Summer: Rutgers- Creative Writing; Where Dips the Rocky Highland
The Program
WHERE DIPS THE ROCKY HIGHLAND: Explore the folk and fairy tales of the Emerald Island (Dublin, Galway, Doolin) while writing a few of your own.
Join Rutgers creative writing instructor Alex Dawson, best selling Irish fantasy author/Dr. Who scribe Dave Rudden (Knights of the Borrowed Dark, Sister Wake), and eight Irish Creative Writing students for a two week fable-fueled collaboration with Dublin City University.
Program Locations
Ireland
Dublin
Dublin, capital of the Republic of Ireland, is on Ireland’s east coast at the mouth of the River Liffey. Its historic buildings include Dublin Castle, dating to the 13th century, and imposing St Patrick’s Cathedral, founded in 1191.
Ireland
Galway
Galway, a harbour city on Ireland’s west coast, sits where the River Corrib meets the Atlantic Ocean. The city’s hub is 18th-century Eyre Square, a popular meeting spot surrounded by shops and traditional pubs that often offer live Irish folk music.
Academics
While in Dublin you'll stay in the oldest part of DCU, Rooms All Hallows, eat breakfast in the dining hall, attend workshops/lectures on campus, visit sites of literary interest (the Book of Kells, Dublin Writing Museum, James Joyce Centre) and have dinner discussions with celebrated local authors (such as Sophie White, who just won the Shirley Jackson award, and Eoin Colfer, who wrote the bestselling Artemis Fowl series) in variety of evocative restaurants (like the haunted Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub, and Johnnie Fox's in the foothills of Wicklow Mountains). The second week, we'll travel across Ireland to Galway (Ireland's cultural heart), where we'll have dinner with Patricia Forde, the seventh and current Laureate na nÓg, Ireland’s Children’s Literature Laureate, then it's on to the Aran Islands, specifically Inishmore (with its clifftop fort of Dún Aonghasa and mythic Dragon's Lair/Worm Hole), and Doolin, a small town in County Clare known for its traditional Irish music and the stunning Cliffs of Moher (aka the Cliffs of Insanity in The Princess Bride). Finally, it's back to Dublin for two nights, with a hike up Montpelier Hill, where sits a ruined hunting lodge with a supernatural history (known locally as the Hellfire Club), and a highly publicized group reading at DCU. And so much more! “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper." - William Butler Yeats.
Note: "Where dips the rocky highland" is the first line to a famous Irish poem about faeries called "The Stolen Child" by William Butler Yeats.
The Terrible and Unguessable blogspot page will include the latest information and itinerary. Check it often for updates.
Housing and Meals
Students will stay on the Dublin City University campus. Breakfast will be included. The second week will be spent in Galway. More information coming soon...
Financial Information
Program Costs
| NJ Resident | non-NJ Resident | |
|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate | $4,000 | $4,340 |
| Graduate | $4,220 | $4,540 |
| *English Majors are eligible for a $1000 scholarship to lower the cost of the program. Details below. |
Program Cost includes:
- Tuition
- Housing
- Some meals
- In country transportation
- Excursions, visits, guest lectures, day trips
- Administrative Fees
- Emergency Medical Access Abroad
Out-of-Pocket Costs
| Airfare | $1,200 |
| Meals | $500 |
| ETA application | $20 |
| Books and Classroom Materials | $50 |
| Personal Expenses | $300 |
| Total | $2,070.00 |
Out-of-Pocket Cost includes:
The above costs are estimations and represent the known out-of-pocket costs students encounter during their time abroad.
Some of these expenses will be paid for prior to going abroad, such as an airline ticket, while some of these expenses, such as meals and personal expenses, will be paid in-country as part of your daily expenses. As you plan, you will need to budget these costs and spend wisely throughout your time abroad.
Scholarships
Faculty Leaders
Alex Dawson is full time faculty at Rutgers University, where he teaches creative writing courses geared towards fantasy, folklore, and weird fiction and curates/hosts "Inside the Writers House," a weekly video chat with authors from all over the world. He also helms a fantasy fiction winter workshop/retreat in Ireland and Scotland with authors Dave Rudden (12 Angels Weeping) and Lev Grossman (The Magicians)
Aimee LaBrie’s short story collection, Wonderful Girl, was chosen as the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Fiction and published by the University of North Texas Press. Her stories have appeared in Pleiades, Beloit Fiction Journal, Cleaver Magazine, Iron Horse Literary Review, The Minnesota Review, Permafrost, and other literary journals. In 2012, she won first place in Zoetrope’s All-Story Fiction contest. Aimee lives in Princeton, NJ and works as a lecturer and senior program administrator for creative writing at Rutgers University.