‘I’m still trying to figure out how it’s done.’

He might be an award-winning novelist, playwright, and documentary filmmaker, but Cónal Creedon refuses to describe himself as a creative writing teacher.

It only makes a series of upcoming Saturday morning writers’ events he’s presenting more intriguing.

To celebrate his most recent collection of short fiction being awarded One City One Book (a community reading program that attempts to get everyone in a city to read and discuss the same story) Cónal will present three informal “gatherings of like-minded people” at Cork City Library during May and June.

“These will not be creative writing workshops,” he explains, “but rather the sharing of my experiences as a writer.”

“The more I know, the more I realise I don’t know. During my time as Writer-in-Residence in UCC, I always made a point of sitting with the students rather than at the head of the class. It was a highly engaging two-way street – and a steep learning curve for me – I loved every minute of my time at UCC.”

If you’ve always doubted your abilities too much to pick up a pen, this could be the encouragement you need:

“I never fully understand when people describe themselves as ‘aspiring writers’?” says Cónall.

“As I see it, writing is a binary pursuit, you either write or you don’t. It’s as simple as that. All you need is pen and paper. And that’s what I do every single day for over thirty years. I put pen to paper – there’s no ‘aspiring’ about it.

“It’s all about choices. I compare it to an addiction – I’d have to get professional help to stop me writing. It’s instinctive. If you have to think about it – you’re probably chasing the wrong dream.”

Running from 11am to 12.30pm on Saturday, May 21st, May 28th, and June 11th, you can book a free place on ‘Experiences as a Working Writer’ with Conal Creedon here.