Roddy Doyle's creative writing courses are expected to be extended to children from all over Ireland later this year.
'The Van' writer, along with others, first set up the 'Fighting Words - Right to Write' initiative in 2009 to provide free writing classes to children in north inner city Dublin. And this September, 5,000 children will be able to attend a Roddy Doyle writing course in a facility in Wicklow.
It is believed that this move was achieved in conjunction with the Irish Youth Foundation (IYF), who provided a grant worth €30,000.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner, IYF CEO Niall McLoughlin explained how the ever expanding popularity in these courses, inspired this project.
"Fighting Words encourages creative writing for children and operates out of north Dublin and they’re at maximum capacity. They help 10,000 children every year in creative writing and he’s a firm believer that creative writing is a great way of giving kids self-confidence in their own abilities."
"It’s all free. Say if it was a school down in Kerry, they’d have to pay their transport costs to get there but everything else is free in terms of the programme. It operates seven days a week, mornings and afternoons."
