quotes from writers, usually about the writing life.
- Editor / Writing Coach – If you’re working to lift the quality of your fiction, memoir,or creative non-fiction, I may be able to help.
- Novels – Summaries and excerpts from my two crime novellas (one shortlisted for the 2016 Penny Dreadful Novella Prize) and an historical novel.
- Stories and Memoir – previously published in literary journals.
- Ireland – short pieces about Irish personalities and events. My novels Pool of Darkness and The Cursing Stone are also set in Ireland.
- Radio – recordings of my broadcast pieces on RTE Lyric FM and interviews on Ocean FM.
Thank you for looking into my work,
Tom Sigafoos, Co Donegal, Ireland — tomsigafoos@gmail.com
